Hadith 4464

Imran ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “Peace be upon you.” He responded and then sat down. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Ten.” Then another came and said, “Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.” He responded and sat down, and the Prophet said, “Twenty.” Then another came and said, “Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.” He responded and sat down, and the Prophet said, “Thirty.” [Narrated by At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud] Malik narrated from Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Ata, who said: “I was sitting with Abdullah ibn Abbas when a Yemeni man entered and said, ‘Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings,’ and then added something more. Ibn Abbas, whose sight had gone by then, said, ‘Who is this?’ They said, ‘This is the Yemeni who visits you,’ and described him until he recognized him. Ibn Abbas said, ‘The greeting ends at blessings.’” Muhammad said in Al-Muwatta: “This is what we follow. If someone says, ‘Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings,’ he should stop there, as following the Sunnah is best.” For this reason, it is said in Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar: “The responder should not add beyond ‘and His blessings.’”