What is the ruling on greeting the worshippers after finishing the prayer and leaving the mosque?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: What is the ruling on greeting the worshippers after finishing the prayer and leaving the mosque?

Answer:
This is the commentator’s report from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah that this is a bid'ah (religious innovation). Making it a habit to greet after the obligatory prayer, he says, is a bid'ah. But if he greets someone occasionally because he did not meet him or see him on the day he prayed next to him, and he sees him and greets him, there is nothing wrong with that. But making it a custom after the obligatory prayer, Shaykh al-Islam, as reported by the commentator, says is a bid'ah.
This requires a distinction, and some say it is not a bid'ah. The commentator reported the disagreement, but Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah says it is a bid'ah, and that is the closer view, and that is the closer view, yes.