The ruling on greeting a reciter of the Qur'an.

The Shaykh : Similarly, it is reported in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon a group in the mosque who were reciting the Qur'an, so he greeted them. This is also evidence for the permissibility of greeting one who is reciting the Qur'an. There is no doubt that correct analogy and sound reasoning necessitate the permissibility of this greeting to the reciter, a fortiori; because if it is established by those hadiths that one may greet the one who is praying, then greeting the one who is reciting the Qur'an is a fortiori; because the one who is praying is a reciter and more, whereas the one who is not in prayer is only a reciter. So if it is permissible by the Shari'ah to greet the one who is praying, who is a reciter and more, then it is a fortiori that it is permissible to greet the reciter who is not praying.
In such cases, one should not hesitate regarding the permissibility of both offering and returning the greeting. And when we say and speak around the word "permissibility," that is only to clarify the refutation of those who say it is not permissible. Otherwise, the reality is that both offering the greeting to the one who is praying and returning it fall within the generality of the previous hadith: , . This is part of the complete spreading of the greeting: that you entered a place and found your companion praying, so do not hesitate at all from greeting him; rather, greet him. This means it is part of the complete spreading of the greeting. And he does not hesitate, either, from returning the greeting by nodding his head or with his hand, as you heard.