The Meaning of the Hadith: (There is no confusion in the prayer, and no greeting)

The questioner : Regarding the hadith of Abu Dawud:

The Shaykh : The greeting is intended verbally because this was prescribed at the beginning of Islam. This is indicated to us by the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud himself, for it is the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. He said that when he returned from Abyssinia and met the Messenger, the first thing he did was greet him while he was praying. He said: "So I greeted him, and he gestured to me with his head, and I was taken aback by what was near and what was far." He was taken aback by what was near and what was far because, before he traveled to Abyssinia, if one of the people greeted the one who was praying verbally, he would return the greeting verbally while he was praying. Therefore, Ibn Mas'ud was surprised by something he did not know before. He said: "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah." The Messenger did not return the greeting verbally, which was what he knew previously, that the greeting is the greeting of Islam, and it had been prescribed before. When he was surprised that the Messenger limited returning Ibn Mas'ud's greeting to a gesture, he said: "I was taken aback by what was near and what was far." Then, when the Messenger greeted him, he reassured Ibn Mas'ud, as if his state was saying: Do not think there is any harm when I limited returning the greeting to a gesture. The only thing is that a new ruling has been established. So he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Therefore, there is no greeting as there was at the beginning of Islam. This hadith is in the context of explaining that offering the greeting and returning the greeting is called speech in the language of the Shari'ah. And since Allah has forbidden speech in the prayer, He has forbidden returning the greeting verbally. But a gentle gesture is necessary, either nodding the head or gesturing with the hand. However, at the same time, this hadith of Ibn Mas'ud gives us that speech in the prayer was permissible more broadly than returning the greeting. We have a hadith from Mu'adh that the Companions, at the beginning of Islam, would have one of them enter the mosque and find the prayer standing. He would stand next to his companion and ask, "Which rak'ah?" He would tell him, for example, "The second rak'ah." He would bow in the rak'ah he missed and join the imam in the rest. Until the day Mu'adh ibn Jabal came and entered the mosque and the people were standing in prayer. He stood in the row and did not ask as usual. The Messenger greeted him, and he stood up and made up what he had missed. So he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: His saying, peace and blessings be upon him, in the hadith of Mu'adh: means that this speech which was known among them has been abrogated by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and He has established in its place His saying: .