The Ruling on Greeting a Person in Prayer and How the Person in Prayer Responds to the Greeting

Question:
The first message in this episode is from one of our brother listeners in the State of Kuwait. Your brother in Allah, Abu Hudhayfah, asks and says: When a man passes by his brother who is praying, does he greet him? And if he greets him, does the person in prayer respond to the greeting with a gesture? Based on the specific hadith regarding this matter, "that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to gesture with his hand to the one who greeted him." Is this hadith still in effect as it is, or has it been abrogated? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
The Sunnah is to greet the person in prayer, and the Sunnah for him is to respond with a gesture, based on the hadith mentioned by the questioner. It is an established hadith, and this Sunnah is stable—praise be to Allah—and has not been abrogated. So the Sunnah for one who enters upon a person who is praying, or a group who are praying, is to greet them in the mosque and elsewhere. And the Sunnah for them is to respond with a gesture, based on the mentioned hadith. And success is from Allah. Yes.

The presenter : May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.