5207 - 'Amr ibn Marzuq narrated to us: Shu'bah informed us, from Qatadah, from Anas: that the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to the Prophet: "The People of the Book greet us with salam. How should we respond to them?" He said: "Say: 'Wa 'alaykum' (and upon you)."

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Also recorded by al-Bukhari (6257) via Malik ibn Anas, and Muslim (2164) (9), and al-Nasa'i in al-Kubra (10140) via 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, from Sufyan al-Thawri, both from 'Abdullah ibn Dinar, with the same chain. The wording of al-Bukhari and Muslim is: "'Alayka" (upon you), while al-Nasa'i has: "'Alaykum" (upon you, plural).

It is also in Musnad Ahmad (5221) and (5938), and Sahih Ibn Hibban (502).

Al-Sindi said in his gloss on the Musnad: "Al-sam (death) — with a soft alif — means death, and it is said: sudden death. The narration of the response comes both with the waw (and) and without it. The omission [of the waw] is to return their statement upon them, because their intent is to invoke harm upon the believers, so it is fitting for the believers to return that invocation upon them. As for the waw, it is either resumptive, mentioned to resemble a response, with the intended meaning being the return [of the greeting]; or it is for conjunction, and the intended meaning is to inform that death is shared by all and not specific to anyone, so it is a response in another sense — namely, that they intended by this invocation to cause harm, yet they are mistaken in this belief, because death is universal to all, and no harm results from such [a response]. And Allah Most High knows best."

(1) Its chain is authentic. Qatadah is Ibn Di'amah al-Sadusi.

Also recorded by Muslim (2163), and al-Nasa'i in al-Kubra (10146) and (10147) via multiple routes from Shu'bah, with this chain.

Also recorded by Ibn Majah (3697), and al-Tirmidhi similarly (3585) via two routes from Qatadah, with the same chain.

Also recorded with its meaning by al-Bukhari (6258), and Muslim (2163) (6) via 'Ubaydullah ibn Abi Bakr, and al-Bukhari (6926), and al-Nasa'i in al-Kubra (10145) via Hisham ibn Zayd ibn Anas, both from Anas ibn Malik.

It is also in Musnad Ahmad (1241), and Sahih Ibn Hibban (503).