Sunan Abi Dawud

I heard it and so I said: Peace be upon you. May I enter?

I was sitting in one of the meeting of the Ansar. Abu Musa came terrified. We asked him; what makes you terrified? He replied: ‘Umar sent for me; so I went to him and asked his permission three times, but he did not permit me (to enter), so I came back. He asked; what has prevented you from coming to me? I replied: I came and asked permission three times, but it was not granted to me (so I returned). The Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) has said: When one of you asks permission three times and it is not granted to him, he should go away. He (‘Umar’) said; establish the proof of it. So Abu Sa’id said: the youngest of the people will accompany you. So Abu Sa’id got up with him and testified.

Abu Musa asks permission, al-Ash’ari ask permission, and ‘Abd Allah b. Qais asks permission, but it was not granted to him. So he went away and ‘umar sent for him saying: what did you return? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) said: When one of you asks permission three times and it is not granted to him, he should go away. He said: Establish the proof of it. He went, came back, and said; This is Ubayy. Ubayy said: ‘Umar, do not be an agony for the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). ‘Umar said : I shall not be an agony for the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

Abu Musa asked ‘Umar for permission to enter the house. This version has: he went with Abu sa’ld who testified to it. He said Did this practice of the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) remain hidden from me? My engagement in the transaction in the market made me oblivious of it. Now give me salutation as you wish; and do not ask permission.

‘Umar said to Abu Musa : I do not blame you, but the matter of transmitting a tradition from the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) is serious.

‘Umar said to Abd Musa: I do not blame you, but I am afraid that the people may talk carelessly about the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to visit us in our house, and said: Peace and Allah's mercy be upon you! Sa'd returned the greeting in a lower tone. Qays said: I said: Do you not grant permission to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to enter? He said: Leave him, he will give us many greetings. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: Peace and Allah's mercy be upon you! Sa'd again responded in a lower tone. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) again said: Peace and Allah's mercy be upon you! So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went away. Sa'd went after him and said: Messenger of Allah! I heard your greetings and responded in a lower tone so that you might give us many greetings. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) returned with him. Sa'd then offered to prepare bath-water for him, and he took a bath. He then gave him a long wrapper dyed with saffron or wars and he wrapped himself in it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then raised his hands and said: O Allah, bestow Thy blessings and mercy on the family of Sa'd ibn Ubadah! The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then shared their meals. When he intended to return, Sa'd brought near him an ass which was covered with a blanket. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) mounted it. Sa'd said: O Qays, accompany the Messenger of Allah. Qays said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: Ride. But I refused. He again said: Either ride or go away. He said: So I went away. Hisham said: AbuMarwan (transmitted) from Muhammad ibn AbdurRahman ibn As'ad ibn Zurarah. Abu Dawud said: 'Umar b. 'Abd al-Wahid and Ibn Sama'ah transmitted it from al-Awzai' in mursal form (the ling of the Companion being missing), and they did not mention Qais b. Sa'd.

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to some people's door, he did not face it squarely, but faced the right or left corner, and said: Peace be upon you! peace be upon you! That was because there were no curtains on the doors of the house at that time.

I knocked at the door. He asked : who is there? I replied: it is I. he said: I, as though he disapproved of it.

I went out with the (Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) until I entered a garden, he said: Keep on closing the door. The door was then closed. I then said: Who is there ? He then narrated the rest of the tradition. Abu Dawud said: That is to say, the tradition of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. In this version he said: "He then knocked at the door."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: A man's messenger sent to another indicates his permission to enter.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you is invited to take meals and comes along with the messenger, that serves as permission for him to enter. Abu 'Ali al-Lu'lu said: I heard Abu Dawud say: Qatadah did not hear anything from Abu Rafi'.

Most of the people did not act upon the verse about asking permission to enter the house. I have commanded this slave-girl of mine to ask my permission to enter. Abu Dawud said: 'Ata also transmitted it from Ibn 'Abbas in a similar way. He commanded to act upon this.

Ikrimah said: A group of people from Iraq said: Ibn Abbas, what is your opinion about the verse in which we have been commanded whatever we have been commanded, but no one acts upon it? The word of Allah, Most High, reads: "O ye who believe! Let those whom your right hands possess, and the (children) among you, who have not come of age, ask your permission (before) they enter your presence on three occasions: before morning prayer, while you are undressing for the noonday heat, and after late-night prayer. These are your three times of undress; outside those times it is not wrong for you or for them to move about." Al-Qa'nabi recited the verse up to "full of knowledge and wisdom". Ibn Abbas said: Allah is Most Clement and Most Merciful to the believers. He loves concealment. The people had neither curtains nor curtained canopies in their houses. Sometimes a servant, a child or a female orphan of a man entered while the man was having sexual intercourse with his wife. So Allah commanded them to ask permission in those times of undress. Then Allah brought them curtains and all good things. But I did not see anyone following it after that. Abu Dawud said: The tradition of 'Ubaid Allah and of 'Ata, weakens this tradition.

By him in whose hand my soul is, you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another: should I not guide you to something doing which you will love one another: spread out salutation among you.

A man asked the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him): When aspect of Islam is best? He replied: that you should provide food and greet both those you know and those you do not know.

A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Peace be upon you! He responded to his salutation. He then sat down. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Ten. Another man came and said: Peace and Allah's mercy be upon you! He responded to his salutation when he sat down. He said: Twenty. Another man came and said: Peace and Allah's mercy and blessings be upon you! He responded to him and said when he sat down: and blessings be upon you! He responded to him and said when he sat down: Thirty.

(This version is same as previous No 5176 from the Prophet (ﷺ), adding that): Afterwards another man came and said: Peace and Allah's mercy, blessings and forgiveness be upon you! whereupon he said: Forty. adding: Thus are excellent qualities rewarded.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Those who are nearest to Allah are they who are first to give a salutation.

The young should salute the old, the one who is passing by should salute the one who is sitting, and a small company should salute a large one.