- "Greeting comes before asking questions. So if someone starts with a question before greeting, do not respond to them." It was recorded by Ibn ʿAdī in "al-Kāmil" (303/2) through the chain of al-Sarī ibn ʿĀṣim, who narrated to us from Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Aylī, who narrated to us from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawād, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said it, and he mentioned it. He included it in the biography of Ibn Abī Rawād and said about him: "In some of his narrations, there are things that are not followed." I said: This is a mild criticism, and he has been deemed reliable by a group, and Muslim used him as evidence. If the isnād contained only him, it would be good, but the defect lies in those below him, for Ibn ʿAdī himself said about Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar: "All his ḥadīths are either textually or isnād-wise objectionable, and he is closer to weakness." Abū Ḥātim said: "He was an old man and a liar." Al-Sarī ibn ʿĀṣim was criticized by Ibn ʿAdī, who said he stole ḥadīths, and Ibn Kharrāsh accused him of lying. Al-Dhahabī listed some of his objectionable ḥadīths and said: "They are among his calamities and disasters." I said: If Ibn ʿAdī had included the ḥadīth in the biography of either of them, it would have been closer to correctness