English Translation

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Balawayh and Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Qati'i both narrated to us — 'Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated to us — my father narrated to me — 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi narrated to us — Sufyan narrated to us — from Abu Malik al-Ashja'i — from Abu Hazim — from Hadrat Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be well pleased with him) — from the Beloved Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) who stated: 'There should be no cheating in prayer or in greeting.' Ahmad ibn Hanbal said in his understanding that he meant one should not greet and not be greeted back, and cheating in prayer is that a person gives the salam while he is uncertain about it. This is a hadith whose chain is authentic according to the criterion of Muslim, yet they did not record it. Mu'awiyah ibn Hisham also narrated it from al-Thawri but was uncertain about its attribution to the Prophet.