Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 370
sahih

Ibn Umar reported:

A person happened to pass by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he was making water and saluted him, but he did not respond to his salutation.

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ نُمَيْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنِ الضَّحَّاكِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، أَنَّ رَجُلاً، مَرَّ وَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَبُولُ فَسَلَّمَ فَلَمْ يَرُدَّ عَلَيْهِ ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 3, Hadith 144
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 3, Hadith 721 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Since returning one’s greeting involves mentioning Allah, this mentioning has to be voided while answering the call of nature. Abdullah ibn Omar narrated that a man passed by and greeted the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was urinating, but the Prophet (ﷺ) did not return his greeting. It was as if he disliked mentioning Allah in that state of exposed private parts and lack of purity. In Sunan Abu Daoud, Al-Muhajer ibn Qunfudh narrated, "He came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was urinating. He greeted him but the Prophet did not return his greeting until he performed ablution. He then apologized to him and said, "I disliked mentioning Allah, the Almighty, except in the state of purification." This is evidence that the word "salam" (peace) that people use in greeting one another is one of Allah's names. Finally, this hadith contains the following benefits: (1) It urges Muslims to maintain their purity while mentioning Allah which has a high virtue, and (2) It confirms that it is better to refrain from mentioning Allah while being in inappropriate states like urinating and the like..
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