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Qurʾān Bukhārī Muslim Nasāʾī Abū Dāwūd Tirmidhī Ibn Mājah Mālik Aḥmad Dārimī Ḥākim Ibn Ḥibbān Ṭabarānī Nasāʾī's Kubrá Bayhaqī al-Luʾluʾ wa-al-Marjān Ibn Rajab's Fifty Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn Aḥmad's Zuhd Suyūṭī
ahmad:15166 – Isḥāq b. ʿĪsá > Ḥammād / Ibn Zayd > Kathīr b. Shinẓīr > ʿAṭāʾ b. Abū Rabāḥ > Jābir b. ʿAbdullāh

[Machine] The Prophet ﷺ sent me on an errand. When I returned, I greeted him, but he did not respond. When he finished, I said, "O Messenger of Allah, I greeted you but you did not respond." He said, "I was praying while facing a direction other than the qiblah."  

أحمد:١٥١٦٦ – حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ عِيسَى قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادٌ يَعْنِي ابْنَ زَيْدٍ عَنْ كَثِيرِ بْنِ شِنْظِيرٍ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ أَبِي رَبَاحٍ عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللهِ قَالَ

بَعَثَنِي النَّبِيُّ ﷺ فِي حَاجَةٍ فَلَمَّا رَجَعْتُ سَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ فَلَمْ يَرُدَّ عَلَيَّ فَلَمَّا فَرَغَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ سَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْكَ فَلَمْ تَرُدَّ عَلَيَّ؟ قَالَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ أُصَلِّي وَهُوَ عَلَى رَاحِلَتِهِ مُتَوَجِّهًا لِغَيْرِ الْقِبْلَةِ  

See similar narrations below:

Collected by Bukhārī, Muslim
bukhari:1216 – ʿAbdullāh b. Abū Shaybah > Ibn Fuḍayl > al-Aʿmash > Ibrāhīm > ʿAlqamah > ʿAbdullāh

I used to greet the Prophet ﷺ while he was in prayer and he would return my greeting, but when we returned (from Ethiopia) I greeted the Prophet (while he was praying) but he did not return the greeting, and (after finishing the prayer) he said, "In the prayer one is occupied (with a more serious matter)."  

البخاري:١٢١٦ – حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ فُضَيْلٍ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ

كُنْتُ أُسَلِّمُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ وَهُوَ فِي الصَّلاَةِ فَيَرُدُّ عَلَىَّ فَلَمَّا رَجَعْنَا سَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ فَلَمْ يَرُدَّ عَلَىَّ وَقَالَ إِنَّ فِي الصَّلاَةِ شُغْلاً  

muslim:540c – Abū Kāmil al-Jaḥdarī > Ḥammād b. Zayd > Kathīr > ʿAṭāʾ > Jābir

We were in the company of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he sent me on an errand, and when I came back (I saw him) saying prayer on his ride and his face was not turned towards Qibla. I greeted him but he did not respond to me. As he completed the prayer, he said: Nothing prevented me from responding to your greeting but the fact that I was praying.  

مسلم:٥٤٠c – حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كَامِلٍ الْجَحْدَرِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ عَنْ كَثِيرٍ عَنْ عَطَاءٍ عَنْ جَابِرٍ قَالَ

كُنَّا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَبَعَثَنِي فِي حَاجَةٍ فَرَجَعْتُ وَهُوَ يُصَلِّي عَلَى رَاحِلَتِهِ وَوَجْهُهُ عَلَى غَيْرِ الْقِبْلَةِ فَسَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ فَلَمْ يَرُدَّ عَلَىَّ فَلَمَّا انْصَرَفَ قَالَ إِنَّهُ لَمْ يَمْنَعْنِي أَنْ أَرُدَّ عَلَيْكَ إِلاَّ أَنِّي كُنْتُ أُصَلِّي