The Excellence of Greeting Upon Arrival and Departure

باب استحباب السلام إذا قام من المجلس وفارق جلساءه أو جليسه

A gathering should open and close with peace. This chapter teaches that salam is offered both when you arrive among people and when you rise to leave them, so that companionship is wrapped in peace from beginning to end.

The striking note is that the parting greeting is given equal worth to the opening one. Leaving well matters as much as entering well, and the smallest courtesy at the door of a meeting is treated as a deed of value.

Hadith 869

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال‏:‏ قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم‏:‏ ‏"‏إذا انتهى أحدكم إلى المجلس فليسلم، فإذا أراد أن يقوم فليسلم، فليست الأولى بأحق من الآخرة‏"‏ ‏(‏‏(‏رواه أبو داود، والترمذي وقال‏:‏ حديث حسن‏"‏‏)‏‏)‏‏.‏

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When one of you arrives in a gathering, he should offer Salam to those who are already there, and he should also do so when he intends to depart. The first act of greeting is not more meritorious than the last.'' [Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].

In plain words

Greet those present when you arrive at a gathering, and greet them again when you leave, for the first greeting is no better than the last. Both arriving and departing well are treated as deeds of worth.

Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 869 In-book reference : Book 5, Hadith 26