Pages

Sunday, May 20, 2012

From the Rulings of Islaamic Greetings is That it Should be Clear; Salams or Slmz are Not Islamic Greetings

Haafidh al-Haythamee reports under the chapter entitled, 'Chapter of Replying to One Who Greets You Silently':

On the authority of Anas bin Maalik [May Allaah be Pleased with him] said that the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] was once approached by Sa'd bin 'Ubaadah and greeted the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] by saying, 'As-Salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullah '. So Sa'd said for another time, 'Wa 'Alaykum Salaaam wa Rahmatullah' but the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] didn’t hear him, even though he said this three times….

[Majma' az-Zawaa'id wa Munba' al-Fawaa'id, Pg 34-35]

Shaykh al-Allaamah Abdul-Azeez bin Baaz [May Allaah have Mercy on him] was asked:

If one greets another in a silent voice, so that the other person doesn’t hear it, does he still respond?

He replied:

There is no response to a greeting which is silent. If one greets you the greeting of Salaam in a silent voice, and he doesn’t raise his voice, then he should raise his voice. If he doesn’t, then it is like he hasn’t greeted you. This is because the point of greeting with the Salaam is that the person can hear you, so that upon hearing you, he may respond in a like manner or in a better way [i.e. by adding Wa Rahmatullah or Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu]. It may be that a person doesn’t greet you properly because he is proud and arrogant, if this is the case, then this is evil and worse than one merely not raising his voice. So the purpose of the person greeting you, is to greet you in a loud voice so that you may respond to him.


Shaykh Al-Allaamah Muhammad bin Saaleh al-'Uthaymeen [May Allaah have Mercy on him] said:

Greeting in an unclear manner has no benefit, the person doesn’t hear and it doesn’t fulfill the intended purpose.

[Fataawa Noor 'Ala ad-Darb (Side A, Tape 302) ]

Shaykh Abdur-Raheem al-Suhaym[i] [May Allaah Preserve him] said:
It is for the Muslim to give the greeting of Salaam properly and completely, whether it is be in writing or in speech. This is based on the statement of Allaah, the Most High:

"When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally. Certainly, Allah is Ever a Careful Account Taker of all things."
[Nisaa 4:86]

It is not sufficient for someone to greet or respond to one another with Salaam in an abridged manner or by signaling, except for the person who can't such as the person who is praying or someone who is far away, for example. These people may return the greeting of the person who explicitly greets them verbally with Salaam, with a signal because they have a need.

However, shortening the greeting of Salaam is from the way of the Jews. The Prophet [Peace and Blessing of Allaah be Upon him] said, "Do not initiate the greeting of Salaam with the Jews or Christians because they greet with their palms, their heads and by signalling" [Narrated by Aboo Dawood, Nasaa'ee, Tabraanee and others: Classified Saheeh by Al-Albaanee in Silsilah as-Saheehah (1783) and in 'Jilbaab al-Mar'ah al-Muslimah (Pg. 193)] 

Haafidh Ibn Hajar [May Allaah have Mercy on him] said about this Hadeeth:

"Meaning, it is not sufficient to give the greeting of Salaam by signaling alone, without any verbalization of it. We have been warned against this, as it was narrated by at-Tirmidhee (2695) on the authority of Jabir [May Allaah be Pleased with him] that the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] said, "Do not initiate the greeting of Salaam to the Jews because they greet one another by their heads, palms and by signaling."

[Fath al-Baaree (11/14)]


[i] The Shaykh is a graduate from Imaam Muhammad bin Sa'ood University in Riyadh and is also a student of scholars such as Shaykh Muhammad bin Saaleh al-'Uthaymeen, Shaykh Naasir al-'Umar and others and currently still studies under Shaykh Abdul-Kareem al-Khudayr.

No comments:

Post a Comment