The person who is calling is the one who is putting himself forward, so if the person decides to call another then he must begin with the greeting of Islaam, ‘As-Salaamu Alaaykum’, this from the symbols of Islaam. This greeting is a supplication for security and peace and it is from the virtues of the Ummah of Muhammad [May the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him].
The
person who lifts the receiver and is greeted in this way must reply to this
greeting, this is what has been narrated in the noble Sunnah.
On the authority of Rabee’ [May Allaah be Pleased with him] who said, a man from Banee ‘Aaamir told me that he went to the Prophet’s [May the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] house and sought permission to enter. So when he arrived he asked, “Can I come in”?
So
when the Prophet [May the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] heard
this, he told his custodian to go out and teach this man on how to seek
permission. So he went to him and told him to say; “As-Salaamu Alaykum, may I
enter?” So the man sought to enter again but this time he asked, “As-Salaamu
Alaykum, may I enter?” So the Prophet [May the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be
upon him] permitted him to come. [Narrated by Aboo Dawood]
This hadeeth proves that the one
who wants to enter, then it is upon him to begin with the Salaam. Therefore, if
a person is trying to ring another, he must be the one begins with the Salaam and
he should be quiet until he is spoken to.
It is
also important to know that leaving the blessed greeting of Islaam is not
permissible. Some people have changed this greeting to things such as ‘Good
Morning’ or ‘Illuminated Morning’. Specific to the way people on the telephone,
we hear people using greetings like, ‘Hello’. This greeting in its origin comes
from France and it is being incorporated in the Arabic language, as people are
persisting in using it.
· It
contradicts the Sunnah as he person who is seeking to gain the other persons
attention is the one who should begin with the Salaam.
· It
is bad manners, as it seems by the caller being silent that he is testing the
person he is calling. So the person who has received this call will lift the
receiver and enquire about this silence by asking, ‘Hello? Anybody there?’ These
are bad manners that have been prohibited by Allaah.
If the receiver responds to your call and lifts the receivers and asks, ‘Who’s speaking?’ Then the caller must answer clearly and avoid being obscure.
It is
narrated that Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah [May Allaah be Pleased with him] said; “I sought permission to enter
the house of the Prophet.” The Prophet [May the Peace and Blessings of Allaah
be upon him] then asked, “Who is it?” I replied by saying, “It me.” He rebuked
me by saying, “Me!? Me!?” [Narrated by Muslim]
Aboo
Dawood has a similar narration where he adds the wording, “It is as if he
disliked it.”
Similarly, it is also unclear if
one is asked to name himself and he replies with his Kunya, by saying it is
Aboo Fulaan, for example. This is being obscure as well and this is not known
from the way of the Salaf. In contrary to this, the Salaf would have a Kunya
that wold be suited to a special characteristic that they may possess or the
Kunya itself would help define the person. Kunya wasn’t something known before
Islaam but when Islaam came, the Companions [May Allaah be Pleased with them]
were keen to use them; Aboo Bakr, Aboo Dharr, Umm Haani [May Allaah be Pleased
with them all]
The
point is, one should be wary of using Kunya that will disguise the person and
it will have nothing connected to his name or a characteristic of his. If you
go to someone’s house and he isn’t there then don’t bother the inhabitant, this
is bad manners and etiquette. This distracts the people in the house and may
even cause them discomfort, so why does the one who does this think he is so
special?
[Taken from ‘The Manners and Characteristics when Talking on the Phone’ by Shaykh Bakr Aboo Zayd (May Allaah have Mercy on him) Pg. 12-13]
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