Is it permissible to use the indefinite form of the salam, such that one says to a person, "Salamun 'alaykum"?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: Does not the statement of Allah the Exalted,[Al-Waqi'ah 56:26], imply that it is permissible to say "salam" when offering the greeting?
Answer:
Yes, this is found in the Qur'an. That is, the indefinite form of the greeting is used: "Salam." This was said by Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and it was said by the angels:[Adh-Dhariyat 51:25] So it is permissible to use the definite form, "As-salamu 'alaykum" (Peace be upon you): [Taha 20:47] And it is permissible to use the indefinite form, saying "Salam." They say that the indefinite form is more eloquent; the indefinite is more eloquent than the definite. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: Does not the statement of Allah the Exalted,
Only a saying: "Peace, peace."
إِلَّا قِيلًا سَلَامًا سَلَامًاAnswer:
Yes, this is found in the Qur'an. That is, the indefinite form of the greeting is used: "Salam." This was said by Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and it was said by the angels:
When they entered upon him and said, "[We greet you with] peace." He answered, "[And upon you] peace, [you are] a people unknown.
إِذْ دَخَلُوا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالُوا سَلَامًا قَالَ سَلَامٌ قَوْمٌ مُّنكَرُونَAnd peace will be upon he who follows the guidance.
وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَىٰ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَىٰ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [922- 4717] هل يجوز تنكير السلام فيقال للشخص سلام عليكم؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.