Is it permissible to return the salam to a disbeliever if he greets with a clear salam?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: If a disbeliever greets with a correct and clear salam, saying "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh," should I return it to him in the same way?
Answer:
No, you return it to him with the saying of the MessengerRiyad as-Salihin 867 Do not add to "wa alaykum." This is a specification of the saying of Allah the Exalted [An-Nisa 4:86] The hadith specifies the verse. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: If a disbeliever greets with a correct and clear salam, saying "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh," should I return it to him in the same way?
Answer:
No, you return it to him with the saying of the Messenger
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When the people of the Book greet you, respond with: 'Wa 'alaikum' (And upon you)"
صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا سلم عليكم أهل الكتاب فقولوا وعليكمAnd when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it
وَإِذَا حُيِّيتُم بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيُّوا بِأَحْسَنَ مِنْهَا أَوْ رُدُّوهَا
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [435 -560] هل يرد على الكافر بالسلام إذا سلم سلاما واضحا؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.