The ruling on returning the salam in a gathering to the one who intended the salam
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: Shaykh, if a person is in a gathering with a group of people and another person enters and greets a specific individual, but that individual does not return the salam, is it necessary for another person to return it, or does the sin fall on the person who was specifically greeted?
Answer:
Yes, it is obligatory for the Muslim to return the salam. Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:86] Initiating the salam is a recommended practice (sunnah), whereas returning the salam is obligatory. So you have left an obligation. The one who did this has left an obligation. The one who enters a gathering should greet everyone with a general salam, saying "As-salamu alaykum" or "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh," and then greet the specific person he intends with a particular salam. Yes.
The questioner says: Shaykh, if a person is in a gathering with a group of people and another person enters and greets a specific individual, but that individual does not return the salam, is it necessary for another person to return it, or does the sin fall on the person who was specifically greeted?
Answer:
Yes, it is obligatory for the Muslim to return the salam. Allah the Exalted said:
And 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
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/173 — archive.org (2:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.