Peace upon one who is not known to be a Muslim
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: What is the ruling on greeting with the salam one whose faith is unknown, and one whose faith is known? In our time, many people imitate the foreigners by shaving their beards and their eyebrows. So if a person encounters someone he does not know, what should he say?
Answer:
When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked which tongue is the best, he said: “That you send the salam to the one you know and the one you do not know, and that you feed people.” So as long as you do not know that he is a disbeliever, there is no harm in sending the salam. You initiate the salam and return the salam if someone does not know you. You spread the salam, and praise be to Allah. And if it is possible for you to give advice, advise him, because he may be ignorant of the religious rulings, but he is a Muslim.
He says: What is the ruling on greeting with the salam one whose faith is unknown, and one whose faith is known? In our time, many people imitate the foreigners by shaving their beards and their eyebrows. So if a person encounters someone he does not know, what should he say?
Answer:
When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked which tongue is the best, he said: “That you send the salam to the one you know and the one you do not know, and that you feed people.” So as long as you do not know that he is a disbeliever, there is no harm in sending the salam. You initiate the salam and return the salam if someone does not know you. You spread the salam, and praise be to Allah. And if it is possible for you to give advice, advise him, because he may be ignorant of the religious rulings, but he is a Muslim.
Source
شرح كتاب الاستقامة، بداية من قول المُصَنِّف : وهكذا المرأة التي تعرف بريبة تفتن بها الرجال تبعد عن مواضع الريب — islamhouse.com (20:30)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.