Is it true that there is scholarly consensus (ijma') that returning the greeting is not obligatory? This has been mentioned in many hadiths, as it is reported from Ibn 'Abd al-Barr that there is consensus that initiating the greeting is not obligatory.
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr reported the consensus (ijma') that initiating the greeting is not obligatory, but rather it is a recommended practice (sunnah). And Ibn Kathir said: "It is the opinion of all scholars". Is this correct, and what is the answer to the command to initiate the greeting found in many Prophetic hadiths? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : If the texts of the Shari'ah from the Book and the Sunnah indicate the obligation of a matter, and there is no evidence to divert it, then claiming consensus (ijma') and considering it a diversion of the matter from obligation to recommendation is something that a Muslim should not do. This is because reporting consensus in such theoretical issues is impossible, as Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) indicated in his statement, which his son Abdullah narrated in his *Masail* from his father, where he said: "Whoever claims consensus is a liar, and how does he know? Perhaps they are in disagreement". Therefore, one should not rely on such reports that mention consensus, because through tracking and investigation, it has been established that many of such claims of consensus in certain issues have been proven to have disagreement in them with certainty. Therefore, it is not permissible to nullify the text from the Book or the Sunnah based on a report whose truth or falsehood is unknown. In fact, we know that it cannot be true, based on what you have learned from the statement of Imam Ahmad: "Whoever claims consensus is a liar, and how does he know? Perhaps they are in disagreement". Therefore, we say that initiating the greeting is a right that is obligatory for a Muslim upon his Muslim brother, if it is one person. However, if they are a group and one of them initiates the greeting, then it is said that initiating the greeting is not an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) for any of them, but rather it is obligatory for one of them, and it is recommended (mustahabb) for the others to initiate the greeting along with the one who initiated it. As for one person with one person, it is necessary to affirm the obligation of both initiating and returning the greeting, due to the aforementioned verse and the hadiths, some of which we mentioned and the questioner referred to some of them.
Yes
The Shaykh : If the texts of the Shari'ah from the Book and the Sunnah indicate the obligation of a matter, and there is no evidence to divert it, then claiming consensus (ijma') and considering it a diversion of the matter from obligation to recommendation is something that a Muslim should not do. This is because reporting consensus in such theoretical issues is impossible, as Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) indicated in his statement, which his son Abdullah narrated in his *Masail* from his father, where he said: "Whoever claims consensus is a liar, and how does he know? Perhaps they are in disagreement". Therefore, one should not rely on such reports that mention consensus, because through tracking and investigation, it has been established that many of such claims of consensus in certain issues have been proven to have disagreement in them with certainty. Therefore, it is not permissible to nullify the text from the Book or the Sunnah based on a report whose truth or falsehood is unknown. In fact, we know that it cannot be true, based on what you have learned from the statement of Imam Ahmad: "Whoever claims consensus is a liar, and how does he know? Perhaps they are in disagreement". Therefore, we say that initiating the greeting is a right that is obligatory for a Muslim upon his Muslim brother, if it is one person. However, if they are a group and one of them initiates the greeting, then it is said that initiating the greeting is not an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) for any of them, but rather it is obligatory for one of them, and it is recommended (mustahabb) for the others to initiate the greeting along with the one who initiated it. As for one person with one person, it is necessary to affirm the obligation of both initiating and returning the greeting, due to the aforementioned verse and the hadiths, some of which we mentioned and the questioner referred to some of them.
Yes