Discussion on greeting a non-mahram woman and returning her greeting.

The questioner : I lower my gaze, and sometimes I ignore her.

The Shaykh : How old is she?

The questioner : Over forty years old.

The Shaykh : So her age is close to his?

The questioner: Yes ... .

The Shaykh : By Allah, the original ruling regarding greeting women and women greeting men, if she is a Muslim, is that one should not initiate the greeting. However, if speech is unavoidable, whether the man initiates with the woman or the woman with the man, if speech is necessary, then the greeting is preferable to other speech. As for someone who sees a woman on the road and says to her, "Peace be upon you," or she says to him, "Peace be upon you," that is not permissible unless she is an old woman who does not attract attention, or he is an old man. In that case, it is permissible to greet the passerby. So, you are currently truly afflicted. You should not persist in this affliction, and you are able to escape from it.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Amen.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Initiating is not permissible.

The questioner : It is not permissible...

The Shaykh : The same ruling applies, as you know. If the call is unavoidable, meaning, nowadays, often here a question comes from a woman who starts the question. Since she is going to speak with me, let her greet before speaking. Especially since there is a hadith: . The difference between a Muslim woman and a disbeliever is only in one aspect, which is that it is not permissible to initiate a greeting to a non-Muslim, whether male or female. If she is a Muslim woman, it is permissible to initiate a greeting to her, subject to the condition I mentioned earlier.