Greeting the Few by the Many
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Third: Does the many greet the few, or the few greet the many? The few, such as a young person with an older person, the few greet the many.Meaning: If a group of five and six meet, who greets? The five greet the six; because the six have an excess, and the one with the excess has a right—the one with the excess has a right—so the few greet the many. And if they do not do so, let the many greet the few so that the Sunnah is not missed between them.
Likewise, the rider and the pedestrian: if two men meet, one walking and the other riding in his car or on his camel, who greets? The rider greets the pedestrian; because the rider has a height, so he greets the pedestrian; because the Sunnah came with this. The one going up to the one going down? Or the one going down to the one going up? The one going up greets the one going down. If two people meet on a staircase, the one going up is the one who greets the one going down.
And if the Sunnah does not come from the one who is supposed to initiate it, let the second one initiate it.The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (It is not permissible for a Muslim to boycott his brother for more than three days. They meet, and this one turns away and that one turns away, and the best of them is the one who initiates the greeting) He said: The best of them, so that indicates that the one who initiates the greeting to another is better, and it is so; because when you greet, you get ten good deeds, and then when your companion responds, he gets ten good deeds. And what is the reason that made him get the ten good deeds? The reason is the initiator. If you had not greeted, he would not have responded, so you would be the cause of this one who did a good deed, so you get his reward.For this reason, the scholars said: Initiating the greeting is a recommended practice, and responding to it is obligatory. Then they raised an objection to this.They said: Which is better: initiating the greeting, or responding to the greeting? Initiating the greeting is better.Then they raised an objection, saying: How can the recommended practice be better than the obligatory?And the legal principle is: The obligatory is better, as Allah the Exalted said in the Holy Hadith: (My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him).
They answered that, saying: The answer to this objection is that this obligatory was based on the recommended practice, so the recommended practice upon which the obligatory was based, for the one who performed it, is the reward of his specific reward, and the reward of the responder’s obligatory.
Likewise, the rider and the pedestrian: if two men meet, one walking and the other riding in his car or on his camel, who greets? The rider greets the pedestrian; because the rider has a height, so he greets the pedestrian; because the Sunnah came with this. The one going up to the one going down? Or the one going down to the one going up? The one going up greets the one going down. If two people meet on a staircase, the one going up is the one who greets the one going down.
And if the Sunnah does not come from the one who is supposed to initiate it, let the second one initiate it.The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (It is not permissible for a Muslim to boycott his brother for more than three days. They meet, and this one turns away and that one turns away, and the best of them is the one who initiates the greeting) He said: The best of them, so that indicates that the one who initiates the greeting to another is better, and it is so; because when you greet, you get ten good deeds, and then when your companion responds, he gets ten good deeds. And what is the reason that made him get the ten good deeds? The reason is the initiator. If you had not greeted, he would not have responded, so you would be the cause of this one who did a good deed, so you get his reward.For this reason, the scholars said: Initiating the greeting is a recommended practice, and responding to it is obligatory. Then they raised an objection to this.They said: Which is better: initiating the greeting, or responding to the greeting? Initiating the greeting is better.Then they raised an objection, saying: How can the recommended practice be better than the obligatory?And the legal principle is: The obligatory is better, as Allah the Exalted said in the Holy Hadith: (My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him).
They answered that, saying: The answer to this objection is that this obligatory was based on the recommended practice, so the recommended practice upon which the obligatory was based, for the one who performed it, is the reward of his specific reward, and the reward of the responder’s obligatory.