The Third Topic: Greeting the Disbeliever.

The Shaykh : Among the topics of greeting is: Do you greet the disbeliever or not?
The answer is: Do not greet, meaning do not greet any disbeliever, whether Jewish or Christian, or Buddhist, or Communist, or any other one who is not upon Islam; do not greet him. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and because greeting them is a form of honoring and respecting them, and they are not worthy of that. So what should one do? If a disbeliever man meets you, what should you do? Answer? Do not greet; remain silent. If the disbeliever greets you, is it obligatory to return the greeting? The answer is: Yes, if the disbeliever greets you, it is obligatory to return the greeting, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: . He did not say: "If the Muslim greets you." He said: "If you are greeted," meaning if you are greeted with a greeting, return it with something better than it. Yes. . But how do you say it? Say exactly what he said to you; say as he said to you. If he says: "May Allah greet you, O Abu So-and-so," say: "May Allah greet you." If he says: "Peace be upon you," say: "Peace be upon you." If he says: "Death be upon you," say: "And upon you." If you wish, say: "And upon you be death." But if there is confusion in the matter, do not say: "Peace be upon you," nor "Death be upon you." But say: "And upon you," and that is sufficient. However, some people may be tested. There may be a department whose head is a disbeliever, as is the case in some companies, where the manager is a disbeliever. What should one do? Does he enter without greeting? Answer? The original ruling is to enter without greeting. But he knows that if he does not greet, this manager will dig a hole for him and throw him into it. I do not mean a real hole, but rather removing him from his position to a difficult job or something similar. What should he do? We say: There is no harm in saying "Welcome," or "Welcome, So-and-so," or saying "Peace" only, and intending what? He intends: "Upon me and upon the righteous servants of Allah." Otherwise, do not greet. Do not initiate the legal greeting. As for if the disbeliever greets and you return it, that is justice.