The Shaykh’s advice to the brothers present to be diligent in the Sunnah of following the greeting with a handshake, and correcting the incorrect phrase (I as a Muslim or I as a Salafi).

The Shaykh : When one of you enters, let him enter, and complete the greeting with a handshake. So be diligent in this handshake; for it is a Prophetic Sunnah from his deeds (peace be upon him) and his words. As for his deeds, Abu Dharr said: "We never met the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) but he would shake hands with us," "We never met him but he would shake hands with us." This is his deed. As for his words, as you heard from the hadith, he said (peace be upon him): . Then, in this Sunnah—that is, the Sunnah of following the greeting with a handshake—there is the elimination of a bad custom prevalent in the Islamic world. It is incumbent upon us, in our capacity as Salafis—and I do not say "it is incumbent upon us as Salafis," because that is an incorrect expression, even though it is common to say "I as a Muslim, I as a Salafi, I as such." This is a foreign expression; because when you say "I as a Salafi," it means you are not a Salafi, and when you say "I as a Muslim," it means you are not a Muslim. That is the error in a person saying "I as a Salafi" or "as a Muslim." So, after this short parenthetical remark: We, in our capacity as Salafis, must spread the Sunnah, at least among ourselves. Otherwise, we will be among those who say what they do not do. As for the gatherings where it is not feasible for us to spread the Sunnah, there is no power nor strength except with Allah, and we have an excuse there. But at least, our private gatherings should always and forever be filled with the Sunnah in word and deed. So, when one of us enters and greets those who are sitting, and they are sitting and seated, and he shakes hands with them, in that is the elimination of the polytheism that has spread throughout the Islamic lands today. They stand up for the one who enters, and they remain standing until this one who enters sits down. This is what the Messenger (peace be upon him) disliked, even in the most sacred state or form, which is prayer. Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih, from the hadith of Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the people and prayed with them sitting the midday prayer. So the people behind him stood up. He gestured to them while praying to sit down, so they sat. When he finished the prayer, he turned to them and said: .
The point is his saying: . So it is clear in this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dropped a pillar of the prayer, which is standing, for the healthy worshippers who are not permitted to pray sitting, due to his saying (peace be upon him): . These people were able to stand, and they did so behind the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him). Nevertheless, he gestured to them to sit, and he said explicitly: . Why? To abolish an apparent polytheism, which is the king sitting on his throne and the retinue standing behind him in reverence for him. Knowing that the Messenger (peace be upon him) only sat in prayer out of necessity, and did not sit as Kisra did in arrogance. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) also sat or stood before; they stood behind him (peace be upon him) for the Lord of the Worlds (Glorified and Exalted is He), and they did not stand for the sake of the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him). With these differences between the Messenger and his Companions, and between Kisra and his retinue, he said to them: , despite their differing intentions. He wanted, even in prayer, that no image resembling the image of the polytheists—the people of Persia—appear. So he said: . What about us today? It is not in prayer that we stand behind the sitting imam, but in our usual gatherings. We are sitting, the one who enters comes in, we all stand up for him, and we remain standing like this as if we stood for the Lord of the Worlds until he sits, and then we sit. This is the problem that the Messenger (peace be upon him) fought against with his well-known saying in the Sahih: . And every one who enters and does not dislike this standing in his heart, but rather his soul, which commands evil, approves of it, has a small or large share of that severe warning: . I say this because among the people who stand, some stand and sit; that is, they do not imitate, and some remain imitating, lacking nothing but placing their right hand on their left as they do in prayer, and some prolong their standing in reverence for the one who enters. Therefore, I remind you—and the reminder benefits the believers—that among the Sunnahs of the Messenger (peace be upon him) upon meeting is the handshake, and in it is what we mentioned of following him (peace be upon him) first, then acquiring the virtue of forgiveness second, and thirdly and finally, the elimination of the custom of imitating by standing. And in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or lends an ear while being a witness.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.