We would like you to shed light on the rulings regarding the greeting of peace, as many people are negligent in this great matter?
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The questioner : This is a questioner for the program who says, "We would like you to shed light on the rulings regarding the greeting of peace, as many people are negligent in this great matter. May Allah reward you with good."
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The greeting of peace is among the prescribed matters and among the rights of a Muslim over his brother. So it is the right of a Muslim over you that you greet him with peace when you meet him. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade boycotting a Muslim for more than three days. He said, (peace and blessings be upon him),Sahih Muslim 2560a It was among the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he would initiate the greeting of peace to whoever he met. That is, he, (peace and blessings be upon him), would initiate the greeting of peace to whoever he met and greet him with peace. The greeting of peace is the banner of Islam, a cause of love, and a perfection of faith. By it, meaning by the perfection of faith, one enters Paradise. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said, meaning, spread it and make it public. The prescribed formula for the greeting of peace is to say, "Peace be upon you" if it is one person, or "Peace be upon you all" if they are a group. If one says "Peace be upon you all" to one person, there is no harm. This is in the initiation. In the response, one says, "And upon you peace," or "And upon you all peace," or "And upon you peace," or "And upon you all peace." All of this is permissible. The recommended practice is not achieved by saying "Welcome" or "Ahlan" in the initiation or in the response. For this reason, one is considered deficient if he meets his brother and says, "Welcome, Abu So-and-so," or "Ahlan, Abu So-and-so," or "May Allah bless you with a good morning," or "May Allah keep you well." No, he should first say, "Peace be upon you." And in the response, some people say "Ahlan" or "Welcome" or "May Allah keep you" or the like. This is not sufficient in responding to the greeting of peace. Rather, it is obligatory that when he is greeted with peace, he says, "And upon you peace," or as we said, "And upon you," or "And upon you all," or "And upon you all." If he says in response to the greeting of peace "Ahlan wa sahlan" a thousand times, it does not suffice and does not fulfill what is obligatory upon him. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said that initiating the greeting of peace is a recommended practice and responding to it is obligatory, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted, [An-Nisa 4:86] So Allah the Exalted first commanded the best, and if that is not possible, then to respond with the like of it. The goodness in the response is in the formula, in the voice, and in the face. For example, if he says, "Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah," the best is that you say, "And upon you peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings," or "And upon you peace and the mercy of Allah, May Allah keep you," or "And upon you peace and the mercy of Allah, Ahlan wa sahlan." This is in the formula. In the voice, if he says "Peace be upon you" with a clear, loud voice, the response to him should be that your response is clearer than his greeting and more distinct, or at least like it, being the same as it. As for if he greets you with a clear, distinct, audible voice, and then you respond to him with your nose, or with a voice that he may hear and may not hear, then you have not come with what is obligatory, because Allah said, [An-Nisa 4:86].
Likewise, in cheerfulness, if he greets you with a cheerful, open face, do not respond to him with a frowning, gloomy face, because you have not greeted him with the like of what he greeted you with, nor with something better. These are matters that many people overlook. The believer should know them and apply them practically. And uglier than that, and the ugliest of what some fools do, is that they were dazzled by the material power of the West until they thought that progress and advancement lay in imitating them, even in religious rituals. Some of them would say "bye bye," meaning "Peace be upon you," and perhaps they taught their children this, as we actually heard that from some children. When he leaves or she leaves him, he says "bye bye." Where did this come from except from the teaching of the fathers! Weak souls, weak personalities. The Muslim must be noble by his Islam and his religion, and he should take pride when he applies the Shari'ah of Allah in himself and in the servants of Allah. Then know that it is prescribed that the young person greets the old person, the few greet the many, the rider greets the walker, and the walker greets the sitter. If the application of this recommended practice occurs, that is best. Otherwise, let the old person greet the young person, and it does not harm him except in nobility and elevation. Do not leave the greeting of peace between you because the young person did not initiate the greeting of peace to the old person. Likewise, the few greet the many. Perhaps you are with a group and one person meets you and is about to pass by without greeting. You should greet him, and do not let him pass without a greeting from him or from you, so that the banner of Islam, by which there is affection and love, does not depart from you. And be confident that if you greet him while you are a group and he is one, he will be ashamed and will be alert, and this will be stronger than if you said, "O So-and-so, why did you not greet?" Because every person is human and is ashamed when something is found in him that causes shame.
Then, the greeting of peace to the busy person is not recommended, especially if we know that it is disliked. For example, if you find a person occupied with reading the Qur'an, and you know that if you greet him you will interrupt his reading, and he is reading from memory, do not greet him unless you fear that leaving the greeting will be attributed to something else, then greet him to ward off the harm.
Also, it is observed that some people, when they greet from the prayer, greet the one on their right or left, even though they had already greeted him when they first stood next to him. This is not necessary unless you fear that leaving the greeting will be attributed to arrogance or the like. So warding off harms is more important than seeking benefits, and to ward off the possibility that there is an innovation. You can extend your hand to him to shake hands and say, "Welcome, Abu So-and-so, how are you? How are you?" without delivering the greeting of peace, because you have already delivered it before. And sometimes you see two men who came together and prayed the greeting of the mosque or the regular voluntary prayer, and then when they finished the prayer, one of them greets the other, which is feared to lead everyone to believe that it is a recommended practice to deliver the greeting of peace after finishing the prayer. And this is not a recommended practice. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The greeting of peace is among the prescribed matters and among the rights of a Muslim over his brother. So it is the right of a Muslim over you that you greet him with peace when you meet him. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade boycotting a Muslim for more than three days. He said, (peace and blessings be upon him),
It is not permissible for a Muslim to have estranged relations with his brother beyond three nights, the one turning one way and the other turning the other way when they meet; the better of the two is one who is the first to give a greeting.
لا يحل لمسلم أن يهجر أخاه فوق ثلاث يلتقيان فيعرض هذا ويعرض هذا وخيرهما الذي يبدؤ بالسلامBy Allah, or he said, By Myself in Whose Hand is your soul, you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I inform you of something that, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread the greeting of peace among yourselves.
والله أو قال والذي نفسي بيده لا تدخلوا الجنة حتى تؤمنوا ولا تؤمنوا حتى تحابوا أفلا أخبركم بشيء إذا فعلتموه تحاببتم أفشوا السلام بينكمAnd when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it
وَإِذا حُيّيتُم بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيّوا بِأَحسَنَ مِنها أَو رُدّوهاwith one better than it or [at least] return it
بِأَحسَنَ مِنها أَو رُدّوهاLikewise, in cheerfulness, if he greets you with a cheerful, open face, do not respond to him with a frowning, gloomy face, because you have not greeted him with the like of what he greeted you with, nor with something better. These are matters that many people overlook. The believer should know them and apply them practically. And uglier than that, and the ugliest of what some fools do, is that they were dazzled by the material power of the West until they thought that progress and advancement lay in imitating them, even in religious rituals. Some of them would say "bye bye," meaning "Peace be upon you," and perhaps they taught their children this, as we actually heard that from some children. When he leaves or she leaves him, he says "bye bye." Where did this come from except from the teaching of the fathers! Weak souls, weak personalities. The Muslim must be noble by his Islam and his religion, and he should take pride when he applies the Shari'ah of Allah in himself and in the servants of Allah. Then know that it is prescribed that the young person greets the old person, the few greet the many, the rider greets the walker, and the walker greets the sitter. If the application of this recommended practice occurs, that is best. Otherwise, let the old person greet the young person, and it does not harm him except in nobility and elevation. Do not leave the greeting of peace between you because the young person did not initiate the greeting of peace to the old person. Likewise, the few greet the many. Perhaps you are with a group and one person meets you and is about to pass by without greeting. You should greet him, and do not let him pass without a greeting from him or from you, so that the banner of Islam, by which there is affection and love, does not depart from you. And be confident that if you greet him while you are a group and he is one, he will be ashamed and will be alert, and this will be stronger than if you said, "O So-and-so, why did you not greet?" Because every person is human and is ashamed when something is found in him that causes shame.
Then, the greeting of peace to the busy person is not recommended, especially if we know that it is disliked. For example, if you find a person occupied with reading the Qur'an, and you know that if you greet him you will interrupt his reading, and he is reading from memory, do not greet him unless you fear that leaving the greeting will be attributed to something else, then greet him to ward off the harm.
Also, it is observed that some people, when they greet from the prayer, greet the one on their right or left, even though they had already greeted him when they first stood next to him. This is not necessary unless you fear that leaving the greeting will be attributed to arrogance or the like. So warding off harms is more important than seeking benefits, and to ward off the possibility that there is an innovation. You can extend your hand to him to shake hands and say, "Welcome, Abu So-and-so, how are you? How are you?" without delivering the greeting of peace, because you have already delivered it before. And sometimes you see two men who came together and prayed the greeting of the mosque or the regular voluntary prayer, and then when they finished the prayer, one of them greets the other, which is feared to lead everyone to believe that it is a recommended practice to deliver the greeting of peace after finishing the prayer. And this is not a recommended practice. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.