The Ruling on Greeting a Disbeliever and Responding to It
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The Shaykh : Is it permissible for a person to initiate the greeting to a disbeliever, or not? No. Yes, yes. What is your evidence?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You don't know, may Allah bless you. If you would just be patient, my brother. A discussion, may Allah reward you with good. I say, what do I teach you? That it is not permissible. Yes, I say, what do I teach you? That it is not permissible for us to initiate the greeting to a disbeliever?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, be patient, my brother. The question is, if we are with a group, the question is for him, yes. I ask, do you initiate? You pass by a disbeliever man, a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian or any disbeliever person, do you initiate the greeting to him?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : I ask you, do you initiate the greeting to him or not?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : What is the evidence?
The student: I don't know.
The Shaykh : How do you judge what you do not know the evidence for? Well, rest. In any case, he who stopped at what he heard has done well. But do not judge anything as lawful or forbidden, especially, unless you know the evidence, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nahl 16:116] and His saying: [Al-Isra 17:36] But there is no harm for the one who follows a scholar (mقلid) to say, "Our scholars said so and so," because he is a follower. Do you have evidence? Please.
The student: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:.
The Shaykh : I do not know this wording. Do you permit narrating a hadith by meaning?
The student: Hmm.
The Shaykh : Do you permit that a hadith be narrated by meaning?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : It is not permissible. Well, if you made a mistake, please.
The student: His saying (peace and blessings be upon him):.
The Shaykh : Rest. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:Bulugh al-Maram 16:10 Drive them to the narrowest part. So it is not permissible to initiate the greeting to a Jew or a Christian or a polytheist or a communist. But if they greet, is it obligatory for me to respond or not? Please.
The student: It is obligatory to respond to the greeting.
The Shaykh : It is obligatory. What is the evidence? The ruling is enough from you, may Allah bless you and reform you. Yes, the evidence, please.
The questioner : When the Jew came and greeted the Messenger of Allah in the mosque, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) responded to him, saying: "The peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah."
The Shaykh : It is not so. Rest, please.
The student: He said: "And upon you the peace."
The Shaykh : Rest, Shaykh.
The student: "Upon you the peace."
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah. We recited to you a verse from the Book of Allah a little while ago:[An-Nisa 4:86] What did Allah (Mighty and Majestic) say? When some of you greet each other, or when Muslims greet you? Any person who greets you with a greeting, then from the justice of Islam, you respond to him. Does Allah command with what? With justice and excellence and giving to relatives. Greet him. So if he says, "The Christian says, 'Peace be upon you,'" what do you say? "Peace be upon you." You say, "Peace be upon you." And if he elides the lam and says, "The peace be upon you," do you not know if he said "peace" or said "the peace be upon you"?
The student: I say, "And upon you."
The Shaykh : "And upon you," may Allah bless you. You did well. This is how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to say: If they greet us, "And upon you." And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this by his saying: The scholars said: "And this indicates that if they said 'peace' with the clear lam, then it is said 'And upon you peace' and there is no harm" due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:86] But some people are tested with a trial, and I will look at how you solve it. His boss at work is a Christian. His boss at work is a Christian. He enters the office and wants to communicate with this boss. Does he greet or not? Brother, you?
The student: He does not greet.
The Shaykh : He does not greet. He will be angry with you and fire you.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Of course, yes. You do not think that if you boycott the disbeliever, he will not care about you. No, absolutely not. Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:104] Do not think that if you insult him, he will not be affected. No, he must be affected. So what do you do? Yes?
The student: I do not greet him.
The Shaykh : You do not greet. I told you, it will be written against you. Cross it out in red. Rest. Say.
The student: I respond to him with any greeting, like "Good morning."
The Shaykh : You did well. Perfect, may Allah bless you. That means, initiate with other than the greeting, because the Messenger said:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1602Sahih (Darussalam) With any greeting, as the brother said, I say: "Good morning." And with that, I can say "Good morning," meaning for me what is not for him, because the door of interpretation is wide.
And send me to the Station of Praise which You have promised me. You do not break Your promise. O Allah, forgive me and my parents and all the Muslims.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You don't know, may Allah bless you. If you would just be patient, my brother. A discussion, may Allah reward you with good. I say, what do I teach you? That it is not permissible. Yes, I say, what do I teach you? That it is not permissible for us to initiate the greeting to a disbeliever?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, be patient, my brother. The question is, if we are with a group, the question is for him, yes. I ask, do you initiate? You pass by a disbeliever man, a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian or any disbeliever person, do you initiate the greeting to him?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : I ask you, do you initiate the greeting to him or not?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : What is the evidence?
The student: I don't know.
The Shaykh : How do you judge what you do not know the evidence for? Well, rest. In any case, he who stopped at what he heard has done well. But do not judge anything as lawful or forbidden, especially, unless you know the evidence, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, "This is lawful and this is unlawful,"
ولا تقولوا لما تصف ألسنتكم الكذب هذا حلال وهذا حرامAnd do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge
ولا تقف ما ليس لك به علمThe student: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
When you meet the disbeliever, restrict him until...
إذا لقيتم الكافر فضيقوا عليه حتى ...The Shaykh : I do not know this wording. Do you permit narrating a hadith by meaning?
The student: Hmm.
The Shaykh : Do you permit that a hadith be narrated by meaning?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : It is not permissible. Well, if you made a mistake, please.
The student: His saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
When you meet the People of the Book, do not initiate the greeting to them.
إذا لقيتم أهل الكتاب فلا تبدؤوهم بالسلامThe Shaykh : Rest. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:
Do not initiate the saluting of Jews and Christians (when you meet them), and if you meet any of them on the road, force him to go to the narrowest part of the road (i.e. do not give way for them to pass, but keep going).
لا تبدؤوا اليهود ولا النصارى بالسلام وإذا لقيتموهم في طريق فاضطروهم إلى أضيقهThe student: It is obligatory to respond to the greeting.
The Shaykh : It is obligatory. What is the evidence? The ruling is enough from you, may Allah bless you and reform you. Yes, the evidence, please.
The questioner : When the Jew came and greeted the Messenger of Allah in the mosque, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) responded to him, saying: "The peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah."
The Shaykh : It is not so. Rest, please.
The student: He said: "And upon you the peace."
The Shaykh : Rest, Shaykh.
The student: "Upon you the peace."
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah. We recited to you a verse from the Book of Allah a little while ago:
And when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it
وإذا حييتم بتحية فحيوا بأحسن منها أو ردوهاThe student: I say, "And upon you."
The Shaykh : "And upon you," may Allah bless you. You did well. This is how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to say: If they greet us, "And upon you." And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this by his saying:
The Jews used to say, when they greeted you, "The peace be upon you," so say, "And upon you."
إن اليهود كانوا يقولون إذا سلموا عليكم السام عليكم فقولوا وعليكمAnd when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it
وإذا حييتم بتحية فحيوا بأحسن منها أو ردوهاThe student: He does not greet.
The Shaykh : He does not greet. He will be angry with you and fire you.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Of course, yes. You do not think that if you boycott the disbeliever, he will not care about you. No, absolutely not. Allah the Exalted said:
And do not weaken in pursuit of the enemy. If you should be suffering - so are they suffering as you are suffering, but you expect from Allah
ولا تهنوا في ابتغاء القوم إن تكونوا تألمون فإنهم يألمون كما تألمون وترجون من الله لا يرجونThe student: I do not greet him.
The Shaykh : You do not greet. I told you, it will be written against you. Cross it out in red. Rest. Say.
The student: I respond to him with any greeting, like "Good morning."
The Shaykh : You did well. Perfect, may Allah bless you. That means, initiate with other than the greeting, because the Messenger said:
Do not precede the Jews and the Christians with the Salam
لا تبدؤوا اليهود والنصارى بالسلامAnd send me to the Station of Praise which You have promised me. You do not break Your promise. O Allah, forgive me and my parents and all the Muslims.