What is the ruling on the military salute given to officers, which is mandatory?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The honorable Shaykh, a person is asking, and he is a soldier, asking about the ruling on the salute.
The Shaykh : What kind of salute?
The questioner : The salute given to officers, and this is mandatory for them; if they do not give it, are they subject to trial?
The Shaykh : First: describe the officers' salute to us, because we do not believe that anyone is better disciplined than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Rightly Guided Caliphs, and their greeting was like the greeting of other Muslims: "As-salamu alaykum," or "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah," or "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh." So what is the officers' salute that you referred to?
The questioner : He gestures with his hand.
The Shaykh : He gestures with his hand and strikes with his leg?
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : In any case, combining the verbal greeting with the gesture is permissible. For example, if he says "As-salamu alaykum," but striking with the leg has no basis whatsoever, and it is not appropriate to strike with the leg, as it might affect his leg or the ground beneath him if it is made of wood or the like. The point is that this has no basis, but we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to guide the Muslims to abolish such matters, and to look to those who preceded them from this Ummah, not to those who lagged behind them from the present nations. We are Muslims, so is it better for us to follow the guidance of the Muslims or the guidance of non-Muslims?
Following the guidance of the Muslims, without a doubt. The guidance of the Muslims is that if one passes by, he says "As-salamu alaykum." If he is far away, he combines the gesture and the words: "As-salamu alaykum." And if he is deaf and greets him, he also combines the words and the gesture for him. As for doing otherwise, such as limiting it to the gesture only, that is wrong.
Then I have seen some soldiers giving a strange greeting; they bend their hand like this, the machine gun salute, where they hold it like this. The machine gun salute, if you see an enemy combatant, you put it on your chest; do not put your hand on your chest.
In any case, we ask Allah to guide the responsible officials to be discerning in the matter, and to follow the guidance of the righteous Salaf.
If an officer passes by, he should greet him and say "As-salamu alaykum," because he is his Muslim brother, even if he is lower in rank. And the second one says "Wa alaykum as-salam." By Allah, if they did this, it would be a supplication, an act of worship, a reward, and a merit. Now, the entire army is accustomed to praying for their safety, is that not so?
So is it better that we say "As-salamu alaykum," since they all want safety? We ask Allah the Exalted to make the responsible officials aware of this matter, and for them to have a specific emblem, which is the emblem that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions had.
How much time is left now? Please allow us, because there is...
The Shaykh : What kind of salute?
The questioner : The salute given to officers, and this is mandatory for them; if they do not give it, are they subject to trial?
The Shaykh : First: describe the officers' salute to us, because we do not believe that anyone is better disciplined than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Rightly Guided Caliphs, and their greeting was like the greeting of other Muslims: "As-salamu alaykum," or "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah," or "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh." So what is the officers' salute that you referred to?
The questioner : He gestures with his hand.
The Shaykh : He gestures with his hand and strikes with his leg?
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : In any case, combining the verbal greeting with the gesture is permissible. For example, if he says "As-salamu alaykum," but striking with the leg has no basis whatsoever, and it is not appropriate to strike with the leg, as it might affect his leg or the ground beneath him if it is made of wood or the like. The point is that this has no basis, but we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to guide the Muslims to abolish such matters, and to look to those who preceded them from this Ummah, not to those who lagged behind them from the present nations. We are Muslims, so is it better for us to follow the guidance of the Muslims or the guidance of non-Muslims?
Following the guidance of the Muslims, without a doubt. The guidance of the Muslims is that if one passes by, he says "As-salamu alaykum." If he is far away, he combines the gesture and the words: "As-salamu alaykum." And if he is deaf and greets him, he also combines the words and the gesture for him. As for doing otherwise, such as limiting it to the gesture only, that is wrong.
Then I have seen some soldiers giving a strange greeting; they bend their hand like this, the machine gun salute, where they hold it like this. The machine gun salute, if you see an enemy combatant, you put it on your chest; do not put your hand on your chest.
In any case, we ask Allah to guide the responsible officials to be discerning in the matter, and to follow the guidance of the righteous Salaf.
If an officer passes by, he should greet him and say "As-salamu alaykum," because he is his Muslim brother, even if he is lower in rank. And the second one says "Wa alaykum as-salam." By Allah, if they did this, it would be a supplication, an act of worship, a reward, and a merit. Now, the entire army is accustomed to praying for their safety, is that not so?
So is it better that we say "As-salamu alaykum," since they all want safety? We ask Allah the Exalted to make the responsible officials aware of this matter, and for them to have a specific emblem, which is the emblem that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions had.
How much time is left now? Please allow us, because there is...