Is it obligatory to initiate the greeting of peace?

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The questioner : His saying (peace and blessings be upon him), "Spread the greeting of peace among yourselves," does this not indicate that initiating the greeting of peace is obligatory?

The Shaykh : No, it is not obligatory unless it leads to severing ties. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

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 للمؤمن أن يهجر أخاه فوق ثلاث ، يلتقيان فيعرض هذا ويعرض هذا وخيرهما الذي يبدأ بالسلام

Sahih Muslim 2560a

. This is evidence that leaving off the greeting of peace is not forbidden unless it leads to severing ties by exceeding three days, in which case it is not permissible.

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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