The Book of Greetings: Chapter on the Virtue of Greeting and the Command to Spread It: Allah the Exalted said

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Book of Greetings, Chapter on the Virtue of Greeting and the Command to Spread It. Allah the Exalted said:

O you who have believed, do not enter houses other than your own houses until you ascertain welcome and greet their inhabitants

يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تدخلوا بيوتًا غير بيوتكم حتى تستأنسوا وتسلموا على أهلها

[An-Nur 24:27]

And He the Exalted said:

But when you enter houses, give greetings of peace upon each other - a greeting from Allah, blessed and good

فإذا دخلتم بيوتًا فسلموا على أنفسكم تحية من عند الله مباركة طيبة

[An-Nur 24:61]

And He the Exalted said:

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 ردوها

[An-Nisa 4:86]

And He the Exalted said:

⁽²⁴⁾ Has there reached you the story of the honored guests of Abraham? - ⁽²⁵⁾ When they entered upon him and said, "[We greet you with] peace." He answered, "[And upon you] peace, [you are] a people unknown.

هل أتاك حديث ضيف إبراهيم المكرمين * إذ دخلوا عليه فقالوا سلامًا قال سلام قوم منكرون

[Adh-Dhariyat 51:24-25]

”.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Saliheen*: “The Book of Greetings”. By greeting, he means the salutation that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prescribed for his Ummah. *Salam* means supplicating for safety from every affliction. So if you say to a person, “Peace be upon you,” this means you are supplicating for him that Allah keeps him safe from every affliction: He keeps him safe from illness, from madness, from the evil of people, from sins and diseases of the hearts, and from the Fire. It is a general term meaning to supplicate for the one greeted to be safe from every affliction. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), out of their love for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), used to say in their prayer: “Peace be upon Allah from His servants, peace be upon Jibril, peace be upon so-and-so and so-and-so”. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) forbade them from saying “Peace be upon Allah from His servants” and said: meaning that He is the One who is safe from every defect and shortcoming (Exalted and Majestic is He), so there is no need for you to praise Him by supplicating that He keep Himself safe. Then he said to them: . I do not know if we are mindful of this when we say in prayer, “Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah.” I do not know if we are mindful that we are greeting ourselves? Peace be upon us and upon every righteous servant in the heavens and the earth. This means we greet the Prophets, we greet the Companions, we greet those who followed them in excellence, we greet the companions of the Prophets, such as the Hawariyyun, the companions of Isa, and the seventy men whom Musa (peace be upon him) chose, and others. Do we not know if we are mindful that we are greeting Jibril, Mika'il, Israfil, Malik the keeper of the Fire, the keeper of Paradise, and all the angels? I do not know if we are mindful of this or not. If we are not mindful, we must be mindful of it, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . Greeting is prescribed among Muslims, and they are commanded to spread it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: meaning, make it apparent and announce it. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) spoke the truth that spreading greetings among people is one of the causes of love. Therefore, if a man meets you and does not greet you, you dislike him, and if he greets you, you love him, even if you do not know him. For this reason, it is part of the beauty of Islam to spread greetings to those you know or to recite the greeting to those you know and those you do not know. Then the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned verses from the Book of Allah, among which is that greeting is from the Sunnah of the Messengers and the angels as well. These are the angels who came to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) . The scholars of grammar stated that Ibrahim’s response was more complete than the angels’ greeting, because the angels said: with the accusative case, and *salam* is a verbal noun for a deleted verb, estimated to be: “We greet with peace.” So the sentence is verbal and does not indicate permanence and stability. As for Ibrahim’s response, he said: meaning: “Upon you is peace.” So it is a nominal sentence that indicates stability. His response was more complete. For this reason, Ibrahim’s (peace be upon him) response is considered the most complete response, which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned: . It is thus clear that greeting is from the Sunnah of the previous Messengers and that it is also the practice of the near angels. Then the author also mentioned verses indicating this: . If you want to enter a house, do not enter if it is not your house until you seek permission and greet. What does *istansan* mean? It means that there should be no unease in your heart, because when a person enters another’s house without permission, he feels uneasy, and if he enters with permission, he feels at ease. There is a reading in this: but the Saba’i reading is because his saying: includes the case where a person seeks permission by the owner’s authorization or seeks permission by prior authorization. For example, he said to him, “Come to me at four-thirty, and you will find the door open.” So if you come at four-thirty and find the door open, there is no need to seek permission, because I am now at ease and not uneasy; I am at ease, having been given prior permission. So the reading is the correct one, meaning it is more comprehensive than the reading “until you seek permission,” and it is also the Saba’i reading. And his saying: also means greet the people of the house. “Peace be upon you, may I enter?” And if you enter your house, there is no need to seek permission because it is your house, but greet your family when you enter. Greet your family and start with the miswak before greeting your family. When you enter your house, start with the miswak, and when you reach your family, say: “Peace be upon you.” This is the Sunnah that came from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The rest of the discussion on the verses will come, if Allah wills.

The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah bless you. Regarding the custom people have adopted of saying “Welcome” in response to the greeting...