Continuation of the answer regarding the ruling on responding to a disbeliever when he greets a Muslim.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : We have, as we said, two hadiths. The first hadith: "When that Jew entered upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and greeted him with the greeting of the Jews, he (peace be upon him) responded by saying: , or he said: . And the Lady Aisha was behind the screen, so she raised her voice while angry -- please -- and said: 'And upon you be the curse, the wrath, and the brothers of the monkeys and the pigs.' The man sat for a while, then he left. The Messenger said to her: . She said: 'O Messenger of Allah -- as if she was excusing her anger -- did you not hear what he said?' He said to her: . So if he meant that we heard badly and his greeting was according to the Shari'ah, then we (peace be upon him) responded to him. And if he meant the other meaning, the one you understood, then we responded to him. And do not transgress [Al-Baqarah 2:194]. This is the first hadith, and it benefits us in that if a disbeliever greets with a greeting that is, meaning, loaded with a trap, containing a hidden meaning, containing a bad meaning, then we respond to him with one word only: 'And upon you.' And the other hadith, he (peace be upon him) said: . This is the second hadith. From it we understand what we understood from the first hadith, plus something else very important, which is that responding with 'And upon you' regarding a disbeliever is only, as I answered you initially, if you think that he includes in his greeting a meaning that is not appropriate. In that case, you say: 'And upon you.' But if you are assured that his greeting is like the greeting of the Muslims, and his expression is clear and explicit, 'Peace be upon you,' then it is obligatory for you to respond (peace be upon him) and say: 'And upon you be peace.'
The questioner : And do not add.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And do not add 'and mercy'?
The Shaykh : And do not add. Is the answer clear?
The questioner : Is that clear?
The Shaykh: All right.
And upon you
وعليكAnd upon you
وعليكمWhat is this, O Aisha? Be gentle. Gentleness has never been in anything except that it adorned it, and harshness has never been in anything except that it disgraced it.
ما هذا يا عائشة ؟ عليك بالرِّفق ، ما كان الرِّفقُ في شيء إلا زانَه ، وما كان العنفُ في شيءٍ إلا شانَهDid you not hear what I said?
ألم تسمعي ما قلت ؟So whoever has assaulted you, then assault him in the same way that he has assaulted you
فَمَنِ اعْتَدَى عَلَيْكُمْ فَاعْتَدُوا عَلَيْهِ بِمِثْلِ مَا اعْتَدَى عَلَيْكُمْIndeed, we are coming upon the Jews. If one of them greets you, say: 'And upon you.' For indeed, they say: 'The curse be upon you.'
إنَّا قادمون على يهود ، فإذا سلَّم أحدهم عليكم فقولوا : وعليكم ؛ فإنما يقولون : السام عليكمThe questioner : And do not add.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And do not add 'and mercy'?
The Shaykh : And do not add. Is the answer clear?
The questioner : Is that clear?
The Shaykh: All right.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.