A Talk on Greeting with Peace and Spreading It

The Shaykh : Allah (Mighty and Majestic) singled out the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) with this, to the exclusion of other nations. This peace that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) prescribed for the Muslims is the peace of the angels . This peace, in this specific wording, is a distinct characteristic of the Muslim Ummah. This is due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): So, when a Muslim says "As-salamu alaykum" to his Muslim brother, using the Syrian expression, or perhaps here as well, it might be like "The name of Allah is upon you."
The student : It exists; they use it.

The Shaykh : So, "As-salamu alaykum" is...
The student : "The name of Allah and... upon you" hehehehe.

The Shaykh : We disavow this. Indeed, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has no partner, neither in His essence, nor in His worship, nor in His names and attributes. He is One, with no partner. The point is: . And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) established, based on this spreading of peace, the bonding of the hearts of Muslims with one another. This bonding, which indicates loving one another for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), is what he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , . Before I offer what may come to mind from other hadiths, I must pause here for a moment regarding his command to spread peace. Spreading peace does not mean merely offering the greeting; rather, it means the broader sense, which is repeating the offering of the greeting. Spreading is expanding the circle of offering the greeting, not just offering the greeting. First, the Messenger (peace be upon him) said in the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim: . And in a narration by Muslim: . What concerns us from these characteristics is . This is not spreading; this is offering . But we are now meeting here, so when one of us entered upon another, he initiated by offering the greeting. But spreading is like this, or similar to this. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This is spreading peace. . The other is not when meeting, but rather when leaving. Then, when he leaves, he initiates with the greeting. And when he enters, he also initiates with the greeting. And so on, he lives in peace constantly and forever. Therefore, it came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a command, and from his Companions as action, application, and practice. One of the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him)—perhaps Abu al-Darda—said: . They were walking together, and a rock or a tree separated them. They met, and he said, "As-salamu alaykum." This is the prescribed dhikr, not "Allah, Allah, Allah" where a person sits in a place and goes mad. And what do they call this? They call it the remembrance of Allah, and they cite the hadith that is not authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): . That he is mad? No, this is not the remembrance of Allah. But the remembrance of Allah is that you remember Him on every occasion, and the best occasion is when you meet your Muslim brother. Also, from spreading peace: you enter upon your Muslim brother while he is praying, and you offer him the greeting while he is praying.

The questioner : He is praying!

The Shaykh : Pay attention to him while he is praying. This is from spreading peace.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... Those who recite the Qur'an offer the greeting, saying "As-salamu alaykum" while they are reciting the Qur'an.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Hehe , Allahu Akbar!

The questioner : Okay, my master, and I am praying, I want to reply I say like this.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : I raise my hand.

The Shaykh: Hehehe.
The student : On your shoulder, I will put a record...

The Shaykh : ... He entered the mosque and stood to pray, at least the greeting of the mosque. So the news reached the Ansar that the Messenger of Allah was in the mosque. So they came in waves, at that time, whenever a group entered the mosque , . And so, the one ignorant of the Sunnah, if he saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) or one who follows him today, would accuse him of frivolity. Why is he replying? He is greeting his Muslim brothers who greeted him, while he is before the Lord of the Worlds. The ignorance of Muslims today is that they imagine that prayer is a form of worship—let us call it, in modern terms, a spiritual worship only.