(The Salaam)
by Rami Mahmoud Elsawah
...But if ye enter houses, salute each other - a greeting of blessing and purity as from Allah. Thus does Allah make clear the signs to you: that ye may understand. (Surat Al-Nur, 61)
When a (courteous) greeting is offered you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or (at least) of equal courtesy. Allah takes careful account of all things. (Surat Al-Nisa, 86)
Sahih Muslim
Book 001, Number 0096:
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessing be upon him) observed: You shall not enter Paradise so long as you do not affirm belief (in all those things which are the articles of faith) and you will not believe as long as you do not love one another. Should I not direct you to a thing which, if you do, will foster love amongst you: (i. e.) give currency to (the practice of paying salutation to one another by saying) as-salamu alaikum.
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In his flustered, angry Egyptian arabic, the Sheikh portrayed to us the nescessity of loving another. A normally masterful speaker of classical arabic, he was now reverting to words like "Abu sitteen wa sabayeen" and the arabic-english remix, "Businessahu". Clearly the lack of love between the muslims is going out the door, and without love what are we left with but anger and sadness.
So Brothers and sisters, this should be a good week to start practicing our salaams. The goal is to say salaams to everyone...I mean everyone, even if you don;t know them. You get ten good deeds for every salaam. Add the "Rahmatullahs" and the "barakatus" to rack up another 10 each; making an easy thirty point for one salaam.
Abu Dawud
Book 41, Number 5192:
Narrated Al-Bara' ibn Azib:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If two Muslims meet, shake hands, praise Allah, and ask Him for forgiveness, they will be forgiven.
Abu Dawud
Book 41, Number 5193:
Narrated Al-Bara' ibn Azib:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Two Muslims will not meet and shake hands having their sins forgiven them before they separate.
So this weeks assignment is not only to offer salaams to everyone you meet but also try to shake their hands as well. The purpose: to spread love between each other insha Allah.
This is very important because we are really breaking down as Muslims because of a lack of brotherhood (and sisterhood) between ourselves. If you see another muslim just say "Salaams." That's all. People will remember you if you do, and it gives you and that other person one more person who you know you are in salaam(peace) with. With every person that their is a treaty of peace with, the bigger and stronger the brotherhood grows.
Wasalaam Aleikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatu.
DISCLAIMER: Any brothers who feel that they are in love with a sister, this article does not give you permission to walk up to her, gazing deeply into her eyes, make salaams to her, and shake her hand.
No, no no...brothers, my brothers. Spread love between ourselves. The sisters will spread the love between themselves too insha Allah.
and make sure you smile as you say salaam (10 good deeds plus the rewards of giving a smile in charity)
on July 9, 2005 3:45 PM(smiling) AssalamuAlaikum Sr. Saima :)
on July 10, 2005 1:20 AMHow many rewards is it if you use the OL shortcuts of "SA" or "SA WR WB" or "SA WaR WaB"? :P
on July 10, 2005 4:45 PMwhat if you dont know if the person is Muslim, is it okay if you say salaam to a non-muslim by mistake?
on July 10, 2005 8:16 PMby the way,
Assalaamu 3laikum wa ra7matullahi wa barakatuh jamee3an :)
on July 10, 2005 11:10 PM
Waaleikum Asalaam Warahmatullah Wabaraktu.
I wouldn't think there was any ba2s in saying salam to a n-mus., it's based on your intention. wallahu 3laam. It's important to note that we shouldn't always try to alienate non-mus. when it comes to issues of deen. As a side note-I personally don't like the term Kufar being used when addressing them on forums or in khutabas b/c we end up alienating them (an us vs. them mentality), creating a barrier that is not conduicive toward sharing our great deen.
on July 11, 2005 4:26 PMWe alienate them in khutbahs that they can't hear?
Here's a thought:
If they died, would you pray the janaazah for them? Would you ask Allah to have mercy on them?
Question :
WHEN A NON-MUSLIM SAYS SALAAM U ALAIKUM(GREETS YOU) HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO RESPOND?
Answer :
Praise be to Allaah.
Muslim reported in his Saheeh (14/144) from Anas ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When the People of the Book say salaam to you (greet you by saying al-salaamu alaykum), say ‘Wa ‘alaykum’ (and unto you).’” According to another report, he was asked, “The People of the Book say salaam to us. How should we respond?” He said, “Say, ‘Wa ‘alaykum.’” According to another report (14/164), he said, “When the Jews greet you, they say ‘al-saam ‘alaykum (death be upon you). So say ‘ ‘alayk (upon you).’” According to another report he said, “So say, ‘wa ‘alayk’ (and upon you).” According to another report (14/146) a group of Jews asked for permission to enter upon the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and they said, “Al-saam ‘alaykum (death be upon you).” ‘Aa’ishah said, “Bal ‘alaykum al-saam wa’l-la’nah (No, death be upon you and curses)!” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “O ‘Aa’ishah, Allaah loves gentleness in all things.” She said, “Did you not hear what they said?” He said, “I answered, ‘Wa ‘alaykum (and unto you).’” According to another report, he said, “I answered, ‘ ‘alaykum’” – without the “waw” (i.e., wa meaning “and”). According to the last hadeeth (14/148), he said, “Do not initiate the greeting of salaam with the Jews and Christians, and if you meet one of them on the road, push him to the narrowest part of it.”
All of these reports were narrated in the Saheeh of Imaam Muslim.
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his commentary (14/144-145):
The scholars agree that the greeting of the People of the Book should be returned, if they greet us with salaam, but we should not say to them, “Wa ‘alaykum al-salaam (and upon you be peace).” We should say only “ ‘alaykum (upon you)” or “wa ‘alaykum (and upon you).” Ahaadeeth have been narrated by Muslim both with and without the “wa” (“And”), but most of them include it. On this basis, there are two meanings, one of which is the apparent meaning: if they say “ ‘Alaykum al-mawt (death be upon you)”, then one should say, “Wa ‘alaykum (and also on you)” – meaning that we and you are alike, we are all going to die. The second meaning is that this is a waw that is used to start a new idea or phrase, not to connect it to the previous sentence or to reiterate the same idea. This implies: and upon you be what you deserve of condemnation. The phrase without the wa implies: but rather death should be upon you. Al-Qaadi said: some of the scholars, including Ibn Habeeb al-Maaliki, preferred to use the phrase without the wa, so that it would not have the implication that these people are like the Muslims. Others said that it should be used with the wa as it appears in the majority of reports. Some of them said: he should reply “ ‘alaykum al-silaam (and upon you be stones) – but this is da’eef (weak). Al-Khattaabi said: most of the muhadditheen (scholars of hadeeth) reported it with the wa (wa ‘alaykum), but Ibn ‘Uyaynah reported it without the waw. Al-Khattaabi said: this is what is correct, because if the phrase is used without the waw, this means that what they are saying is returned specifically and exclusively to them, but if the waw is used, it implies commonality with them in what they are saying. This is the view of al-Khattaabi. But the correct view is that it is permissible either to use the waw or omit it, as both have been mentioned in saheeh reports, but including the waw is better, as it appears in most of the reports. There is nothing wrong with that, because al-saam means death, which will come to us and to them, so there is no harm in including the waw. The scholars differed as to returning the greeting of salaam when a kaafir initiates it or initiating the greeting. Our opinion is that it is haraam to initiate the greeting, but we have to return their greeting by saying “Wa ‘alaykum” or just “ ‘alaykum.” Our evidence with regard to initiating the greeting is the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Do not initiate the greeting with the Jews and Christians” and his command to reply by saying, “Wa ‘alaykum.” What we have mentioned as our madhhab or point of view is also the opinion of most of the scholars and the majority of the salaf… It is permissible to initiate the greeting when addressed to a group composed of both Muslims and kaafirs, or one Muslim and a number of kaafirs, but he should intend the greeting to be directed towards the Muslim(s) among them, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) greeted an assembly that included a mixture of Muslims and mushrikeen.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com)
http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&QR=4975
If anyone refutes this, I'd advise you to cite the opinion of a scholar of Imam an-Nawawi's caliber.
Allah knows best
on July 11, 2005 10:24 PMWhat if you see a brother and you know if you say salaamualaikum to them... bad feelings will come up....either from tension between the two people or just a considerable amount of emnity between the two.
in other words its just best to stay away from them and not say asalaamualiakum? what do you think?
on July 11, 2005 11:05 PMassalamu alikum,
My point was that if you say salam to a non muslim thinking that they are, I don't think you're going to sizzle fi juhanam inshAllah (perhaps an extreme analogy) b/c your intention was to greet a fellow Muslim with tahiyat as-salam.
As for who hears us during khutbas, we are heard everywhere anytime something negative is propagated in the name of Islam. The Qur'an refers to Christians and Jews as People of the Book, not kufaar. Thus, people need to stop throwing out that term so lightly when referring to them in every day conversations. Why can't people just say non-muslim if they are talking about People of the Book...Only Allah knows who is truly a rejector and who is misguided.
About calling other Muslims "kafir," we read the following hadith: It is reported on the authority of Ibn `Umar that the Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) said: Any person who calls his brother: O Unbeliever! (then the truth of this label) would return to one of them. If it is true, (then it is) as he asserted, (but if it is not true), then it returns to him (and thus the person who made the accusation is an Unbeliever). [Muslim]
fi ria3yat illah
Asalaam Aleikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatu,
You guys forgot to say Salaam Aleikum to each other first
...reason why the argument's taking place.
Br. Mohammed...I don't know. But the bad feelings are there either way. I do know that if he greets you with the salaam then you have to respond back:
Sahih Muslim
Book 026, Number 5379:
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Six are the rights of a Muslim over another Muslim. It was said to him: Allah's Messenger, what are these? Thereupon he said: When you meet him, offer him greetings;when he invites you to a feast accept it. when he seeks your council give him, and when he sneezes and says:" All praise is due to Allah," you say Yarhamuk Allah (may Allah show mercy to you) ; and when he fails ill visit him; and when he dies follow his bier.
Assalamu alaikum,
Time to stop lurking about...
I would also like to let everyone know, (in relation to the kafir comment), that when listening to a lecture by Yusuf Estes the other day, he made an interesting comment. He made it quite clear that whoever said that someone (believer or not) was destined to the hellfire, it was certain that one of either the speaker or the one spoken about would be destined for jahannam. The point behind this was that no one can be certain what will happen in the future so we should not make such sweeping statements. Br Yusuf explained that this also applies to groups, so if someone were to say that all blondes (just an example) were going to hell, there would be an even higher risk.
Allahu alim.
on July 12, 2005 4:50 AMAsalamu Alaykum Brother Rami,
Another excellent homework assignment. Jazakallah Khairun for the reminder. This is a topic I feel very strongly about, as I feel it reveals the diseases that we carry with us on a daily basis. It is mandatory to respond to another Muslim's greeting of salam, and I feel it is a highly discourteous, ugly, and prevalent thing that happens these days.
I see it amongst some of the elder generation, who absurdly respond with nods or the classic "walaykum," as if the greeter is somehow not worthy of the full salaam (and maybe signifying that they think the greeter is kaffir?), and I've seen this among the younger generation too - which loves to just say "salam" ...
the funny/sad thing is - these brothers don't have any problem saying the full "asalaamu alaykum wa rehmatallahi wa barakatahu" to fine sisters, but to their own brothers in Islam they can only muster the strength to say a meagre, half-hearted "salamz" ... I ain't yo servant mayn. give me a real greeting, or don't greet at all.
walaykum asalaam wa rehmatallahi wa barakatahu.
on July 12, 2005 9:27 AMI hear ya brother, I hear ya,
they can say all the Salaam 3laikum to every good female ( hopefully muslim), but not to their own brothers.
wa 3laikum assalaam
on July 12, 2005 6:55 PMI once saw a young bro give full salaams to a fly nonmuslimah friend from one of his classes.
Ironic...
on July 13, 2005 4:33 AM"We alienate them in khutbahs that they can't hear?
Here's a thought:
If they died, would you pray the janaazah for them? Would you ask Allah to have mercy on them?"
Here's another thought:
Last time I checked, the wheel was still in spin...for all you know, the nonmuslim who you see today as so "void of value" to you, may very well someday be blessed with the tawfiq to be twice the muslim you are...can you guarantee me that on your final moments on this earth, that you will not need the duah of perhaps, that same brother/sister who you now see as nothing but a kafir?
Brothers and sisters, make no mistake about it....our iman is nothing less than a blessing from Allah.....it can be given ad taken by Him alone...our job on this earth is not to close the door on others when Allah has still left the door open for them to walk through....if we are not careful to trudge this earth lightly, and treat EVERYTHING on it with its due respect, we may very well be the ones who wake up "deaf" to the call of Truth someday...
'The wheel is still in spin'...the phrase that has come to be my favorite analogy from the tongue of my favorite sheikh...mashaAllah...
on July 14, 2005 10:22 AMAs Salaamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu
when we were little and we used to attend Madressa after school, the teacher would walk in with salaam and we would all siiing out the full salaam and make sure to draaag it out so that more of the time period was used up.
Everytime i make the full salaam now i just want to siiing it out.
a virtual vein-to-vein handshake to all my dear sisters
Was Alaaaykumus Salaaaaam Wa Rahmatullaaaahi Wa Bara kaaaatuhu!
on July 15, 2005 6:41 PMWords are words regardless of religion or language, if a person offers a greeting, then the correct response is to return the greeting, it does'nt matter wether the person is Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindi or a non believer of any faith. If they take the time to show you respect then show the same respect back. Don't waste time debating which response should be given to a certain greeting or group of person - just respond from the heart in a way that you would like others to respond to tour greeting.
on July 19, 2005 4:05 PMPlease ignore the previous comment.
Additionally, please ignore anyone who tells you to abandon the ahaadeeth and knowledge that have been narrated to us to make room for responses "from the heart."
"[I]f you see the 'One on the Spiritual Path', saying: 'Leave us from [knowledge] that is transmitted and bring forth the 'Taste and Ecstasy of Passion', then know that he is Ibless become manifest in human form, or has become incarnate within him; so if you become cowardly then run away from him..."
Hafiz adh-Dhahabi, Siyaar Alaam An-Nubalaa, 4/472
on July 19, 2005 5:48 PMOne's personal perspective, notion of common sense or sense of logic is nothing compared to the practices of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him)
Gilette..........i love the way you always got proofs when you say something.
My teachers always made a point of this. It should be noted that the path of true and valid spirituality is the path of transmission and shariah. Every notable reviver of the spiritual essence of Islam (like Imam Ghazali) has emphasized submission to shariah first and foremost. The shariah exists as a means to strengthen one's spirituality and no sheikh or tariqa or heartfelt rumination is above it.
on July 20, 2005 4:46 AM