Home | My Da'wah | News | Online Al Qur'ān Al Kareem | Contact |
...::: Site Navigator :::...
. . . . The ruling of greeting a non-Muslim? . . . .
The initiation of the Salam to the non-Muslim is Muharram (forbidden) and impermissible.
Abū Hurairah Radi-Allahu 'anhu reported, the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam as saying: Do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you and when you meet any one of them on the roads force him to go to the narrowest part of it. Sahīh Muslim, Book 026, Number 5389: (TMH**)
Abū Hurairah Radi-Allahu 'anhu reported, the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam as saying:
Do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you and when you meet any one of them on the roads force him to go to the narrowest part of it. Sahīh Muslim, Book 026, Number 5389: (TMH**)
Sahīh Muslim,
But if they greet you then it is incumbent upon you to return the greeting to them in general (based on) the statement of Allāh Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala :
Sūrah Al Nisā IV (The Women), Ayāt 86:
When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally. Certainly, Allāh Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is Ever a Careful Account Taker of all things. (TMQ*, 4:86)
And the Jews use to greet the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) saying May As-saam be upon you O Muhammad (i.e.) meaning death, (they were actually) invoking death upon Rasolilah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, therefore the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam said, surely the Jews say death be upon you, so if they greet you with that then say you all, "wa Alaikum" (i.e. to you).
And concerning his (saying) to you it is evident that if they were to say explicitly "As-Salamu Alaikum" then, to them is the returning of the greeting (from us); just as they say (to us), we say the same to them. And some of the people of knowledge said concerning this issue, If indeed the Jews, Christians and other than them from the non-Muslims say the greeting clearly (then) it is permissible for us to say Alaikumus-Salam. And it is also not permissible to initiate with greeting [to them] like "Ahlan wa sahlan" (i.e. welcome) or that which resembles it, since it indicates that one is honouring them and aggrandizing them. But if they say to us the above greeting then indeed we return the same greeting which they said to us, since Islām came with justice and (we) give everyone their just right.
And it is known that the Muslims have a high status and position with Allāh Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, therefore it not necessary to lower ourselves to other than the Muslims by initiating the greeting to them with the Salam's, so we say in conclusion concerning the answer, It is not permissible to initiate the Salam's to a non-Muslim since the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam forbade us from that, and in this there is a form of degradation of the Muslims. When initiating [the Salam's] it enhances power of the non-Muslim whereas the Muslim has a higher [position than the non-Muslim] with Allāh Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala the almighty therefore it is not necessary to degrade oneself in this affair.
As for when they give us the Salam's then we return the similar greeting to them. Also it is not permissible to initiate with them the greeting the likes of "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhaba" [welcoming them] and that which is similar to that.
Source: Fatwa Al-Aqeedah Shaykh Uthaimeen, by Shaykh Sālih al-Uthaimeen. * = Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'ān Al Kareem. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Sūrah : Ayāt) of the Qur'ān Al Kareem. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'ān Al Kareem can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed. **= Translation of the Meaning of the Ahādith or Hadīth. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated of the Ahādith or Hadīth. Reading the translated meaning of the Ahādith or Hadīth can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.
* = Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'ān Al Kareem. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Sūrah : Ayāt) of the Qur'ān Al Kareem. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'ān Al Kareem can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed. **= Translation of the Meaning of the Ahādith or Hadīth. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated of the Ahādith or Hadīth. Reading the translated meaning of the Ahādith or Hadīth can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.
**= Translation of the Meaning of the Ahādith or Hadīth. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated of the Ahādith or Hadīth. Reading the translated meaning of the Ahādith or Hadīth can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.
"May Allāh Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive me when I have gone wrong and Allāh Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala knows the bests!" This website DOES NOT belong to any political or any particular denomination. The main aim of this site is to doing Dawaa to Âlamīn. 1427 / 1429 Dawaat El Islam © Copyright is reserved for all Muslims except for commercial use. For information click on contact.
Site Navigator
