May all of us be in the best of health.
As all Muslim should know, the Islamic greeting is ‘Assalamualaikum warahmatullah hiwabarakatuh’(Peace and mercy and blessing of Allah be upon you). Then the Muslim will reply back with ‘Waalaikummussalam warahmatullah’(And peace and mercy upon you too). However, how does a Muslim replies back to Non-Muslim who greeted them? How Muslim greets other Non-Muslim? There are lots question inside our heart regarding this matter eventhough it is so simple…
Therefore we can use Al-Quran and Al-Hadith to find the answer.
Here is a Qur'anic verse that talks about greeting...
Surah 4:86
When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a greeting better than it or return it. Lo! Allah taketh count of all things.
Ibn did comment on the quran verse and here is the Tafsir:
Ibn Abbas said: Whoever greeted you from the creation of Allah then return it back even if he was a Magian, for Allah said: When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a greeting better than it or return it. Muhammad bin Bashar, said that Salim bin Nooh said that Saeed bin Abi Arooba said that Qatada said: That part of Allah's statement "When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a greeting better than it" is for the Muslims and that part of Allah's statement "or return it" is for the People of the Book. Bashr Ibn Muath said that Yazid said that Sa'eed said that Qatada said: That part of Allah's statement "When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a greeting better than it" is for the Muslims and that part of Allah's statement "or return it" is for the People of the Book. Bashr Ibn Muath said that Yazid said that Sa'eed said that Qatada said: That part of Allah's statement "When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a greeting better than it" you should greet better than you were greeted and this is only for the Muslims and that part of Allah's statement "or return it" is for the People of the Book. Yunus told me that Ibn Wahab told him that Ibn Zayd said: That part of Allah's statement "When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a greeting better than it" my father said: It is a duty on every Muslim who is greeted (by a Muslim) to greet him back with a better greeting, and if he is greeted by other than a Muslim then he should greet back just like what was said to him. (Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, Commentary on Surah 4:86,
So, in easier words, It is understandable that Muslim are to reply back with better greeting if greeted by Muslim and reply equally if greeted by the Non-Muslim.
Here are some Hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) states how to reply back to the greetings of Christians and Jews...
Saheeh Bukhari
Volume 8, Book 74, Number 275:
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet said, "If the people of the Scripture greet you, then you should say (in reply), 'Wa'alaikum (And on you).' "
Saheeh Muslim
Book 026, Number 5380:
Anas b. Malik reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When the People of the Book offer you salutations, you should say: The same to you.
Book 026, Number 5381:
Anas reported that the Companions of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said to him: The People of the Book offer us salutations (by saying as-Salamu- 'Alaikum). How should we reciprocate them? Thereupon he said: Say: Wa 'Alaikum (and upon you too).
So here from the Hadith we see how we should reply back to the People of the Book. We only say "and upon you too". So if they bestow peace upon us then we are basically doing the same when we say "and upon you too". But why did this command come about in the first place?
The reason could be made clear by reading the following Hadith...
Saheeh Bukhari
Volume 8, Book 74, Number 274:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: Allah's Apostle said, "When the Jews greet you, they usually say, 'As-Samu 'alaikum (Death be on you),' so you should say (in reply to them), 'Wa'alaikum (And on you)."
Volume 8, Book 75, Number 404:
Narrated 'Aisha: The Jews used to greet the Prophet by saying, "As-Samu 'Alaika (i.e., death be upon you), so I understood what they said, and I said to them, "As-Samu 'alaikum wal-la'na (i.e. Death and Allah's Curse be upon you)." The Prophet said, "Be gentle and calm, O 'Aisha, as Allah likes gentleness in all affairs." I said, "O Allah's Prophet! Didn't you hear what they said?" He said, "Didn't you hear me answering them back by saying, 'Alaikum (i.e., the same be upon you)?"
Volume 9, Book 84, Number 62:
Narrated Ibn 'Umar: Allah's Apostle said, "When the Jews greet anyone of you they say: 'Sam'Alaika (death be upon you); so you should say; 'Wa 'Alaika (and upon you).'"
Volume 9, Book 84, Number 60:
Narrated Anas bin Malik: A Jew passed by Allah's Apostle and said, "As-Samu 'Alaika." Allah's Apostle said in reply, "We 'Alaika." Allah's Apostle then said to his companions, "Do you know what he (the Jew) has said? He said, 'As-Samu 'Alaika.'" They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we kill him?" The Prophet, said, "No. When the people of the Book greet you, say: 'Wa 'Alaikum.'"
Saheeh Muslim
Book 026, Number 5382:
Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When the Jews offer you salutations, tome of them say as-Sam-u-'Alaikum (death be upon you). You should say (in response to it): Let it be upon you.
Book 026, Number 5384:
'A'isha reported that a group of Jews came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and sought his audience and said: As-Sam-u-'Alaikum. A'isha said in response: As-Sim-u-'Alaikum (death be upon you) and curse also, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: 'A'isha, verily Allah loes kindness in every matter. She said: Did you bear what they said? Thereupon he said: Did you not hear that I said (to them): Wa 'Alaikum.
Book 026, Number 5386:
'A'isha reported that some Jews came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and they said: Abu'l-Qasim (the Kunya of the Holy Prophet), as-Sam-u-'Alaikum, whereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Wa 'Alaikum. A'isha reported: In response to these words of theirs, I said: But let there be death upon you and disgrace also, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: 'A'isha, do not use harsh words. She said: Did you hear what they said? Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Did I not respond to them when they said that; I said to them: Wa'Alaikum (let it be upon you).
Book 026, Number 5388:
Jabir b. Abdullah reported that some people from amongst the Jews said to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) Abu'l-Qasim. as-Sam-u-'Alaikum, whereupon he said: Wa 'Alaikum, A'isha was enraged and asked him (Allah's Apostle) whether he had not heard what they had said. He said, I did hear and I retorted to them (and the curse that I invoked upon them would receive response from Allah), but (the curse that they invoked upon us) would not be responded.
Sunan Abu Dawud
Book 41, Number 5187:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one of the Jews greets you saying: Death may come upon you, reply: The same to you.
Therefore in conclusion, There is nothing wrong if Non-Muslim greet us with Salam as it is allowed, however replying with ‘waalaikum’ is more than enough.
Prepared by: lokman_mhd@yahoo.com
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