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Just as the face is the index to the mind, in the same way
the words of greetings which are exchanged amongst people
indicate the spiritual role of a society. The gestures, and
the expressions of salutations are, therefore, the indicators
of the ideals for which a particular society stands. The
common practice with the pre-Islamic Arabs and thi modern West
is to greet one another with Good Morning and Good Evening
accompanied by a gesture of the hand or the nodding of head.
These words have no spiritual and moral significance, but just
a wish that one should find one's mornings and evenings happy.
The words of greeting which Islam has exhorted its followers
to use at the time of meeting are as-Salam-u-'Alaikum which
have a deep spiritual and moral significance behind them Since
the predominant feature of Islamic faith and practice is peace
within and peace without, it has, therefore, been made a
watchword which should be repeated on every occasion when two
Muslims meet so that the utmost importance of peace should be
constantly inculcated in the mind of every Muslim, and he
should have full consciousness of the great reality that he
lives in this world as a messenger of peace for mankind. peace
amongst individuals and nations. -The second important feature
of words of greeting in Islam is that they convey the message
of peace not only to the person who is greeted but to the
whole of the Muslim society as it is the plural pronoun that
is used for the blessing of peace. (The pronoun'Alaikum has a
evry wide range and all the Muslims come within its orbit.)
The two words as-Salam-u-'Alaikum may be called the
irreducible minimum which are essential for greeting one
another. The Muslims have been commanded to add to this
expression some other words with a view to excelling one
another in showering blessing upon the Muslims. The words as-Salam-u-'Alaikum
are generally suffixed with these words Rahmat Allah wa
Barakaatuh (mercy of Allah and His bleasings). These three
words:" peace..., mercy" and" blessings of
Allah" in fact form the sum and substance of Islam and
the Muslims are asked to shower upon one another these
benedictions. so that they may be able to live in this world
and the Hereafter in perfect peace and tranquillity and
blessings and mercy of Allah around him.
According to Imam Nawawl, greeting with the words of as-Salam-u-'Alaikum
is a Sunnah, and responding to it is Wajib (obligatory), but
this essentiality is of the nature of Kifaya, meaning thereby
that if a few persons out of the whole assembly or group
respond to the greeting it will absolve all of the
responsibility of response but if no response comes forth from
any quarter all are held responsible for it.
Spreading the
greetings of As-salaam 'alaykum
The Prophet (SAW) said:
"You shall not enter Paradise until you believe, and you
have not believed until you love one another. Shall I tell you
of something you can do to make you love one another? Spread
the greetings of As-salam 'alaykum amongst yourselves (i.e.
between each other)
Reference: Muslim
1/74 and others.
The Prophet (SAW)
said: "There are three things which whoever gathers all
of them together, then he has gathered Iman (Faith): justice
with oneself, greeting people with greetings of `as-salaam 'alaykum,
and freeing oneself from stinginess."
Reference: Al-Bukhari,
cf. Al-Asqalani, Fathul-Bari 1/82 as a statement of the
Companion 'Ammar (RA).
Abdullah bin 'Umar
(RA) said: A man asked the Prophet (SAW), "What is the
best act of Islam?" He said, "To feed others and to
give greetings of as-salam 'alaykum to those whom you know and
to those whom you do not know."
Reference: Al-Bukhari,
cf. Al-Asqalani, Fathul-Bari 1/55, Muslim 1/65.
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