Can we say "Asalaamu aleikum" to non-muslims?

[Amin]

Asalaamu aleikum, my brothers and sisters!

I have several times asked people if we as muslims can greet kafirs with a greeting sent to us by Allah swt. We have after a couple of weeks with discussion still no answer. I would really appreciate it if someone could refer to the Holy Quran and/or Ahadith as arguments for why/why not.

Btw; This is a great site, just wanted to say Jazaak'Allah!

May Allah swt show us all the right path and give us good health.

Wa'Salaam
Amin

[Magdi]

Without doubt, the answer is yes, we can give the greeting to nonmuslims. Here are 2 examples from the Quran
:
To Abrahams Kafir father:
019.047
Abraham said: "Peace be on thee("salamun alayka"): I will pray to my Lord for thy forgiveness: for He is to me Most Gracious.

028.055
And when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: "To us our deeds, and to you yours; peace be to you("salamun alaykum"): we seek not the ignorant."
Besides the obvious Quranic references, because there is no prohibition on doing so, one cannot term the action haram.

[Amin]

Without doubt, the answer is yes, we can give the greeting to nonmuslims. Here are 2 examples from the Quran
:
To Abrahams Kafir father:
019.047
Abraham said: "Peace be on thee("salamun alayka"): I will pray to my Lord for thy forgiveness: for He is to me Most Gracious.

028.055
And when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: "To us our deeds, and to you yours; peace be to you("salamun alaykum"): we seek not the ignorant."
Besides the obvious Quranic references, because there is no prohibition on doing so, one cannot term the action haram.
I'm glad you answered. Just right now, I found my answer another place. But it is not nearly the same as the one you gave. Read it here: http://www.islam-qa.com/QA/8|Manners(Aadaab)/Aadaab_al-Salaam_(manners_of_greeting_with_salaam)/If_it_is_not_known_whether_a_person_is_a_Muslim_or _a_kaafir,_can_we_say_salaam_to_him.17022000.1504. shtml

If you still mean that we can say "Asalaamu aleikum to non-muslims, I am willing to discuss. I found a discussion about this on my language (Norwegian). Here, the discussion is not ended, I will join that one too. I'll translate if anything interesting comes up.

May Allah swt show us all the right path and give us good health.

Wa'Salaam
Amin

[Amin]

I am sorry, my answer got all messed up... I'll try again.
here is the link:http://www.islam-qa.com/QA/8|Manners(Aadaab)/Aadaab_al-Salaam_(manners_of_greeting_with_salaam)/If_it_is_not_known_whether_a_person_is_a_Muslim_or _a_kaafir,_can_we_say_salaam_to_him.17022000.1504. shtml

Hmm... the link obviously doesnt work as its supposed to. you should maybe copy and paste the whole link to your browser.

[Ronnie]

Amin,

I see no reason why Muslims would not be allowed to greet non-Muslims with peaceful wishes. By the way just because a person is non-Muslim it does not automatically make him/her a "kafir."

Wassalam

Edited by - Ronnie on 04/29/2003 21:14:58

[armiyya]

Assalam alaykum,

Scholars differ on the subject.
The most common answer to this question is that
1. We should wait to be greeted in this way before greeting them.
2. Otherwise use their customary greeting if you greet them at all.
3. If their greeting is unclear, or we do not understand it, we should respond with "wa alayka" (same to you) in order to deflect the potential curse back at them.

I tend to be of the opinion that if they greet me in their customary way, then I return their greeting as they expect.
If I initiate the sequence of greeting, I say Assalam Alaykum - there is no harm in that, and maybe some benefit
If they greet me in a way I do not understand, I say walayka.
If they greet me with the Islamic greeting, I return it.
If it is a strange,non Muslim man, I ignore him unless my husbund is with me and returns or makes the greeting.

Armiyya

[Aasem]

Assalam-o-Alaikum

According to my understanding it depends on the situation how we interact with non-muslims. We have different cases in front of us.

1. We should wait for their greetings and then respond in the same manner as they do.

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "When the people of the Book greet you (i.e., by saying `As-Samu `Alaikum,' (meaning death be upon you), you should respond with: `Wa `alaikum' [The same on you]
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you; and when you meet any one of them on the road, force him to go to the narrowest part of it.'
[Muslim].

2. There can be a situation when your parents, family members and friends are non-muslims; here we have to consider that there is a mark difference between Kafirs (the non beleivers) and people of the book. If the enmity of a person against Islam and muslims is clear we should part ways and should not greet him at all. In the same case when Azar's (Ibraheem's (pbuh) father) enmity against Allah was clear; Ibraheem disassociated himself.

3. Another situation is when we have common gatherings when attendees are muslims and non-muslims like in a class or some community gatherings. Here we have a clear example from the life of Prophet (pbuh).

Usamah bin Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) passed by a mixed company of people which included Muslims, polytheists and Jews, and he gave them the greeting (i.e., saying As-Salamu `Alaikum).
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

I would like to conclude that saying Assalam-o-Alaikum is a manner of greeting that differentiate muslims from non-muslims. We have to be very clear about the Ayahs of Quran and examples and sayings of prophet (pbuh) in this regard as a strict line cannot be drawn for observing a particular manner of greeting while interacting with non-muslims. We have to guage the situation in front of us and then act in accordance with Quran and Sunnah.

wassalam

[Amin]

Thank you all very nuch for the answers. Its all cleared up now because of you people, thank you very much! But Ronnie, does not "kafir" mean non-muslim? If it doesn't, would you please explain what it does mean? Thanks!

May Allah swt show us all the right path and give us good health.

Wa'Salaam
Amin

[Ronnie]

Amin,

Kafir means a person who rejects. But in Qur'anic terms, it is a person who rejects the message of God after the person has been completely convinced that it's the truth. So, not all non-Muslims are kafirs. If I am wrong about this I would appreciate correction.

A person who is a non-Muslim usually would not greet with "Assalamu'Alaikum." However, if they do I don't see the problem with the return in kind. Check this article out it may help a lot. It's actually called greeting non-Muslims.

Wassalam

http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=577

[Aasem]

Assalam-o-Alaikum

Ronnie,
You are also right about the definition of Kaafir from one perspective but I understand it in a different way. All the non-muslims cannot be termed as Kaafir. There are many different terms to classify people who receive the message of Allah through Prophet. Some of these are people of the book; like Yahood, Nasrani, then there are others like Majoos, Hunood and so on; Then Mushrikin, Munafiqin, Mulhideen, and Murtidin; Then there are muslims who are classified as Faasiqin. In my view Kaafir is a general term which is used for people who reject the message for any reason whether they are convinced or not. Do correct me if I am wrong please.

wassalam
Aasem

[Amin]

I was at a meeting for muslim students yesterday. There were many people there who can a lot about islam. Not all muslims are kuffar. The Kafir is someone who knows what islam is, but rejects. Someone who refuses to believe in the truth, eventhough it is clear for them. And on the other side, there are mushrikeen, munafiqeen, and those you, Aasem, have mentioned. So, what they told me, is as you have written.

Allah swt knows bets. May he guide us all to the right path.
Wa'Salaam

[Ronnie]

Amin & Aasem,

I think we're pretty much all saying the same thing except for the slight difference regarding the person being "convinced." To me as I have come to understand it, Kafir has to mean that a person who rejects the Truth after having been convinced of it, such as the Arabs of the Prophet's time were. They were so obstinate that they wouldn't submit to the Truth. Those are rejecters (kufar). See a person may reject the Truth but that doesn't make him a rejecter unless he's convinced by it. I hope that makes sense. Well, I looked up in one of my favorite scholar's books the definition and he writes:

Maulana Maududi:

"The man who rejects God is called a concealer (kafir) because he conceals by his disbelief what is inherently in his nature and what is embalmed within his soul."

He goes on to describe many more things but it all comes down to rejecting the Truth although being completely aware of it being so.

My other favorite scholar :) Moiz Amjad writes:

"Kufr actually means to reject the Truth. However, every person guilty of 'kufr' is not necessarily a 'Kafir', because 'rejection of Truth' can effectively take place for a number of genuine reasons, as, for instance, ignorance or misunderstanding etc. On the contrary, 'kafir' is a person who rejects the truth after having fully recognized it and after the Truth has become clearly distinct from falsehood for him/her."

Looking forward to your comments.

Wassalam



Edited by - Ronnie on 05/01/2003 14:28:42

[armiyya]

Ronnie:

And therefore refuse to enter the religion. By the way. I don't think they need be consciously convinced (if they were convinced, how could they not enter the religion), but they should be aware of the truth. Christians and Jews are virtually always referred to as kafiroon/kafireen in the Qur'an, as well as 'people of the book' (and potential reverts), where as the people of jalahiyya are referred yo consistantly as Mushrikeen/Mushrikoon. One who enters the religion (having been convinced) and then leaves it is {not sure - have to look up).

[armiyya]

Ronnie:

One who enters the religion (having been convinced) and then leaves it is {not sure - have to look up).

Same word: Kafirun (also referred to as Fasiqun).









Edited by - armiyya on 05/01/2003 17:13:43

[Ronnie]

Armmiyya,

Kafir = Rejecter of Truth
Mushrik = One who associates equals with God
Fasiq = unrelentingly disobedient

This is my understanding of the meanings as used by the Qur'an. Regarding Kafir, Moiz Amjad writes:

"When we call someone a 'Kaafir', it means that we are passing a judgment about that person's acceptance or rejection of the Truth as he has perceived and understood it. Obviously, no human being is qualified to pass this judgment. Only God, with His absolute knowledge about each and every individual, can pass the judgment as to whether or not that individual has lived his life according to the Truth, which that individual has understood."

I think this is sound. However, I will have to check in the Qur'an if the term "kafiroon" is used for Jews and Christians. I know that these groups may reject however, they may not be considered Kafiroon/kafireen. I'll have to check.

Wassalam

[Amin]

Jazaak'Allah! Thank you for your answers! I really like this forum, you all have a lot of knowledge. May Allah swt give you the payment for sharing it with me. I think I'll stay at this forum to learn from you. Yes, Ronnie, you're right, we are all actually saying the same, the way I see it.

Btw; I can't remember to have read that the Jews and Christians have been refered to as kafiroon...

Wa'Salaam