How to Greetings in Islam in Proper Way

Review by : Yuli SE., MM

In our era of globalization, we often come into contact with people who are different from us in many aspect. Despite all of the difference, sometimes we meet people who have, at least, one or two similarity such as religion, ethnic, race, etc. In this article, we are focus in religion, because as a Muslim, we must greet another Muslim with Salaam. Here is the reason why this is important for us, but first, we will explained the definition of Salaam.

What is Salaam in Islam?

Salaam is greeting or salutation; in Islam it is usually “Assalamualaikum”, which is very standard salutation to among other Muslims. Based on Oxford Dictionaries, Salaam means “A common greeting in many Arabic-speaking and Muslim countries.” In Indonesia, Salaam is followed by a gesture from each other (either from the people who give Salaam first or person who receive it) such as handshake (if two peoples are male) or the palm is closed and just briefly touched the finger or fingertips alone (if two peoples are male and female, which is avoiding physical contact between the genders).

Sometimes, after Salaam the right hand is touch the left breast or heart area, or when doing Salaam is followed by kiss the hand (this is refer to elder person). This is influenced by a cultural norms in Indonesia, which is normally doing by other peoples. And so in other Muslim countries, which is influenced by norm or culture in their countries, and give a difference of Salaam.

Importance and Benefit of Salaam

Salaam also has benefits for those who always say Salaam in every greetings to other people, as well as to non Muslim, as follows:

1) Salaam = Prayer

Behind the Salaam which is greet by other, it is contained the prayer for everyone to greet by. When we say only “Assalamualaikum,” to other people, it means “Peace be unto you.” and we must said “Waalaikumsalaam,” which means “And unto you peace,”. However, if you greet or being greet by fellow Muslim with longer and more complete salaam such as “Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.”, it contains more prayer for us, which it means “May God grant you protection, security, mercy and may He bless you.”, and we must respond with “Waalaikumsalaam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh”. This has been told in Surah An-Nisaa verse 86 :

“When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally.”

To Whom We Can Greet?

We can greet or saying Salaam in every single person around the world. But there is some etiquette that must be known and understand by us. First, It is Mustahab if we greet one another, but became Wajib to reply the greet, and immediately. Second, It is Makruh when we greet one another in Shalat or Pray, and reply the Salam after Salat (for this terms, it means not to reply by “Waalaikum Salaam” but “Assalamualaikum,”).

However, the things that must be our attention is only the Muslim person we can greet. It is permit-able if you greet with just “Assalamualaikum” (if you have a short time, such as when passing each other on the street) or longer and complete than the first such as “Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh”.

Greeting by Non-Muslim in Islamic View

In this part, we will explained about greeting by Non-Muslim. There are some source, which is from Hadist and Al-Qur’an tells about this topic. In Bukhari no. 6258 and Muslim no. 2163 said that :

From Anas ibn Malik narrated : Rasulullah SAW (or the Prophet SAW) said : “If the people in scripture greet you, then you should said reply “Wa’alaikum” (And on you).

Refer to that hadist, it is tells when we meet Jews or Christian which is said “As-saam alaikum,” which means “May death be upon you,” or it is not clear whether they have said “salaam”, then we should respond by saying “Wa ‘alaykum” (and upon you).

If, and only if, a non-Muslim greets us with the correct shar’i greeting (for example says ‘ Assalaamu ‘alaykum’ clearly), the scholars differed as to whether we have to return the greeting. The majority of scholars (or ulama in Bahasa) said that we do have to return the greeting, with longer Salaam (whether just Waalaikumsalaam Warahmatullahi or Waalaikumsalaam Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh). This is the correct view, and supported by Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) in Zaad al-Ma’ad 2/425-426 said:

“They differed as to whether it is obligatory to return the greeting. The majority said that it is obligatory and this is the correct view. A group of scholars said that it is not obligatory to return their greeting just as it is not obligatory to return the greeting of those who follow bid’ah. But the correct view is the first one. The difference is that we are commanded to forsake the followers of bid’ah by way of rebuke and to warn others about them, which is not the case with the Ahl al-Dhimmah (Jews and Christians)”

That was the explanation about Salaam, from A to Z. From this article, we can take a lesson Salaam is not just a necessity, but also a prayer to each other. Rasulullah SAW has commanded us to greet each Muslim with Salaam, and from there we can get a lot of rewards from that. We hope you enjoy to read and get some or more benefit from this.

Banu Punto Aji