Can we say " Assalam O Alaikum " to non-Muslims?

Question

salaam

Answer 1

Of course you can, it's just a way of greeting someone in the name of Allah.

Just be prepared for all the questions on what it means lol  

Answer 2

if you like you may

Answer 3

Please see

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?H...

The word �Salam� is one of the names of Allah Almighty and it is included in the Islamic greeting �Assalamu Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh�  (May the peace of Allah descend upon you and His Mercy and Blessings). In pre-Islamic Arabia, when people met, they used to greet each other with various greetings. Islam changed and replaced these greetings with this standard form of greeting.

The greeting �Assalamu Alaykum� is commonly translated as �peace be upon you� and it means: May you remain safe from every pain, sorrow and distress.

Qadhi Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

�The word Salam is one the good names of Allah Almighty and �Assalamu Alaykum� means: Allah Almighty is your guardian and caretaker. (Ahkam al-Qur�an).

Due to this aspect of Salam, it is generally impermissible to use this form of greeting for non-Muslims. Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

�A believer may greet a non-Muslim (with the greeting of salam, m) if he has a need from him otherwise it is prohibitively disliked (makruh)��Therefore, one should abstain from saying Salam to the disbelievers, for the Hadith says: �Do not commence by greeting the Christians and Jews with Salam. If you meet one of them on a pathway, force them to walk on the side� recorded by al-Bukhari��. If a Jew, Christian or fire-worshipper greets you, then there is nothing wrong in replying to them, but one should not say more than �Wa alaykum�.

Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) states by commentating on the above:

�It is stated in al-Shir�a (name of a book) that when one greets non-Muslims, one should say: Assalamu ala man ittaba�a al-huda (may peace be upon the guided ones). The reason for this impermissibility of saying Salam to non-Muslims is to not show them respect. When one greets them for a need, it is not out of respect, thus permissible. (See: Radd al-Muhtar ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 6/412).

Imam al-Bukhari records a Hadith in his Sahih on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: If the people of the book (ahl al-Kitab) greet you, say in reply: Wa alaykum (and also on you)�. (Sahih al-Bukhari).

Also in Sahih al-Bukhari, in the �Chapter: How to greet a gathering in which there are Muslims and non-Muslims� a long Hadith has been recorded on the authority of Usama ibn Zaid (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) passed by a gathering in which there were Muslims, Idolaters and Jews, and the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) greeted them and invited them to Allah�.. (Sahih al-Bukhari).

The author of Tafsir al-Mazhari states:

�If a group consists of Muslims, Idolaters and Jews, one should greet them (with Salam), as mentioned in the Hadith recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim from Usama ibn Zaid. However, the intention should be to say Salam to the Muslims (of that group) so that it does not entail commencing to greet non-Muslims� (See: Ahkam al-Quran by al-Tahanawi, 2/306).

One of the great Hanafi scholars of the Indian subcontinent, Imam Ashraf Ali al-Tahanawi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his famous �heavenly ornaments�:

�If one�s teacher is a non-Muslim, then one should greet him by saying only Assalam (peace) or Assalamu ala man ittaba�a al-huda. One should abstain from using the words Assalamu Alaykum for non-Muslims�. (P. 476).

From the foregoing, we can conclude our discussion in the following points:

1) It is impermissible to greet non-Muslims with the Islamic greeting of Assalamu Alaykum

2) One may greet non-Muslims with the greeting they themselves use

3) At times of need, such as the hope of one accepting Islam, it would be permissible to greet non-Muslims with the Islamic greeting

4) If a non-Muslim greets a Muslim with the Islamic greeting, one should respond by saying Alaykum or Assalamu ala man ittaba�a al-huda. While doing so, one should pray that Allah Almighty guide him/her to embrace Islam.

5) If a group consists of Muslims and non-Muslims, then it is permissible to greet them with the Islamic greeting. However, the intention should be to greet the Muslims only.

And Allah knows best

Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari, UK

www.daruliftaa.co.uk  

Answer 4

No it's not permissible

Allaah says:

السلام على من اتبع الهدى

((The Salaam is for those who follow the guidance))

Answer 5

Yeah.

Answer 6

no

salaam to a kafier? a kafier doesn't understand the word peace we like we mean too... We say salaamu alaikum and not salaamu alaiki because altough we speak to one person we say it in multiply form, because the angels that surrounds that person.

Sadly muslims that act upon this, saying this Islamic greeting to a non believer how can he explain the part "Rahmatu Allaah" and "Barakatuh". This person (that disbeliefs in Islaam), will be in Hellfire. How can Salaam Rahma and Baraka and Djehennem coop toghter? Simply Salaam Rahma (from Allaah) and Baraka can be found only trough a true believer in Islaam in this life and the hereafter.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not initiate the greeting of salaam with the Jews and Christians, and if you meet one of them on the road then let him go to the narrowest part of it.” What this means is: do not give way to them if you meet them, so that the way is open for them and you cause restriction to yourself. Rather, continue on your way and leave the narrow gap – if there is a narrow gap – for them. It is known that the teaching of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), when he saw a kaafir, was not to go and crowd him out of the way so that he would end up against the wall.

What it means is that just as you do not initiate the greeting of salaam, you should not make room for them. If they meet a group of you, do not split up to let them pass, rather continue on your way and leave them the narrow space if there is a narrow part of the road. This hadeeth is not meant to put people off Islam, rather it is a manifestation of the Muslim’s pride and a sign that he does not humiliate himself for anyone except his Lord.

If this ruling is applied for Christians and Jews (people of the Book), how about Hindu Budist or Atheist people (people that worship fire)?? They are even lower in rang...

Salaamu alaikum will be said by the Angels in Djennah to the people that have earned Djennah (i.e. muslims) do you know what the angels say to the person that doesn't earned Djennah (i.e. the angels of Djehennem)??  Verily the Angels doesn't make their Lord Angery or Sad, rather they please Allaah in ever way and follow His Command. A true believr in Islaam can learn something by that.

Answer 7

Sure you can, but they would not know what you are talking about lol.

You can still say Peace Be Upon You in English or a nice "Hello, How are you? I hope all is well."

I do not know any hadiths or Quranic verses, sorry. This is just my common sense.

Answer 8

No.  There is a hadith that says that Salam is one of the names of Allah and you are not supposed to use it for others.  When you say it to muslims, you are wishing peace for your muslim brother or sister.

Answer 9

I hate the answers like the first one cuz that is taking on an attitude of superiority over others.  When I was visiting a country that was mostly Muslims all of them greeted me in this way and I returned the greeting using the same words.  They were being respectful and I was being respectful in return.  They didn't feel the need to treat me as less than them.

Answer 10

you can say what you want to anybody  

Answer 11

as far as i know u just say wa-alaikum.

Answer 12

yes, you can, Muhammad (saw) said it to Jews.

Answer 13

Yeah..sure you can...but depending on who you say it too they may reply "I beg you pardon" rather than the proper reply. as they have no idea what there saying. :D

Answer 14

w/salaam

well i cant say for sure but i do

whenever i pick up the phone i say  Assalam O Alaikum and whoever it is answers if he/she is muslim

but if not...he/she just say gud afternun or whatever

Answer 15

yep .. that is fine  

Answer 16

a salam alykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.. if a non muslim says a salam alykum to you... you say "wa alykum" to them... otherwise.. if you want to greet a non muslim.. you just say hello or hi etc..

baraka alahu feeki.. a salam alykum wa rahmatullah

Answer 17

As I understand it, it is not a Muslim greeting at all, it is simply a greeting in Arabic.  "Peace to you."  In Hebrew (or Yiddish) it's Sholom Aleichem. (I'm not sure how you spell it in English).

So is it okay to greet someone who is not French by saying 'Bonjour?'  Sure it is.  It's kind of useless if they don't understand what it means, but if it's well meant there is nothing actually wrong with it.

Answer 18

Yes you can. But whether they'll reply saying "Walikum Assalam" depends on their culture. A Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi (or South-Asians living abroad) may reply back; whereas an European, American, East Asian, Australian etc may not even know what it means.

Answer 19

you can, but maybe someone not familiar with the greeting would not know how to answer

Answer 20

LOL.. when I first learnt how to say that I said it to this lady at a shop and she replied: ''how may I help you munchkin'' and I replied: ''wa alaykum sallam'' XD

<3

Answer 21

i guess

see my queustion

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 22

Yes you can, nothing wrong with it.

Answer 23

yes i would say so it is arabic assalam o alaikum means may god be with you and walikum salam means may god be with you it is just an arabic greeting  

Answer 24

No thank you, Just say Hello, or Peace be unto this house. That will be fine to a non-muslim.

Answer 25

Nope that is special greetings reserved for Muslims only.

But

You can smile and say hi, Hello, please to meet ya!

edit:

Assalaamu 3alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh my sister Sarah Alholandia!!!:-)

keep thumbin me down you jealousy jealous people.

a's-Selaamu `alaa mani't-taba`al-Huda!!!

Answer 26

yeah...why not? :)

Answer 27

yes you can say. many people relate the following story and say that it's not permited.

once a jew told the prophet as saam alayk(idk if these were the exact words) which means may death be upon you hearing it Aa-isha (RA) got angry but the prophet said don't reply completly but say wa alayk meaning upon you aswell.

  i think you can and besides you are praying 4 someone. it's good. and saying 'may you get peace' is not wrong though it's not the exact trans of it. the exact trans is 'peace be upon you' both in a way mean the same. any way you're praying for the non-muslim to get peace and peace=islaam so indirectly you're praying that s/he should get islaam which you should.

@abul haarith: that aaya deals with the peace of hereafter. only people who get peace in aakhira are those who follow the guidance.