is it haraam to give salam to non muslims?

[yusuf musa]

assalamuwalaykum

my cousin asked a imaam if it was alright to give salam to a non muslim. he said the imaam said it was not haraam or halal but it was in the grey area. he used the example of when aisha(ra) was with prophet muhammad(saw), when a jew gave salam to the prophet(saw) instead of saying salam the individual said something offensive but in return the prophet returned the favor back to the individual.

my question is wether it is haraam to give salam to a non muslim.

 

[MinAhlilHadeeth]

:salamext:

This is all I could find on Islam-QA. I don't think it really answers the question though.

http://islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=48966&ln=eng

 

[Mawaddah]

To the best of my knowledge, and Allah knows best, it is Haram for us to start with the Salaams first towards a Kaafir. And if a Kaafir was to give us the Salaams then we do not answer with the word "wa 'alaikum assalam" (and peace be unto you) but rather we only say "Wa 'alaikum" (and unto you)

A hadeeth for this is the hadeeth of Abi Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) that Rasulullah peace be upon him said "Do not begin with the Salaams when greeting a Christian or a Jew, and if you meet one of them on the road then push him toward the narrower side" (Muslim)

As for how we return a Kaafirs greeting if he says to us Assalamu'alikum, then it has been reported from Anas bin Maalik , He said that Rasulullah said " If the People of the Book say unto you 'Assalamu'alaikum' then reply back to them with 'Wa 'alaikum' (Bukhari and Muslim)

However, if there are a group of people consisting of both Muslims and Kaafirs then it is allowed for us to say Assalamu'aliakum.
Usamah said that Rasulullah passed by a gathering in which there were both Muslims and Mushriks - Idol worshippers and Jews - and He said Assalamu'alaikum towards them (Bukhari Muslim)

 

[skhalid]

Mawaddah said it all so I dnt fink I have anyfing to add!!

 

[Hijrah]

you can't give it, but if they give it to you, they may give it or if there is a mixed gathering of Muslims and kuffaar, giving it to them all is permissible, there were a few hadiths compiled by Imam An-Nawawi (May Allaah have mercy on him) in Riyadh-us-Saliheen which indicate this.

http://islamtoday.com/show_detail_section.cfm?q_id=473&main_cat_id=22

Question:I know we should not initiate greetings with non-Muslims since the prophet (peace be upon him) said “Do not initiate the greetings with the Jews and Christians." The problem is I encounter non-Muslims at my job and do not know how to be courteous to them with this prohibition upon me. What can I do?

Answered by Sheikh Ahmad al-Rashîd

To start with, our Prophet (peace be upon him) never said we could not initiate greetings with non-Muslims. He said: “Do not initiate the salutation of ‘salâm’ with the People of the Book." [Sahîh Muslim].

The People of the Book are the Christian and Jews, but this hadîth applies to all non-Muslims. This hadîth forbids us from saluting non-Muslims with the particular greeting of “salâm” before they greet us with it, but it certainly does not forbid us from using other types of salutations such as “Hello”, “Hi”, “Good morning”, “Good evening”, “How are you” and the like. Therefore, it is perfectly alright for a Muslim who works with non-Muslims or resides in their countries to initiate these kinds of salutation with them.

Moreover, it is worth poining out that some scholars have permitted initiating the greeting of “salâm” with non-Muslims in special cases. Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Some scholars allowed us to greet the unbelievers with this salutation for some reasons; such as being in need of them, in fear them, or simply on account of having a good relationship with one of them or any other good reason.” [Zâd al-Ma`âd (2/425)]

And Allah knows best.

 

[classicalislam]

To the best of my knowledge, and Allah knows best, it is Haram for us to start with the Salaams first towards a Kaafir. And if a Kaafir was to give us the Salaams then we do not answer with the word "wa 'alaikum assalam" (and peace be unto you) but rather we only say "Wa 'alaikum" (and unto you)

A hadeeth for this is the hadeeth of Abi Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) that Rasulullah peace be upon him said "Do not begin with the Salaams when greeting a Christian or a Jew, and if you meet one of them on the road then push him toward the narrower side" (Muslim)

As for how we return a Kaafirs greeting if he says to us Assalamu'alikum, then it has been reported from Anas bin Maalik , He said that Rasulullah said " If the People of the Book say unto you 'Assalamu'alaikum' then reply back to them with 'Wa 'alaikum' (Bukhari and Muslim)

However, if there are a group of people consisting of both Muslims and Kaafirs then it is allowed for us to say Assalamu'aliakum.
Usamah said that Rasulullah passed by a gathering in which there were both Muslims and Mushriks - Idol worshippers and Jews - and He said Assalamu'alaikum towards them (Bukhari Muslim)

That’s correct, well done…

+--------------------------------------------+
|(Islamic Scholar)
|www.Classicalislam.com
|Graduate of Darul-Uloom London, UK
+--------------------------------------------+

 

[*charisma*]

Assalamu Alaikum

I highly encourage everyone to read this article. It has everything you need to know about the Islamic greeting.

I posted it a while back since it's a pet peeve of mine when someone doesn't say their salaams: http://www.islamicboard.com/general-chat/2187-reminder-salaams.html [Note: These are merged threads, so it's very useful if you go through the pages inshallah]

The answer to your original post [including that insult you spoke of]:

EXCHANGING SALAAM WITH NON-MUSLIMS

The Prophet (pbuh) said:"Do not greet the Jews and the Christians with salaam." However, if they salaam first, we may reply by saying "wa a'laykum" (and upon you)." (Bukhari and Muslim)​

Salutation and Meeting Non-Muslims

Amr bin Shu'aib - Tirmithi: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: "He does not belong to us who imitates people other than us. Do not imitate the Jews or the Christians, for the Jews salutation is to make a gesture with the fingers and the Christians salutation is to make a gesture with the palms of the hands."

Ayesha - Bukhari: When some Jews came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and said, "As-saamu 'a'laikom" (Death be upon you) and he replied, "Wa 'a'laikom" (and upon you), she ('A'isha) said, "Death be upon you and may Allah curse you and be angry with you." The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) then said, "Gently, 'A'isha, keep to kindness and avoid harshness and coarseness." She asked if he had not heard what they said, and he asked if she had not heard what he said, saying, "I replied to them, and my prayer regarding them will be answered, but theirs regarding me will not."​

fi aman Allah
w'salaam

 

[Asyur an-Nagi]

this thing, however, stays on my grey area.