As we have seen in our discussion of the various aspects of Islamic greetings over the last few weeks, Islam strongly recommends its followers to always greet other people. Islam chose the greeting of peace, or salam because Salam is an attribute of God, and the spread of peace is very important for human life on earth. We will continue our discussion today, highlighting some fine points about Islamic greeting, and learning from the Prophet’s refined behavior what benefits us as individuals and community.
Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad reports: “The Prophet (pbuh) used to come in at night, when he would offer a greeting in a voice that would not disturb anyone who was asleep, but would be audible for anyone who is awake.” (Related by Muslim and Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)
This Hadith shows how caring the Prophet was. He made sure that he did not wake up anyone who was asleep. At the same time, he greeted those who were awake. In so doing, he showed them by practical example that when one is asleep, others who are close to him should be careful to allow the sleeping person time to take rest. They do this by speaking in low voices and avoiding all noise.
It is well known that the Prophet’s companions were always keen to emulate him, knowing that he provided the best example, even in matters where no religious edict was necessary. He gave a good example in every thing he said or did. Hence, God makes it clear to all Muslims that following the Prophet’s example was their best course of action at all times. Thus, when we learn that those of the Prophet’s companions were keen to do something in a particular way, they would be acting on the basis of sound advice, given by the Prophet either verbally or by practice. Under our point of discussion, i.e. greeting, we read the following Hadith: “Umar said to Adiy ibn Hatim: ‘May God greet you, as you are a splendid person to know.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)
We mentioned recently that Adiy ibn Hatim was the chief of his people, the tribe of Tayy, and an Arab Christian before he met the Prophet, recognized him as God’s final messenger and believed in Islam. Since then, he was exemplary in his service to the Islamic cause. Therefore, it was natural that Umar should welcome him warmly. This is a practice he learnt from the Prophet who greeted certain people in a way that indicated how highly he valued him. One such example is his greeting to Ammar ibn Yassir as “he sought admission to see the Prophet. The Prophet recognized his voice and said: ‘Welcome to the goodly person, enhanced in goodness.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)
Ammar was one of the earliest people to embrace Islam. As he did not belong to the Quraysh tribe, but was only an ally, he was vulnerable to the campaign of terror the Quraysh launched against weaker Muslims. In fact, his parents were the first two martyrs in Islamic history, both killed under torture as Abu Jahl directed the campaign of persecution. Ammar suffered much torture but survived, and he was one of the best servants of the Islamic cause. Hence, the Prophet’s welcome, which indicated that the Prophet valued Ammar and loved him.
An important point which one should know about greeting is how to reply when one is offered a greeting. The essential rule is that given in the Qur’an: “When a greeting is offered to you, answer it with an even better greeting, or (at least) with its like. God keeps count of all things.” (4: 86) It is well known to all Muslims that the normal return Islamic greeting adds a prayer to the offered greeting. Thus, when someone says to us Assalamu alaikum, we answer with Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah, or we may add also wa barakatuh, which means that we add to the greeting of peace a prayer for the person who has accosted us to receive God’s mercy in the first instance, and His blessings in the ultimate form.
But was this form always used at the Prophet’s time? Apparently the form we use now is the final one while the Prophet used other forms earlier. Abu Dharr speaks about the time when he embraced Islam in its early days in Makkah: “I came to the Prophet when he had just finished his prayer, and I was the first one to offer him the Islamic greeting. He said: ‘And to you; and also God’s mercy. From which tribe are you?’ I said: ‘From Ghifar.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Muslim).
This means that Abu Dharr said to the Prophet: ‘Assalamu alaikum’, and he answered: ‘wa alaik; wa rahmatullah.’ So, the Prophet’s reply was in the singular form, without repeating the word of peace, but adding a prayer for God’s mercy. This certainly meets the requirements of the Qur’anic verse, although it had not been revealed by that time, because Abu Dharr was a Muslim convert in the early days, while the Qur’anic verse was revealed much later, in Madinah. Hence, some of the Prophet’s companions used the same form. Abu Jamrah reports that he heard Ibn Abbas when he replied to greetings offered to him by saying: “Wa alaik; wa rahmatullah.”
Nevertheless, some of the Prophet’s companions preferred the fuller form in reply. Mu’awiyah ibn Qurrah says that his father, a companion of the Prophet, said to him: “Son, if a man passes by you and says Assalamu alaikum, do not say in your reply, wa alaik, as though you are greeting him on his own. Rather, say: wa alaikum assalam.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)
This is a clear instruction by one of the Prophet’s companions to his son, making the form very clear. We should point out, however, that when the Prophet used the singular form, wa alaik, he always added something extra.
Therefore, if one is offered a greeting in the plural form and replies in the singular without adding a prayer, then he has not complied with the instructions given in the Qur’anic verse quoted above. Moreover, the singular form suggests that the reply is given to the person on his own. Islamic manners require that one uses the plural form even when the person offering the greeting is alone.
Moreover, the Prophet’s common practice was to answer in the plural form. This is clear from the following Hadith reported by Qaylah bint Makhramah, a lady companion of the Prophet: “A man said: ‘Assalamu alaik, Messenger of God.’ The Prophet answered: ‘wa alaik assalam wa rahmatullah.’ (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Al-Tirmidhi). Although the Prophet’s reply is in the singular form, the man’s greeting was also in the singular. The Prophet returned it better by adding the prayer for God’s mercy to be given to the man. The Prophet’s habitual practice was to use the plural form and to reply with a better greeting at the same time.
