Greeting with peace (salam)

التحية بالسلام

The etiquette of greeting with peace on meeting. In his commentary on the Surat al-Nisa passage about greetings, Sha'rawi says a greeting is returned with its like or something better, and sets out who begins and who answers. 1

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 3/5 · Help complete it

Overview

Among the senses of taslim in the language is conveying; taslim is the salam: the worshipper's taslim ends his prayer with "al-salamu 'alaykum," and one who sallama 'ala a people greets them with the salam, saying "salam 'alayk." The jurists' usage does not depart from these senses. 2

Greeting as a brother's right in Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy's lesson

The Sheikh says that greeting on meeting is one of a Muslim's rights over his brother, speaks of people who stop greeting relatives over a quarrel, and urges that greetings be spread. 3 4

From Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy's Tafsir lectures (episode 10)

The Sheikh says he grieves for one who breaks off the prayer, because the worshipper says in it a greeting of peace upon God's righteous servants; he then counts the reward as merchants count accounts: thirty good deeds for the greeting (needs_source) 5.

He says that returning the fuller greeting with the addition "and the mercy of God" earns forty good deeds, that beginning the greeting is a Sunna and returning it an obligation, and that the reward multiplies with the number of people greeted, say a thousand, or ten thousand at a conference (needs_source) 6.

He urges that the greeting come from the heart and not only from the mouth, for it is the heart that gives the greeting, and he recalls God's command to repel an offence with what is better, so that with someone between whom and you there is enmity things change 7.

Opinions on the question

The question: How is a greeting returned, who begins it, and how is a greeting that may carry another meaning answered?

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

Return the greeting with its like or better, with Sha'rawi's rules on who begins and on a greeting from a non-believer

Sha'rawi reads the verse as ordering a return of greeting with its like or better. He reports that scholars classed the cases: the walker greets the seated, the rider the walker, the young the old, the sighted the blind, the few the many {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-pp-2501-3000 p.2501}. He says women greet women, a husband and close kin, that a young woman does not begin greeting men, and that an elderly woman past desire may begin and return it {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-pp-2501-3000 p.2501}{cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-pp-2501-3000 p.2502}. He reports that a non-believer's greeting is answered with the words 'and upon you' and that an ambiguous phrase is answered in kind {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-pp-2501-3000 p.2502}. These rules are his report of the scholars' classes and his own explanation; their legal sources are not yet set out here (needs_source).

Held by: Muhammad Mutawalli al-Sha'rawi

More opinions (1)

Academic viewSecondary opinion

Not yet set out

The other juristic opinions on who begins and who returns the greeting, and on a non-Muslim's greeting, have not yet been added from a named source (needs_source).

Connections

Explore the connections

Based on
Qur'an 4:86

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, scan pages 2501 to 3000 (scan copy) , p.2501
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.5084
  3. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Hoquq, episode 3, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  4. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Hoquq, episode 3, at 00:03:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  5. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Tafsir Al Quran Al Qareem, episode 10, at 00:20:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  6. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Tafsir Al Quran Al Qareem, episode 10, at 00:21:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  7. Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Tafsir Al Quran Al Qareem, episode 10, at 00:21:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  • Sha'rawi's Tafsir (al-Khawatir), scanned copy
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Greeting with peace (salam)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/practice/greeting-salam/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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