*Firstly let me just say this entry is inspired by an entry from Rizhan's blog (one of the few meaningful blogs around),and even the title is copied from the said entry*
Assalaam, qoblal kalaam = Give the salaam before you speak.
Allow me to share with you guys a very beautiful hadith (hadith sohih narrated by Imam Muslim by the way), in which I think Islam is implicitly summarized.
Rasulullaah s.a.w said:
"All of you will not enter paradise, until you have faith. And all of you will not have faith, until you love one another. Do you want me to show you a way, by which you can love one another? Give the salaam."-aukama qal.
I think this hadith clearly shows what Islam is all about.
1) Love.
2) Peace (salaam).
Beautiful.
So people, let us make it a habit to greet one another with the salaam before beginning any conversation. There's nothing wrong in answering our phones with the salaam, there's nothing wrong in beginning and ending our msn conversations with the salaam, and there is definitely nothing wrong in greeting a fellow Muslim with the salaam when you see him/her, regardless of whether you know that person.
Also, apart from viewing it as an ibadat, we should also view the salaam as a trademark of us Muslims. We all do so many things that are unislamic, so let us try to do the simple things that characterize a Muslim; giving the salaam is as simple as it gets.
Just to share, I taught my Romanian friend the salaam, and she proactively ended our conversation with the salaam. Haha.
Another thing mentioned in the hadith,"And all of you will not have faith, until you love one another." So people, please. The Prophet s.a.w could not have put it any more clearer, you HAVE to love your fellow Muslims to enter paradise. Period.
So if before this we have segregated among Muslims due to differing ideologies, if before this we have slammed others' ideologies because they are "wrong" and we are "right", if before this we have behaved irresponsbly and spread hatred among our fellow brothers and sisters, if before this we hated other Muslims just because they do not zikir in a group, if before this we condemned other Muslims because they celebrate the Maulud, if before this we have used terminologies to describe others which they find offensive, it's time to mend our ways. Love your fellow Muslims. Not your fellow sufis, salafis, shiites, Syafiites and whatever other ideologies there are. But love your fellow Muslims. Because last i checked, Rasulullaah s.a.w came to spread Islam; not Sufism, not Salafism, not Shiism. Islam. This is provided you want to enter paradise, of course.
So people, let us all start together, by beginning/ending our conversations with the salaam; be it with our parents, siblings, friends, girlfriends/boyfriends (or even our non-Muslim friends if possible), be it on msn, on the phone or in person.
And i guess it will be appropriate to end with, Wassalaamualaikum. =)
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19 comments:
peace... can be read differently by many and being displayed uniquely by each individual. whatever it is, if the intention is good and conscience is clear, let your actions, guide you to peace.
"Surely actions are based on intentions and surely every person will get what he intends. So whoever has migrated to achieve a worldly goal, or in order to get married to a woman, then his migration will be for exactly what he intends.”
Hadith Sahih Bukhairi dan Muslim
damn i sound preachy. my two cents worth.
Yup. Love and peace. Some people say they write in the name of Islam, yet they spread hatred. Totally agree with you.
Someone asked me before, what if a group of guys give Salaam to this gal who passed by? Does she have to reply? Any takers for this question? I'll save the answer that I have given her till I hear yours.
Btw InsyaAllah c ya on Wednesday 6am ;-) Maas Salamah & Illal Liqa' InsyaAllah.
'Kalau tidak tahu maka tanyalah pada ahlinya'...So i guess we should request someone who knows (preferably from Madinah, but Singapore also can!) to reply to that...
Assalamu 'alaykum,
on Giving salams to opposite sex in the shafi'ii mazhab:
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=3&ID=3843&CATE=274
while the person from madinah belum respond.
when he comes,
iza hadharal maa' batalattayamum
jazakumullahukhayr
wassalamu'alaykum
Waalaikumussalaam...
Wah, sementara tunggu Sheikh dari Madinah, Habib dari Bedok dah reply dulu. Terima kasih banyak2 ya habib. Hebat hebat.
Just to share, all the while i've been here, whne i gave the salaam to 'minah tudung' on the street thay do not reply. Haha. Maybe it's just me lah!
Assalamualaikum
Firstly , thanks to azhar for that wonderful website…very informative.
Back to the question….
Once , a group of girls from the University of Qatar posed a related question to this issue to Dr Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradhawi. Let me summarize the answer that was given by Dr Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradhawi on this issue.
Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says in the Quran , Surah An-Nisaa’ ,Verse 86 :
"وَإِذَا حُيِّيتُمْ بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيُّوا بِأَحْسَنَ مِنْهَا أَوْ رُدُّوهَا"
“ When you are greeted with a greeting , greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally"
This verse is directed to both men and women because there is no evidence saying that the verse above is only referring to men. This verse shows that it is permissible for males to give salaam to females and also for females to give salaam to males.
Al-Hafizh Ibn Hajar Al-Asqolaani rahimahullah , a prominent scholar of hadith in the Syafii’s School of Thought , supported this view . He supported his view with a piece of hadith that was narrated by Asma’ binti Yaziid : “ Once , the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by us(a group of females) and he(the Prophet) gave us the salaam . (Imam Tirmidzi said that this hadith is hasan)
Most scholars stated that it is permissible to give salaam to the opposite sex with one condition. The condition is : Free from ‘fitnah’.
Some scholars differentiate between youths and old people.
They said that it is permissible to give salaam to old people of the opposite sex and not youths.
Some scholars differentiate between mahram and non-mahram. They said that it is only permissible to give salaam to our mahram. This is the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifah and his followers.
While some scholars said that it is totally not allowed to give salaam to the opposite sex.
Dr Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradhawi is more incline to the opinion that states that it is permissible to give salaam to the opposite sex if it is free from ‘fitnah’.
If a group of males were to give the salaam to a female (and there is no family or marriage ties between them), Dr Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradhawi dislikes this act. And according to some scholars , in this situation , it is not a sunnah for the that particular group of males to give the salaam to that female. And if they were to give the salaam , it is not obligatory for the female to reply their salaam.
(For those who wants a more detailed answer , please refer to the book by Dr Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradhawi entitled : فتاوى معاصرة (Fatwa-fatwa kontemporari) and also the book by Dr Wahbah Az-Zuhaily entitled “Tafsiir Muniir” )
Allah knows best.
Wassalam
Rizhan
Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah
Wow. Well i guess we got more than we bargained for.
Personally what i liked most about that comment, was the different opinions of scholars that Rizhan gave. Which is useful for both the peole whao are taksub (fanatic0 about a particular madzhab (school of thought) and those who are not.
For the latter, you can pick the opinion that is relevant in a particular context while for the latter, you at least get to know about others' opinion so you won't point fingers easily at people, claiming they're "wrong" etc. Thanks again Rizhan and Azhar.
People, here's your chance, ask as many questions as possible! Doesn't have to be related to the salaam issue. Let's take this opportunity while Mufti TPJC is here (i don't mean Rizhan, nor Azhar for that matter. I mean myself. Hehe. Jokeng jokeng. But....)
Alhamdulillah, as my bro mentioned I got more than what I bargained for. Thanks for the insight brothers.......my answer to my fren was simple, pls correct me if I'm wrong. I told her play by the ear, if u know they are teasing yo(the mat-mat kind, no offence) then don't reply. But if a guy gives salam to you then maybe you can reply for all you know he may need to ask for directions (hmm...sounds familiar ;-) )
great!! alhamdullillah... i learn something everyday... thanks peeps
Hmm...What about giving the salaam to non-Muslims? Walid said he taught the salaam to his Romanian friend (whom i assume is non-Muslim). From what i've heard, it's not permissible to do so. Is it true?
Well, anonymous, that's what my ustad from my weekly madrasah used to tell me too, reason being the term 'salaam' is exclusive to Muslims. However, i've read an article by Dr Asri, Perlis' Mufti(whom i know is not everyone's favourite Mufti), in which he gave the reasons why Muslims actually can give the salaam to non-Muslims. As for the detailed argumentation, i guess i shall leave it to Rizhan or Azhar (or anybody else who knows) to explain.
Personally, i am inclined to think that it IS permissible to do so. Especially being in a country (or hould i say world) where Islam is under scrutiny, we should portray it in a good light to non-Muslims, wherever possible. Giving a greeting of 'peace' to them, definitely helps. Again, just my opinion. The professional opinions will come later. Hehe.
By the way kak, i've stopped asking minah tudungs for directions. Haha. Takut nanti kene sepak. Haha.
Muslim scholars have different views pertaining the issue of giving the salaam to non-muslims and replying their salaam.
To make things easier , I will break the answer into 3 categories.
1st – Giving salaam to a group of people whereby there are muslims and non-muslims.
Muslim scholars agreed that it is permissible to give salaam to a group of people whereby there are muslims and non-muslims.
They supported their view with a piece of hadith narrated by Imam Bukhari rahimahullah whereby : Once the Prophet(peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a group of people consisting of muslims , polytheists . worshippers of idols , and the jews , and the prophet gave the salaam to them.
Some scholars added an additional condition which is to make an intention that the salam is only meant for the muslims in that group. For instance,Imam An-Nawawi rahimahullah said that it is a sunnah for a muslim who were to pass by a gathering in which there are muslims and non-muslims in it to give salaam to them and to make an intention that the salaam is only meant for the muslims .(Al-Azkar , Pg 288)
2nd – Giving the salaam to a non-muslim personally
Muslim scholars have different views pertaining to this issue.
Dr Wahbah Az-Zuhaily , a prominent muslim scholar from Syria , said in his book ‘Tafsiir Muniir’ : “According to some scholars, it is permissible to give salaam to non-muslims and to reply their salaam” (Tafsiir Muniir , Volume 3 , Pg 196)
Regarding this issue, muslim scholars are divided into 2 groups.
1) A group of scholars said that it is not permissible for muslims to give salaam to the non-muslims. They supported their view with a piece of hadith narrated by Abi Hurairah radhiyallahu anhu that the Prophet(peace and blessings be upon him) said : “ Do not commence by greeting the Christians and jews with Salam” (Narrated by Imam Muslim rahimahullah)
2) On the other hand , a group of muslim scholars said that it is allowed for muslims to give salaam to non-muslims. They argued that when the Prophet said : “ Do not commence by greeting the Christians and Jews with Salam.” , it was during the war period between the muslims and the non-muslims, that was the main reason why the Prophet did not allow his companions to give salaam to the non-muslims at that time. As for peace time, this group of muslim scholars said that it it permissible for muslims to give salaam to the non-muslims.
They supported their view with some verses of the Quran :
لا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُمْ مِنْ دِيَارِكُمْ أَنْ تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ
“ Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily , Allah loves those who deal with equity”
(Surah Al-Mumtahanah, Verse 8)
This group of scholars said that there are many ways “to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion”. One of the ways is to give salaam to them(non-muslims).
3rd- Replying the salaam of non-muslim
Muslim scholars have different opinions on how we should actually reply the salaam of a non-muslim.
The first group states that we should reply them with “ wa alaikum” which means “and upon you too”. This is the opinion of Imam Jalaluddin As-Suyuthi rahimahullah. They supported their view with a piece of hadith narrated by Anas in which our Beloved Prophet once said : “ If the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) were to give salaam to you , reply them with ‘wa alaikum’ “ ( Narrated by Imam Bukhari)
The 2nd group states that it is permissible for us to reply them with “ wa alaikum salam” which means “and peace be upon you too”. This is the opinion of Imam Hasan Al-Basri rahimahullah .Some of them said that it is permissible to reply with “ wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullah”.
This group argued that the Prophet told us to reply the non-muslim with “ wa alaikum” only if the non-muslims were to say “ Assaamualaikum” which means “ May death be upon you”. If the non-muslims were to say ‘ Assalamualaikum” , then there is nothing wrong for us to greet them back with “ wa alaikumussalam” or with “ wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullah”.
(Note : There’s a big difference between “ Assalaamualaikum” and “ Assaamualaikum”.The first one means “ May peace be upon you” while the 2nd one means “May death be upon you ”. Please ensure that we pronounce this word properly. During the time of our Beloved Prophet, some of the non-muslims said “ “Assaamualaikum” to him instead of “ Assalamualaikum”. )
The scholars in this group also supported their view with Surah An-Nisaa’ verse 86 :
وَإِذَا حُيِّيتُمْ بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيُّوا بِأَحْسَنَ مِنْهَا أَوْ رُدُّوهَا
“ When you are greeted with a greeting , greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally “
Allahumma solli wa sallim ala Saiydina Muhammad
Allah knows best
Wassalam
Rizhan
Man Yoo won. Is this blog closing down?
Yes Fahmi, this blog is closing down. I shall explain in my next entry.
Rizhan, come back soon! And can I add you to my msn? I can consult you more ;-) ;-) ;-) Just reading your comments make me feel as though I'm in a class with a knowlegeable ustaz =)
yes, u can...here's my email add:(mohd_rizhan@hotmail.com)...come back soon?..but i feel like staying longer in madinah...there are so much things to learn here..but i realize that sooner or later, i need to leave this land of Saiyidina Rasul..haiz.
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