AsSalaamu Alaykum my dear brothers & sisters!
When a lot of us greet each other we tend to prefer to say Hi or Hello, right?
Infact, I used to be one of those people, only because of my own lack of knowledge. I just felt that a Salaam was such a formality. So I always felt weird when I ran across fellow muslims on campus and they would Salaam me. I just never understood why they acted so formal which to me meant that we weren’t being ourselves. But once I found out the meaning behind the words, it made all the difference.
So lets take a look and see what an appropriate greeting is between muslims and why.
What do Hi or Hello mean?
Hi
Hello <--------- Two intrinsically meaningless words. They are just as good as saying “Blah!” or “Yech!” when we meet.
Now take a look at these beautiful words:
Asalaamualikum wa Rahmatullahi wabaraakaatahu (Only saying the first part is a good start)
What it means:
**“May the peace and mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you!” **
Subhaan Allah! Now compare this with the current preferred version. Do you know that when we meet a fellow Muslim and we say Salaam we are actually:
Giving them a dua, and getting one in return (if they reply with walaikumasalam) We are exchanging the official greeting of Jannah/Paradise here on Earth! And at the same time we are getting Sawaab or Reward from Allah (SWT). [10 times for each of the three (peace, mercy, and blessings)].
Hadith:“He is nearest to Allah, the Mighty, the Glorious, who takes the initiative in offering Salaam (without waiting for the other to greet him first)” [Bukhari]
“The best deed in Islam is to feed the people, to offer Salaam to every Muslim, whether known to you or not.” [Bukhari]
“Offer Salaam before speaking to anyone.” [Tirmizi]
“When two Muslims shake hands [and say Salaam] on meeting each other, they are inevitably granted salvation before they separate.” [Tirmizi]
Well after this, I have decided that I no longer want to say Hi or Hello to my Muslim siblings, insha Allah I am going to say ASSALAMU ALAYKUM!
**Oh Ever Living One, Oh Eternal One, by Your mercy I call on You to set right all my affairs. Do not place me in charge of my soul even for the blinking of an eye (i.e. a moment). **