Only permitted between muslims unless a muslim needs something from a non-muslims (according to alims). I have already provided the references for proof.
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You are saying "alims say that" well,, Alims are as bad as you are. There are no restrictions on greeting non-muslims. whoever say that muslims are not allowed to greet non-muslims the way Muslims greet muslims must be extremely stupid and subhuman. God can not forbid Muslims to greet non muslims differently.
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*Originally posted by PakistaniDragon: *
OK brother but what if non-muslims says to a Muslim "Aslaam-alaikum", then what should a Muslim reply back with. "Wa-Alaikum-Aslaam" or "Hello"?
This happens to me at my work place regularly as friendly gesture.
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According to hadith you are supposed to ignore such a greeting from a non-muslim.
You are saying "alims say that" well,, Alims are as bad as you are. There are no restrictions on greeting non-muslims. whoever say that muslims are not allowed to greet non-muslims the way Muslims greet muslims must be extremely stupid and subhuman. God can not forbid Muslims to greet non muslims differently.
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Hey Sher chill man. I am not defending the practice. I am just telling you what the imams and alims require muslims to do. As a non-muslim, I have never been subjected to this by any of my muslim friends nor by 3 muslims that work for me (duh).
My own take on this hadith is that it was written at a time and place when muslims did not have to live in a multi-religious multi-cultural societies that we find today. No alim that I know of has defended the morality of this hadith. How does one refuse a greeting of may peace be with you from a non-muslim just because it is in arabic. In effect as a non-muslim I can say to you in English Peace be with you or respond And with you but I cannot carry out this same conversation in arabic.
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*Originally posted by Arvind: *My own take on this hadith is that it was written at a time and place when muslims did not have to live in a multi-religious multi-cultural societies that we find today.
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Muslims were living with non-muslims at that time. That's why the 'Jizya' (tax) was introduced for the non-muslims.
C. Directives Specific to the Age of the last Rasul
We shall now take a look at the directives which specifically belong to the age of the last Rasul Muhammad (sws) and which have erroneously been extended to the second one. In other words, with the termination of the institution of Risalah, they cannot be applied in a period which is devoid of Rusul. The basic reason, as pointed out earlier, is that in the period of Rusul people who have knowingly denied the truth revealed by a Rasul can be pinpointed while in other periods there is no means of ascertaining it. People about whom it is known that they have knowingly denied the truth are given this punishment in this very world1; their humiliation of course will continue in the next. No Muslim preacher is in a position to reveal the truth in a manner a Rasul is able to, nor can he pinpoint who among his addressees is guilty of knowingly denying the truth. Only on the Day of Judgement will it now be known whether a particular person is a Kafir or not. Consequently, all such directives which relate to people who knowingly deny the basic truths and who can be pinpointed for this denial are not related to this second period of history, which is without such personalities. In other words, these directives do not form part of the Shari‘ah. They are a special class of directives that concern a divine scheme that specifically belonged to the age of Rusul. As pointed out earlier, this does not mean that they have no relevance today. In fact, they have a direct bearing on this second period as well: through their agency, mankind has been provided with the ultimate visual proof that retribution in the Hereafter is an indubitable reality.
In the following paragraphs, we shall examine the major directives which are specific to the first period of history in their direct application and which in no way can be applied to the second period.
The principle which has been kept in consideration in ascertaining these directives is that all of them relate to people about whom can be known that they have deliberately denied the truth.2
Greeting Non-Muslims in an Inferior Way
It is generally held that non-Muslims should not be greeted in the ceremonial way by saying Assalamu ‘alaykum (peace be to you). It is argued that non-Muslims do not deserve this prayer. The following Hadith is presented in support of this view:
When the People of the Book greet you, reply them by saying wa alaykum. (Bukhari, Kitabu’l-Isti’dhan)
If all the texts of this Hadith are collected and analyzed, what comes to light is the fact that some among the People of the Book of the Prophet’s times used to mischievously twist their tongue in a swift manner and instead of saying the proper words of the salutation would say Assamu ‘alaykum (death be to you), which when quickly pronounced sounded very near to the original words of Assalamu ‘alaykum. It was to counter this devilish prank that the Muslims were directed to say: Wa ‘alaykum (to you too). It must be borne in mind that the Muslims were asked to give this particular reply only after the truth had been revealed in its ultimate form by the Prophet (sws) to the People of the Book after many years of propagation, and in spite of that they were not willing to submit to it. Had this ultimate stage not come, one can safely conclude that Muslims would never have been asked to reply with equally harsh words and would have continued to say the words: Assalamu ‘alaykum, the best of prayers and the best of wishes.
Today no Muslim preacher can ever be in a position to say that the truth has been unveiled in its ultimate form. Therefore, he must continue his efforts of propagation all his life, and remain a well-wisher of all the non-Muslims of the world, and continue to greet them with Assalamu ‘alaykum.
Consequently, the following Hadith (which contains a similar directive) also relates specifically to the People of the Book of the Prophet’s times on whom the truth had been unveiled by the Almighty through His last Prophet (sws). It has no bearing with the People of the Book of our times:
Don’t initiate salutations to the Jews or the Christians, and force them to the narrowest of paths when one of them meets you on your way. (Muslim, Kitabu’l-Salam)
Even in the time of the Prophet (sws), before the non-Muslims of his times had become Kuffar by deliberately rejecting the truth, they too were greeted as Muslims were. In this period, the Prophet (sws) himself said Assalamu ‘alaykum to the non-Muslims of his times. Uthamah Ibn Zayd reports:
The Prophet (sws) once passed by a mixed gathering of the Muslims, the Idolaters and the Jews and said Assalamu ‘alaykum to them. (Bukhari, Kitabu’l-Jihad)
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*Originally posted by Arvind: *
Happy?
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extreemly. Jaza-k-Allah for the post. Can you please tell me where did you get it from. Cuz I might need it in future.
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*Originally posted by PakistaniDragon: *
If it's allowed to greet non-muslims wtih an islamic greeting it's allowed, if it's not, it's not.
God knows best
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OK, so suppose you ahve to greet a nonmuslim what will you do? You see we have to know these things. Let us not cool down before we know them : )
I ask Allah Almighty to guide me to the rightious path everyday.
Later after I had greeted that and when i'm praying my namaz, i'll say "Oh Allah, forgive me for my mistakes and forgive me if I was wrong to greet a non-muslim with an Islamic greeting".
Do you think Allah is Ever-so-Merciful and Oft-Forgiving?
well, i thought you might would find out what is right and what is not. As it is obliagatory for muslims.
Anyways may Allah [swt] have mercey on all of us.
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*Originally posted by PakistaniDragon: *
I'll say Aslaam-Alaikum.
I ask Allah Almighty to guide me to the rightious path everyday.
Later after I had greeted that and when i'm praying my namaz, i'll say "Oh Allah, forgive me for my mistakes and forgive me if I was wrong to greet a non-muslim with an Islamic greeting".
Do you think Allah is Ever-so-Merciful and Oft-Forgiving?
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How can one put out an argument regarding not greeting non-muslims in Islamic way cos God says so. God him self is a doubtfull entity to begin with. In Bible and Quran, what is beleived to be the word of God is full of contradictions and can hardly be applied in todays environment. Common sense seems to have failed on the religionists part. God is supposed to be FOR human being NOT the other way around. The time wasted on Praying Namaz and visiting Churches and Mandars can be used for the good of Human kind. I am sure God won't object to it.
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*Originally posted by PakistaniDragon: *
Brother Sher, you need to read the 'Tafsir', if you want to understand the Qur'an, otherwise, there's noway it'll make sense to you.
Because you don't know when each verse was revealed, for whom and for what reason.
Islamic Scholars spend years and years just understand one of the 114 chapters of the Qur'an.
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Pakistanidragon, I appreciate the effort of muslim scholars to research the the Book. There aproach was full of prejudice. they couldn't have done that with fairness. they never dared to question the Book they tried to explain it the best way they could. If they had used common sense and without any fear of burning in hell, I am sure could have done better and Quran could have been understood and used in good way.
Well there are many 'Tafsirs' written by many different Islamic scholars. This is because one scholar doesn't agree with another. We only read the Qur'an in Arabic but we understand it differently.
For example you could write you own 'Tafsir' with what you understand. So there's no one simple, straight forward, single minded, and all exactly the same 'Tafsir', thing, as you might have learned from somewhere. But the interpretations of some of the Tafsirs are completey different to one another.
If you've done a little bit research into Islam, then you'll know that there are 100,000 of Hadiths (Prophetic sayings). Some are known as Saheeh (authentic) and other Dhaeef (weak). Which means some Islamic scholars only use the authetic and others use both.
Please do not criticise one's faith because it's insulting but try to understand it. If that's not preferrable, then leave the people alone. No one is forcing you to follow anything so you don't need to worry about anything.
extreemly. Jaza-k-Allah for the post. Can you please tell me where did you get it from. Cuz I might need it in future.
OK, so suppose you ahve to greet a nonmuslim what will you do? You see we have to know these things. Let us not cool down before we know them : )
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The URL link is given before the passage. I did not paste the whol URL because that would have been off-topic. You might find the whole URL interesting because it goes much further than this topic. For example it discusses enmity towards a non-muslim etc. Good reading.
Again I think the references I gave answer your second question. You greet or accept greetings from a non-muslim only if you need something from him. Now be a good a muslim and never wish me salaam.