The rulings on greeting

KNOW THAT TO initiate the greeting is Sunnah and not wājib. It is Sunnat al-kifāyah, so if it is a group giving the greeting, it is sufficient for only one of them to do so. However, it is better for all of them to give the greeting. Imam Qāḍī Ḥusayn, one of the imams of our colleagues, comments in Kitāb as-Siyar: “In our opinion, there is no Sunnat al-kifāyah other than this.”

I say that this restriction which the Qāḍī makes is disputable: according to our [Shāfi‘ī] colleagues, may Allah have mercy on them, to respond when somebody sneezes is Sunnat al-kifāyah, as will be explained shortly if Allah wills. One group of our colleagues—though not all of them—hold that the sacrifice [of an animal] is Sunnat al-kifāyah for a family, so if one of them slaughters it fulfils the rite and the Sunnah for all of them. As for replying to a greeting, if the person being greeted is alone then the reply is specific to him. If those who are greeted are a group then responding is farḍ al-kifāyah, so if one of them replies, the obligation no longer applies to the rest. If they all neglect it, they will all be sinning. The pinnacle of perfection and virtue is for all of them to reply, as our colleagues say—and it is a good and obvious point. Our colleagues agree that if someone other than them responds, the obligation does not fall away, and it is still compulsory for them to reply; and if they merely let a stranger respond for them, they will all be sinning.

We relate in the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd that ‘Alī reported that the Prophet said: “It is sufficient, when a group of people are passing by, for one of them to greet [those they pass]; and it is sufficient for those sitting if one of them replies.” ^[1].

And we relate from al-Muwaṭṭa’ that Zayd ibn Aslam narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “If one person in a group of people greets, it suffices for all.” ^[2].I say that this is a mursal hadith which has a ṣaḥīḥ isnād.

According to Imam Abū Sa‘d al-Mutawallī and others, if a man calls another man from behind a screen or a wall and says: ‘Peace be upon you, So-and-so,’ or he writes a letter in which is written ‘Peace be upon you, So-and-so,’ or ‘Peace be upon So-and-so’, or he sends a messenger saying ‘Greet So-and-so’ and the messenger or the letter reaches him, it is obligatory for the other man to respond to the greeting.

Similarly, al-Wāḥidī and others state that it is obligatory for anyone who receives a letter or a writing to return the greeting when the greeting reaches him.

We relate in the Ṣaḥīḥs of al-Bukhārī and Muslim that ‘Ā’ishah reported: “The Messenger of Allah told me: ‘This is Jibrīl, who is greeting you.’ I replied: ‘And upon him be the peace and mercy and blessings of Allah.’” ^[3].Some versions of the Ṣaḥīḥs add ‘and His blessings’, whereas others do not; the additions are acceptable. In at-Tirmidhī’s Book it reads: ‘and His blessings’, and he classed this as ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ. It is mustaḥabb to impart greetings to a person who is absent.

If a man sends another man greetings and the messenger says: ‘So-and-so sends you greetings,’ then it is wājib for him to reply immediately. It is mustaḥabb that he greet the messenger as well, saying: ‘And upon you and upon him be peace.’

I say: “Although this is a report from unknown narrators, we have mentioned that such hadiths on meritorious deeds are allowed and accepted.”

According to al-Mutawallī: “If a man greets a deaf person, it is imperative for him to utter the greeting and to gesture with his hand so that the person can understand; and he is entitled to a reply. If he does not do both together, he is not entitled to a reply. Likewise, if a deaf person greets him and he wishes to reply, it is imperative for him to utter with the tongue and gesture with the hand so that he may be understood, in order for the obligation to reply to be fulfilled. If he greets a mute person who gestures with his hand, the obligation falls away because the gesture takes the place of the utterance. Likewise, if a mute person greets him with a gesture, it is obligatory to reply as we have mentioned.”

According to al-Mutawallī, “If one greets a child, it is not obligatory for them to respond, because a child is not legally responsible.” What he says is correct, but it is mustaḥabb and good etiquette to reply. Al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn and his colleague al-Mutawallī said: “If a child greets a mature person, is it wājib for him to reply? There are two views, depending on the validity of his Islam. If we say that his Islam is valid, it is wājib to reply. If we say that his Islam is not valid, it is not wājib to reply but it is mustaḥabb.” I say: “The correct position from both points of view is that it is wājib to reply, because Allah says: ‘When you are greeted, reply with a better reply or return it.’” ^[5].As for their saying that it depends on whether the child is Muslim, ash-Shāshī said that this is a false premise; it is as he said, and Allah knows best.

If a man greets a group in which there is a child and the child replies but none of the others reply, does that relieve them of their obligation? There are two views, the sounder of which is that of al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn and his colleague al-Mutawallī: “It does not fall away, because [the child] is not legally responsible. To respond is an obligation, and it cannot be fulfilled by him, just as the obligation would not be fulfilled by him in the funeral ṣalāh.” And Allah knows best.

The second position is—and this is the ruling of Abū Bakr ash-Shāshī, the author of al-Mustaẓhirī, one of our colleagues—that it does fall away, in the same way that his calling the adhān is valid for men and absolves them of the need to seek an adhān.

I say that as for the prayer of janāzah, our colleagues differ about whether one is absolved of the obligation to perform it by a child having performed it, and they have taken two well-known positions. The correct position of the two, according to our colleagues, is that [the obligation] falls away, as ash-Shāfi‘ī stated in a text.

If a man is greeted by someone he then meets again nearby, it is Sunnah to greet him twice, thrice or more. Our colleagues agree on this. Evidence for that is in that which we relate from the Ṣaḥīḥs of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and which Abū Hurayrah narrated in a hadith about someone who erred in ṣalāh. He came and performed ṣalāh and then came to the Messenger of Allah and greeted him. He returned his greeting and said: “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” So he returned and performed ṣalāh. Then he came and greeted the Prophet , until he had done this three times. ^[6].

We relate in the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd that Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “When any of you meets his brother, he should greet him; and if a tree, wall or stone comes between them and he then meets him [again], he should greet him again.” ^[7].

We relate in the book of Ibn as-Sunnī that Anas narrated: “The Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to walk together. Whenever a tree or a hillock came before them and they parted to the right and to the left, when they met beyond it they would greet each other again.” ^[8].

If two men meet and they greet each other simultaneously, or one after the other, according to al-Qāḍī Ḥusayn and his colleague Abū Sa‘d al-Mutawallī, each of them becomes the initiator of the greeting and it is imperative for each to reply to his companion. Ash-Shāshī observes: “There are views about this since this wording is suitable to serve as a reply. If one greets after the other, that is a response. If they are simultaneous, then it is not a response.” What ash-Shāshī says here is the correct opinion.

If a man meets another and the initiator says: ‘And upon you be peace,’ according to al-Mutawallī it is not correct and does not deserve a reply, because this form is not suitable for the beginning of a greeting. I say that if one says ‘Upon you (singular)’ or ‘Upon you (plural) be peace’ without the conjunction ‘and’, it is correct. Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Wāḥidī stated categorically that it is a greeting of peace to which it is obligatory for the person addressed to respond, even if the customary wording is inverted. What al-Wāḥidī says is the obvious truth, and the Imām al-Ḥaramayn [al-Juwaynī] also said the same quite decisively; and so it is obligatory to respond to it because it is called ‘a greeting of peace’. It is conceivable that one could say that there are two positions with respect to the question whether it is a greeting of peace, like the two positions our colleagues have about the case when someone concludes his prayer by saying, ‘Upon you be peace’ as to whether that is a valid way of concluding the prayer. The sounder position is that that it does result [in a valid conclusion to the prayer]. But it is conceivable that one could say that this does not deserve a response in any circumstances, because of what we relate from the Sunans of Abū Dāwūd and at-Tirmidhī and other sources with saḥīḥ isnāds that Abū Jurayy al-Hujaymī, a Companion, whose name was Jābir ibn Sulaym , related: “I came to the Messenger of Allah and said: ‘Upon you be peace, Messenger of Allah.’ He replied: ‘Do not say: “Upon you be peace,” for that is the greeting we give the deceased.’” ^[9].According to at-Tirmidhī this is a ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ hadith.

I say that it is possible that this hadith is meant to describe the best and most perfect [way of greeting], not to say that [‘Upon you be peace’] is not a greeting. And Allah knows best.

Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī says in his Iḥyā’ that it is makrūh to say at the beginning ‘upon you be peace’, because of this hadith. The preferable view is that it is makrūh to begin with it in this form, but if someone does it, then it is wājib to reply because it is a greeting.

It is Sunnah to greet before talking, in accordance with authentic hadiths and the actions of the earlier and later generations of the Ummah, as is well-known; and this is what is relied upon in evidence for its superiority.

We relate from the Sunan of at-Tirmidhī that Jābir narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “Greeting comes before speaking.” ^[10].This is a weak hadith which according to at-Tirmidhī is munkar.

To initiate the greeting is better, in accordance with the hadith: “The best of them is he who starts the greeting.” ^[11].Thus everyone should be eager to start the greeting when they meet someone.

We relate in the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd with a good isnād that Abū Umāmah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “The closest of all men to Allah is he who greets [others] first.” ^[12].According to a report by at-Tirmidhī, Abū Umāmah reported that someone asked: “Messenger of Allah, if two men meet, which should start the greeting?” He said: “The one who is closest to Allah .” At-Tirmidhī regarded this as a ḥasan hadith.