Haven't we all met, at one time or another, people who looked so pleased to see us that they made us feel we are the dearest to them? No matter how despondent we might be, meeting such a person alleviates our pain in seconds. We can do the same by following Prophet Muhammad's (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) way of greeting people. He was the most distinguished in spreading peace and serenity with his kind greetings, making the young and the old, friends and strangers, men and women feel equally cherished.
Definition
To greet someone with peace means we approach them with a smiling face and address them with kind words that make them feel favored and treasured. The real meaning of greeting with peace is to make people we encounter feel peaceful and safe; to make them be sure we do not cheat them, betray them, or backbite them; and reassure them that we are always ready for reconciliation and harmony. Such a greeting would certainly overcome any tension or ill will.
Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã) says: ?When a (courteous) greeting is offered to you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or (at least) of equal courtesy. Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã) takes careful account of all things.?(19) Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) said: ((It is not lawful for a Muslim to desert (stop talking to) his brother beyond three nights, the one turning one way and the other turning to the other way when they meet, the better of the two is the first to greet the other.))(20) Therefore, following the Quran and Sunnah teachings, we should make sure we start greeting others and return any greeting with an even better one. That is how our greeting serves its essential purpose.
Explanation
Greeting with peace is an indirect way of expressing a state of goodwill and harmony between the one who is greeting and the one who is greeting back. Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) said: ((You will not enter Heaven until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I tell you something which, if you do, you will love one another? Promote greetings amongst yourselves))(21) The Prophet teaches us here one of the essential keys to spreading love among people, which is "greeting with peace." This virtue indicates nobility, especially when we enter a decent place and find that we all share a code of respect even if we do not know one another. When someone asked Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam)" Which act in Islam is the best?" he replied, ((To feed the poor and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not know))(22)
This amiable behavior of unconditional greeting is still prevalent in some villages, where passersby get invited over a cup of coffee the moment they greet a group of neighbors. Greeting with peace can indeed be the inception of affection and long-living friendships among humans, and the more we greet with peace, the more benevolence and compassion there will be in the world. Hence, we can learn from Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam),who was distinguished for his greetings, which brought people closer and closer to him.
We know about Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) that he approached others with such a smiling and friendly face that the greeted would feel he was the closest to Prophet Muhammad's (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) heart. Another characteristic of his greeting is that he was the last to pull out his hand from a handshake. We ought to learn from Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) the principles of a beautiful, peaceful greeting and learn to start with the greeting rather than wait to test the other person's intentions. We ought to adopt the habit of welcoming and approaching others with a cheerful spirit, for that is the spirit of a believer in Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã), the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing of our deeds, big and small.
Greeting with peace is, therefore, the heart of Prophet Muhammad's (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) Hadith: ((Every good deed is charity))(23). Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) also said: ((If two Muslims met and shook hands, the one who is the most cheerful shall be loved (by Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã)), and one hundred mercy comes between them, ninety for the first to greet and a ten for the other))(24)
Smiling is a kind of non-verbal communication with people, and it is the shortest way to their hearts, for a smile instantly conveys our feelings of warmth and kindness. No wonder then to learn from "Abdullah bin al-Harith" what he said about Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam): ((I have not seen anyone more smiling than the Prophet of Allah))(25)
A smile has a marvelous effect on the hearts, which explains Prophet Muhammad's (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) advice to us when he said: ((Do not underestimate any good deed, even meeting your brother with a friendly face))(26). We get rewarded by Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã) for the amount and quality of our greetings as we learned from "Imran bin Husayn's" story. ((A man came to the Prophet (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) and said, 'Peace be upon you!' He then sat down. The Prophet (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) responded to his salutation and said, [He will have] Ten (rewards). Another man came and said, 'Peace and Allah's mercy be upon you!' He responded and said, [He will have] Twenty (rewards). A third man came and said, 'Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings!' Prophet (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) responded to him and said, [He will have] Thirty (rewards) ))(27)
Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã) teaches us how to train ourselves to show warmth and courtesy to others even if they do not show the same feelings. Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã) says: ?When a (courteous) greeting is offered to you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or (at least) of equal courtesy. Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã) takes careful account of all things?(28)
All this tells us that we should train ourselves to show our kindness by approaching others with sincere hearts and words. We should respond to salutations with affability even if we are not approached as gently, keeping in mind, of course, that we do not show excessive feelings when greeting the opposite gender unless we are connected with a legal relationship.
Sometimes we meet people whom we do not like. Yet we need to try hard not to aggravate any hostility with them because our Islamic principles refrain us from abandoning our brothers or neglecting them. Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) said it clearly: ((Avoid jealousy between yourselves, do not outbid one another (to raise the price), do not harbor hatred against one another, do not bear enmity against one another...))(29) We can easily put an end to alienation and abandonment with a warm greeting coming from the heart.
The devil, however, whispers to us that keeping this habit of warm salutation could mean that we are not being sincere or that smiling to an enemy is an act of hypocrisy. The truth is that we do not have to become intimate friends with our opponents; we just need to meet them with a genial face. Our teacher, Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam), used to warmly greet his enemies and haters in the hope of softening their hearts, and so can we.
When Prophet Muhammad (salla llãhu alayhi wa sallam) passed by a group of children, he would greet them, and when he met a group of women, he would greet and advise them. We learned from him that riders greet pedestrians; pedestrians greet those sitting; the bigger group greets the smaller group, and the younger greets the older. We learned from him to greet upon arriving and when leaving a place. When he entered his home, he greeted his family in a voice that could reach the awake but not awaken the asleep. We also learned from the Quran to take permission before entering someone's home. Allah (subhãnahu wa ta´ãlã) says: ?Believers! Do not enter any house other than your own until you have asked for permission and greeted its occupants. This is best for you, so perhaps you will be mindful?(30)
Islamic teachings have every single detail of our life managed. For example, we have exact instructions for what to do when we visit someone's home. We stand aside and not face the door while waiting for permission to enter. Before or even after we enter, we should lower our gaze not to see what the homeowner does not like us to see. We are also guided on how we request permission. After the first knock or ring, we wait for as...
