44. The People of the Book

44. The People of the Book

chapter 512. When a dhimmi writes and gives the greeting, he is answered

1101. Abu ‘Uthman an-Nahdi said, “Abu Musa wrote to a Persian grandee and greeted him in his letter. He was asked, ‘Do you greet him when he is an unbeliever?’ He replied, ‘He wrote to me and greeted me, so I have answered him.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: It could be deduced from the narration that the companion – t – agreed with the rest of the people that it was not allowed to give the greeting of Salam to the non-Muslims, but he clarified that the prohibition is restricted to initiating the greeting of Salam such that if a non-Muslim clearly says the greeting of Salam to us, we should respond with the greeting of Salam too. Imam al-Albaanee (الله رحمه (explains, “It contains the virtue of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq t and glad tidings for him that he will enter the Garden, and the narrations on that are nice and many. It also contains the excellence of combining these qualities on a single day, and that their been found in a single person is glad tiding of the Garden (for such person). May 344 Allah make us from its people.”

chapter 513. Do not initiate the salam with dhimmis

1102. Abu Basra l-Ghifari reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “I will ride to the Jews tomorrow. Do not give them the greeting first. If they greet you, then say, ‘and on you.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The hadeeth prohibits giving the Salam first to the nonMuslims, and teaches that when the non-Muslims greet us first with the Salam, we should say, “Wa ‘alaykum, and upon you.” However, it appears this manner of replying their greeting of Salam, was because the non-Muslims used to say, “As-Saam ‘alaykum, death (instead of peace) be upon you” as in hadeeth no. 311, 1105 and 1106. They should be answered with the like of what they say.

1103. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Do not give the People of the Book the greeting first. Force them to the narrowest part of the road.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary:The one who ascribes to Allah what He is not and gives worship to other than the One Who created and provides for all is, to say the least, an ingrate, not deserving of the reverence of first been greeted with the Salam. And from the ignominy that follows him for his disbelief is his been constrained to the sides of the road!

chapter 514. A person greeting a dhimmi with a gesture

1104. ‘Alqama said, “‘Abdullah used to greet the Persian grandees with a gesture.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Imam Al-Albaanee (الله رحمه (deduced from this narration that one could initiate greeting a non-Muslim first with other known forms of greeting such as “good morning”, “how are you” and similar others. See Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth is-Saheehah (2/320)

1105. Anas said, “A Jew passed by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying, ‘Peace be upon you.’ His Companions returned the salam.’ The Prophet said, ‘The Jew said, ‘Poison (sam) be upon you.’ He caught hold of the Jew who admitted it.’ The Prophet said, ‘Answer him with what he said.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Apparently, the Prophet ([r]) disapproved of the companions’ response to the Jew because he said, “death be upon you” instead of “peace be upon you”. Therefore, to ‘answer them with what they say’ would imply also, that if they clearly express the greeting of Salam they should be replied with the Salam too.

chapter 515. How to answer dhimmis

1106. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “When one of the Jews greets you and says, ‘Poison be upon you (as-samu ‘alaykum ),’ say, ‘And on you.'”

1107. Ibn ‘Abbas said, “Return the greeting to whomever it is, Jew, Christian, or Magian. That is because Allah says, ‘When you are greeted with a greeting, greet with one better than it or return it.’ (4:86)”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: Perhaps the author, Imam al-Bukhaaree (الله رحمه (cited this narration here, and in fact the one before it, to demonstrate that if a nonMuslim greets us first with a clear greeting of Salam, we should respond also with the greeting of Salam. Imam Ibn Battal (الله رحمه (and others among the pious predecessors averred similarly. It could be deduced from the narration that the companion – t – agreed with the rest of the people that it was not allowed to give the greeting of Salam to the non-Muslims, but he clarified that the prohibition is restricted to initiating the greeting of Salam such that if a non-Muslim clearly says the greeting of Salam to us, we should respond with the greeting of Salam too. Imam al-Albaanee (الله رحمه (explains, “It contains the virtue of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq t and glad tidings for him that he will enter the Garden, and the narrations on that are nice and many. It also contains the excellence of combining these qualities on a single day, and that their been found in a single person is glad tiding of the Garden (for such person). May 344 Allah make us from its people.”

chapter 516. The greeting to the gathering which includes both Muslims and idolaters

1108. Usama ibn Zayd related that one day the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was riding on a donkey on a straw saddle covered by a blanket from Fadak. Usama ibn Zayd was riding behind him. He was on his way to visit Sa’d ibn ‘Ubada. He passed by a meeting which included ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul before the enemy of Allah had become Muslim. The gathering contained a mixture of Muslims, associaters and idolaters. He greeted them.
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Imam an-Nawawee (الله رحمه (explained that, “The Sunnah is that if a person passes by a gathering in which there are Muslims and nonMuslims, he should say the greeting of Salam in a manner that encompasses all while intending the Muslims.” Sharh Saheeh al-Adab al-Mufrad (3/229)

chapter 517. How does one write to the People of the Book?

1109. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas related that Abu Sufyan ibn Harb sent him to Heraclius, the Byzantine Emperor, and he called for the letter of the Messenger of Allah which Dihya had brought to the governor of Busra, who in turn passed it on to Heraclius. He read it out, saying, ‘In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, from Muhammad, the slave of Allah and His Messenger, to Heraclius, ruler of the Byzantines. Peace be upon the one who follows guidance. I call you to Islam. If you become Muslim, you will be safe and Allah will double your reward. If you turn away, then you incur the wrong action of your subjects. “O People of the Book! Come to a proposition which is the same for us and you É (to His words) Bear witness that we are Muslims.” (3:54)'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: From the points of benefit in this hadeeth are: 1. It establishes correspondence as one of the means of inviting to the religion. 2. It is recommended to commence letters with the expression, “Bismillah irRahmaan ar-Raheem”. See Chapter no. 527. 3. If it were permissible to start greeting a non-Muslim first with the Salam, the Prophetﷺ would have done so in this letter. 4. The expression, “Amma ba’d, To proceed”, is also used in letters as in speeches. See Chapter 526. 5. A person who leads others towards goodness is also rewarded with goodness practiced by those he has guided towards it. Similarly, he bears the burdens of the sins of those he led to sin along with his own sin.

chapter 518. When the People of the Book say, “Poison be upon you”

1110. Jabir said, “Some of the Jews greeted the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by saying, ‘Poison be upon you (as-Samu ‘alaykum)’ and the Prophet replied, ‘And on you.’ ‘A’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, said angrily, ‘Didn’t you hear what they said?’ The Prophet replied, ‘Yes, and I answered them. What I said about them will be accepted and what they said about me will not be accepted.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Apparently, the Prophet ([r]) disapproved of the companions’ response to the Jew because he said, “death be upon you” instead of “peace be upon you”. Therefore, to ‘answer them with what they say’ would imply also, that if they clearly express the greeting of Salam they should be replied with the Salam too.

chapter 519. The People of the Book are forced to the narrowest part of the road

1111. See 1103.
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

chapter 520. How to make supplication for a dhimmi

1112. ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amir al-Juhani passed by a man who looked like a Muslim who greeted him. ‘Uqba answered him, saying, “And on you and the mercy of Allah and his blessings.” His slave said to him, “He is a Christian.” ‘Uqba got up and followed him until he caught up to him. He said, “The mercy of Allah and His blessings are for the believers, but may Allah make your life long and give you much wealth and many children.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: It could be deduced that the companion – t – viewed that it is not allowed to return the greeting of Salam to the non-Muslim that greets us with it. However, the earlier position is more preponderant because it is corroborated by, amongst other narrations, the verse cited by Abdullah bin Abbass (radiya Allahu anhuma). The point of reference in this narration is the permissibility of supplicating for the non-Muslim.

1113. Ibn ‘Abbas said, “If Pharaoh had said to me, ‘May Allah bless you,’ I would have said, ‘And you.’ But Pharaoh is dead.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Apparently, the Prophet ([r]) disapproved of the companions’ response to the Jew because he said, “death be upon you” instead of “peace be upon you”. Therefore, to ‘answer them with what they say’ would imply also, that if they clearly express the greeting of Salam they should be replied with the Salam too.

1114. Abu Musa said, “The Jews used to sneeze in the presence in the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, hoping that he would say to them, ‘May Allah have mercy on you,’ but he used to say, ‘May Allah guide you and out your affairs in order.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The point of reference in this hadeeth here is the permissibility of supplicating for the non-Muslim for guidance, the greatest of which is been guided unto Islam. The Jews know that the Prophet, Muhammadﷺ is truly the Messenger of Allah even though they reject his message! So during his time they would wish that he prayed Allah’s Mercy for them and so, would pretend to sneeze in his presence. Since he – peace and blessings be upon him – was a mercy to the entire mankind, he supplicated to Allah for them for guidance to Islam and recitification of affairs which are prerequisites for the mercy they wanted him to pray for. It evinces the fact that it is not permissible to say the word, Yarhamukallahu meant for the people of Eemaan to the people of Kufr.

chapter 521. When someone greets a Christian whom he does not recognise

1115. ‘Abdu’r-Rahman said, “Ibn ‘Umar passed by a Christian who greeted him and Ibn ‘Umar returned the greeting He was told that the man was a Christian. When he learned that, he went back to him and said, ‘Give me back my greeting.'”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: It contains further proof for the prohibition of initiate the greeting with a non-Muslim, and shows the companion’s keenness to extend the greetings of Salam.

chapter 522. When someone says, “So-and-so sends you his greetings”

1116. ‘A’isha reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to her, “Jibril sends you the greeting.” She replied, “And peace be upon him and the mercy of Allah.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The hadeeth contains points of benefit including: 1. The virtue of ‘A’aisha (radiya Allahu anha); greetings of Salam were extended to her by angel Jibreel (u). 2. The correct word to employ to convey a persons greeting of Salam to the other is: ‘Fulan, yaqrau ‘alayka as-salam’ (So-and- so extends the greetings of Salam to you). 3. The person to whom the greeting of Salam is conveyed returns the greeting using the secong person singular: wa alayhi as-Salam. 4. The permissibility of calling a person in a shortened form of his name.