❀ The Shar‘i Ruling on Spreading Salām and Related Matters ❀
Taken from: Fatāwā al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, Vol. 1, p. 171
❖ Question:
This is a treatise titled “al-Ḥiwār al-Tām fī Masʾalat Ifshāʾ al-Salām Bayna al-Anām”. What is the Shar‘i stance on this issue?
❖ Answer:
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon His Messenger. To proceed:
✿ The Command and Importance of Spreading Salām
Brother Muḥammad Ḥasan Kanrī asked a fatwa regarding the general practice of giving salām, to which I wrote a brief response with clear evidences.
This fatwa was presented to a scholar who served as a judge in Kanrī, but he provided a weak and speculative answer based on a single ḥadīth, claiming the abrogation (naskh) of authentic reports.
However, abrogation is not proven merely through speculation. For valid naskh, the following three conditions must be fulfilled:
➊ The abrogating (nāsikh) text must be chronologically later than the abrogated (mansūkh).
➋ The nāsikh should be stronger or equal in authenticity and reliability.
➌ Reconciliation (taṭbīq) between the texts must be impossible.
For this reason, I found it necessary to elaborate on this topic, as it has many benefits and is a subject of general neglect.
✿ Ruling on Saying Salām to Specific Individuals
◈ Saying salām to a person offering prayer is Sunnah, and the praying person may respond with a gesture.
◈ It is permissible to say salām to:
- A person engaged in dhikr
- Someone reciting the Qur’an
- A muʾadhdhin
- Women, children, and people eating
…except to those whom the Sunnah explicitly excludes.
This ruling is supported by both general and specific evidence.
✿ General Evidence for Spreading Salām
1. A Means of Cultivating Love Among Believers
From Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه):
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not tell you about something that will spread love among you? Spread salām among yourselves.“
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 93, Mishkāt 2/397, Tirmidhī 2/98)
2. A Source of Blessings and Goodness
From al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib (رضي الله عنه):
The Prophet ﷺ commanded us to do seven things:
➊ Visit the sick
➋ Attend funerals
➌ Respond to sneezers
➍ Support the weak
➎ Spread salām among people
➏ Fulfill oaths
➐ Help the oppressed
(Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī 2/921, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2/123, Mishkāt 2/397)
✿ Specific Evidence on Saying Salām to a Praying Person
1. The Practice of the Prophet ﷺ
From ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه):
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went to Qubāʾ to pray. While he was in ṣalāh, some of the Anṣār came and greeted him with salām. I asked Bilāl (رضي الله عنه) how the Prophet ﷺ replied, and he said: ‘He gestured with his hand.’”
(Sunan Abū Dāwūd 927, Ibn Mājah 1017, Mishkāt 1/92, Bayhaqī 2/187, Tirmidhī 1/367)
2. Other Narrations
➤ Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh (رضي الله عنه):
“I greeted the Prophet ﷺ while he was praying, and he gestured toward me.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 204, Ibn Mājah 18, Abū Dāwūd 926)
➤ Ṣuhayb (رضي الله عنه):
“I passed by the Prophet ﷺ while he was praying and greeted him with salām, and he responded with a gesture.”
(Abū Dāwūd 925, Tirmidhī 1/367, Aḥmad 4/332, Mishkāt 1/91)
✿ Individuals to Whom Salām Should Not Be Given
❶ Disbelievers (Kuffār):
One should say: “As-salāmu ʿalā man ittabaʿa al-hudā”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī 1/5, narration from Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه)
❷ Open Sinners and Innovators (Fusāq & Mubtadiʿūn):
The Prophet ﷺ stopped returning salām to Kaʿb ibn Mālik (رضي الله عنه) during the boycott.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
❸ One Relieving Himself:
Abū Juhaym (رضي الله عنه) greeted the Prophet ﷺ during urination, but he replied only after making wuḍūʾ.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Mishkāt 1/55)
✔ Conclusion
✔ Spreading salām is a Sunnah, with no need for restriction unless backed by strong textual evidence.
✔ Saying salām is permissible to those engaged in prayer, dhikr, Qurʾān recitation, adhān, eating, and even women and children.
✔ Exemptions include non-Muslims, open sinners and innovators, and someone in the state of relieving themselves.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
And Allah knows best what is correct.
