Nothing wrong if non-Muslims use salam, says mufti
KUALA LUMPUR: Muslims should not feel uneasy or offended if non-Muslims use the expression assalamu’alaikum (peace be upon you) to greet them, said Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.
He said there were non-Muslims who greeted Muslims with the salam in the proper manner and “with all honesty, that is, they truly wish us peace.”
“Islam teaches us that an honourable greeting must be replied appropriately. Therefore, Muslims should answer such a greeting fully.”
The Islamic scholar skyrocketed into the Malaysian consciousness after his bold comments last year on the need for religious authorities to stop snooping and spying on Muslims for khalwat (close proximity), urging them to look at the bigger picture and focus on the community’s more pressing problems.
Since then, the 35-year-old mufti has expressed opinions on a range of issues, some of which have not exactly endeared him to some of his more conservative peers and segments of the public.
In his column, Dr Asri will take questions from Muslims and non-Muslims who want to know about Islam and its application in daily life in a multi-ethnic setting.
His views on the Muslim greeting was in response to the following question posed by a non-Muslim:
In the Middle East, it is customary to greet people, including non-Muslims, with the salam – Assalamu ‘alaikum (meaning, “peace be upon you”) – and to reply to the greeting with the phrase, “Wa ’alaikum salam (“and upon you, peace”). However, in Malaysia, the greeting seems to be confined to Muslims. Why?
Dr Asri said: “In Malaysia, the greeting is a cultural practice established by people in the past. It is a problem of comprehension and interpretation, which has resulted in the belief that Muslims are not allowed to answer the salam expressed by non-Muslims.
“This has happened because of a confusion over a hadith (tradition) of the Prophet, who instructed Muslims to reply to the salam from the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) with the phrase wa ’alaika (and upon you).
“During the time of the Prophet, non-Muslims who were hostile to Muslims sometimes cynically greeted them with assamu ‘alaikum, which means ‘destruction upon you’.
“That is why the Prophet told Muslims to reply with wa ’alaika. The instruction contained in this hadith is not applicable in every situation.”
Dr Asri encouraged Muslims to show that Islam projects an image of harmony and that Prophet Muhammad was sent to bring peace. “There is no problem with Islam. All this happen because of inaccurate interpretations, and we have to fix it.”