Sharh Riyad as-Saliheen by Ibn Uthaymeen — Volume 3 (شرح رياض الصالحين) — Page 337

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

بَابُ كَيْفِيَّةِ السَّلَامِ.

Chapter on the proper manner of greeting.

فَإِنَّهُ يَضْرِبُ الْبُوقَ، فَإِنَّ هَذَا لَا يَكْفِي فِي السَّلَامِ، وَلَيْسَ مِنَ السُّنَّةِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِلَّا أَنْ بَعْضَ النَّاسِ يَقُولُ: أَنَا لَا أُرِيدُ بِهِ السَّلَامَ، لَكِنْ أُرِيدُ أَنْ يَنْتَبِهَ، ثُمَّ أُسَلِّمُ عَلَيْهِ، هَذَا أَرْجُو أَلَّا يَكُونَ بِهِ بَأْسٌ، وَأَمَّا أَنْ يَجْعَلَهُ بَدَلًا عَنِ السَّلَامِ، فَإِنَّ هَذَا - لَا شَكَّ - خِلَافُ السُّنَّةِ، فَالسُّنَّةُ أَنْ يُسَلِّمَ الْإِنْسَانُ بِلِسَانِهِ - وَإِذَا كَانَ الصَّوْتُ لَا يُسْمَعُ - فَإِنَّهُ يُسَلِّمُ وَيُشِيرُ بِيَدٍ، حَتَّى يَنْتَبِهَ الْبَعِيدُ، أَوِ الْأَصَمُّ.

Blowing a horn does not suffice as a greeting and is not part of the Sunnah. If someone says, "I do not mean this as a greeting; I only want to get his attention so I can greet him," I hope there is no harm in that. However, using it as a substitute for the actual greeting is undoubtedly contrary to the Sunnah. The Sunnah is to greet with one's voice. If the voice cannot be heard, one should greet while gesturing with the hand so that a distant person or someone who is deaf may notice.

وَفِي حَدِيثِ أَسْمَاءَ بِنْتِ يَزِيدَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ مَرَّ بِالْمَسْجِدِ وَفِيهِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ، فَأَلْوَى إِلَيْهِنَّ بِالتَّسْلِيمِ - أَيْ سَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِنَّ وَأَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ - قَالَ النَّوَوِيُّ: وَهُوَ مَحْمُولٌ عَلَى أَنَّهُ جَمَعَ بَيْنَ السَّلَامِ وَالْإِشَارَةِ، وَذَلِكَ لِأَنَّ السَّلَامَ بِالْإِشَارَةِ فَقَطْ مَنْهِيٌّ عَنْهُ، السَّلَامُ لَا بُدَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ بِالْقَوْلِ: «السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ» إِذَا كَانَ وَاحِدًا وَ«السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ» إِذَا كَانُوا جَمَاعَةً، لَكِنْ إِذَا كَانَ الْإِنْسَانُ بَعِيدًا، أَوْ أَصَمَّ، أَوْ حَوْلَهُ ضَجَّةٌ، أَوْ مَا أَشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَ الْإِشَارَةِ وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْلِ: «السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ» مَعَ الْإِشَارَةِ.

The hadith of Asma bint Yazid, may Allah be pleased with her, relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed by the mosque while a group of women were there and gestured to them in greeting—meaning he both greeted them verbally and gestured with his hand. Al-Nawawi explained that this is understood as combining the verbal greeting with the gesture, because greeting with a gesture alone is forbidden. The greeting must be spoken: "Al-salamu 'alayka" for an individual, and "Al-salamu 'alaykum" for a group. If a person is far away, deaf, or in a noisy environment, one should combine the verbal greeting with a gesture.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (20 verbs · 47 nouns)

• ضَرَبَ — to blow
• كَفَى — to suffice
• قَالَ — to say
• بَابٌ — chapter
• كَيْفِيَّةٌ — manner
• سَلَامٌ — greeting