Manners of Greeting with Salaam, Dought & clear, - * Greeting a kaafir first

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M NajimudeeN - INDIA
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Is it permissible for a Muslim to great a non-Muslim first?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about the ruling on greeting non-Muslims. He replied as follows:
Greeting a non-Muslim first is haraam and is not permitted, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not initiate the greeting with the Jews and Christians, and if you meet them in the street push them towards the narrowest part of it.” But if they greet us we have to respond to them, because of the general meaning of the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally”
[al-Nisa’ 4:86]
The Jews used to greet the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) by saying, “Al-saam ‘alaykum ya Muhammad (Death be upon you, O Muhammad),” praying that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would die. So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Jews say ‘al-saam ‘alaykum (death be upon you),’ so if they greet you, then say, ‘Wa ‘alaykum (and also upon you).’”
If a non-Muslim greets a Muslim by saying “al-saamu ‘alaykum,” then we should respond by saying “wa ‘alaykum (and also upon you).” The fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said “wa ‘alaykum” indicates that if they were saying “al-salaamu ‘alaykum (peace be upon you),” then peace will also be upon them, i.e., whatever they say to us, we say to them. Hence some of the scholars said that if a Jew, Christian or other non-Muslim clearly says “al-salaamu ‘alaykum,” it is permissible for us to say “ ‘alaykum al-salaam (upon you be peace).”
Similarly it is not permissible to initiate a greeting such asAhlan wa sahlan(welcome) and the like, because that is a kind of honouring them. But if they say something like that to us, then we should say something similar to them, because the greeting should be returned in like manner and each person should be given his due. It is well known that the Muslims are higher in status before Allaah, so they should not humiliate themselves in front of non-Muslims by greeting them first.
So, in conclusion, it is not permissible for us to greet non-Muslims first, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade that, and because this is a humiliation for the Muslim when he starts to honour a non-Muslim. The Muslim is higher in status before Allaah, so he should not humiliate himself in this manner. But if we are greeted then we should return the greeting in similar terms.
Similarly it is not permissible for us to greet them first with words such as Ahlan wa sahlan (welcome), Marhaban (hello) and so on, because that is a kind of honouring them, so it is like initiating the greeting of salaams with them.Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 3/33.
If there is a need to greet a kaafir first, there is no sin in that, but it should be something other than the greeting of salaam, such as saying Ahlan wa sahlan or How are you, etc. In that case the greeting is for a reason, not to honour him.
Seeal-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 25/168.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said inZaad al-Ma’aad(2/424), concerning greeting a kaafir first:
A group of scholars said: It is permissible to greet him first if that serves a purpose, or for fear of his harm, or because of blood ties, or for a reason that requires that.
And Allaah knows best.
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Manners of Greeting with Salaam, Dought & clear, - * Greeting the Shi’ah first

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What is the ruling on greeting a Shi’i first with salaam? Especially since I mix with them a great deal and they do not proclaim their beliefs openly or slander (the Sahaabah) etc.
Praise be to Allaah.
What we say about interacting with the Shi’ah depends on the situation. The innovated beliefs of the Shi’ah vary. If it is something that does not put them beyond the pale of Islam, but is rather regarded as drifting away from the right path, such as their claiming to be devoted to Ahl al-Bayt (the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)), then it is permissible to greet them first, because they are Muslims who have committed acts of innovation and sin that do not put them beyond the pale of Islam, and we have to advise them and direct them towards the Sunnah and the truth, and warn them against innovation and sin. If they follow right guidance and accept advice, then praise be to Allaah, for this is what we want. But if they persist in following innovation, then they should be forsaken until they repent to Allaah and give up their innovations and evil ways, because this is a kind of punishment for them. If something good can be achieved by means of this forsaking, or something bad warded off, then it is prescribed in sharee’ah, but if this forsaking will result in something that will increase the evil caused by their innovations, then it is not prescribed.
If you think that not forsaking them will serve a greater interest and that mixing with them and advising them is more useful in opening their hearts to true religion, then there is nothing wrong with not forsaking them, because the aim behind forsaking them is to direct them to the right way and to make them feel that we do not approve of their ways, so that they may come back to true Islam.
If forsaking them will harm the Muslims’ interests and make them cling more firmly to their false ways and put them off the truth, then it is better not to do that, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not forsake ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ubayy ibn Salool, the leader of the hypocrites, because not forsaking him was more in the interests of the Muslims.
But if their bid’ah constitutes kufr, such as cursing the Sahaabah and exaggerating about ‘Ali and Faatimah and al-Hasan and al-Husayn (may Allaah be pleased with them), and they pray to them and seek their help and ask them for support and so on, or their belief that they have knowledge of the unseen etc, which means that they are beyond the pale of Islam, then in this case it is not permissible to greet them first or to befriend them or to eat meat slaughtered by them. Rather we must hate them and disavow ourselves of them, until they believe in Allaah alone, because in this case they are kaafirs and apostates. SeeMajmoo’ Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam, 28/216-217;Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 4/262-263
It should be noted here that it is not permissible to greet a kaafir first in general terms, such as saying Ahlan wa sahlan (welcome) and so on, because that involves honouring them and venerating them, and the Muslim is higher in status before Allaah, so we should not greet them first. But if they say that to us then we may greet them in the same manner as they greeted us, because Islam is the religion of justice that came to give each person his rights.
Al-Majmoo’ al-Thameen min Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 1/48.And Allaah is the source of strength.

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Manners of Greeting with Salaam, Dought & clear, - * Is it permissible to use the expression “greetings” or “best wishes”?

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At the end of official communications between government departments it says “with my compliments (la lakum tahiyyaati)” or “with our compliments (wa lakum tahiyyaatuna).” But it is well known that al-tahiyyaat (greetings or compliments) are only for Allaah alone, with no partner or associate. [As said in the tashahhud in prayer]. What is your opinion on that?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There is nothing wrong with one person saying to another, “with my compliments (la lakum tahiyyaati)” or “with our compliments (wa lakum tahiyyaatuna)” and other such phrases.
With regard to the tahiyyaat that are for Allaah alone, that refers to perfect tahiyyaat, as in the tashahhud in prayer: “Al-tahiyyaatu Lillaahi wa’l-salawaat wa’l-tayyibaat(all compliments, prayers and pure words are for Allaah).”
But there is nothing wrong with the greetings or compliments that are given by one person to another.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about these words, “arjuka(I hope that you…)”, “tahiyyaati(my compliments)”, “an’am sabaahan(good morning)” and “an’am masaa’an(good evening)”.
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with saying to someone, “I hope that you…” with regard to something that he can fulfil your hope in. The same applies to saying, “My compliments to you” and so on, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally”
[al-Nisa’ 4:86]
Similarly there is nothing wrong with saying “Good morning” or “Good evening” etc, so long as these are not adopted as greetings instead of the salaam that is prescribed in sharee’ah.
Al-Manaahi al-Lafziyyah(question 8).
In questions 9 and 20, the Shaykh was also asked about the phrases “with our best wishes (wa lakum tahiyyaatuna)” and “I give you my compliments (uhdi lakum tahiyyaati).”
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with the phrases “with our best wishes (wa lakum tahiyyaatuna)” and “I give you my compliments (uhdi lakum tahiyyaati)” and other similar phrases. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally”
[al-Nisa’ 4:86]
It is permissible for one person to give greetings or compliments (tahiyyaat) to another, but tahiyyaat in the general sense belongs to Allaah, as we also say “Praise be to Allaah”, and “Thanks be to Allaah,” but at the same time it is also valid to say, “I praise So and so for doing such and such” and “I thanked him such and such”. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“give thanks to Me and to your parents”
[Luqmaan 31:14]
And Allaah knows best.

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