The physiognomy of salām
Salām is one of the Names of God.
Salām is the salutation of the dwellers of paradise to one another.
Salām is the greeting of the angels at the time of entering the paradise.
Salām is the message of the All-merciful Lord.
Salām is the reception of the Night of Ordainment [laylah al-qadr].
Salām is the first right of Muslims upon one another.
Salām is the key to commencing any discourse or writing.
Salām is the deed of security from every sort of fear and evil.
Salām is the simplest good deed.
Salām is the symbol of humility and meekness.
Salām is the element of love and intimacy.
Salām is the expression of peace and amity.
Salām is the first gift and present between two human beings.
Salām is the wish for the safety of the servants of God.
Salām is the call for world peace.
Salām is the harbinger of hope and the bearer of joy.
Salām is the effacer of past offenses.
Salām is the announcement of presence and the permission to enter.
Salām is the best word at the time of entrance and exit.
Salām is a word which is light on the tongue but heavy in the scale.
Salām is the way for the reformers to reform the society.
Salām is the word addressed to both the dead and the living.
Salām is the source of glory and grandeur.
Salām is the element for earning the pleasure of God and the anger of Satan.
Salām is the means of entrance of the divine secrets into the heart.
Salām is the compensator for sins and the enhancer of good deeds.
Salām is the messenger of fellowship and friendship.
Salām is the agent that crushes vanity and egoism.
Salām is divine courtesy.
Salām is the reception of all that is good and wholesome.
Salām is a form of perfection the abandonment of which signifies stinginess, arrogance, seclusion, wrath, and the breaking of relationship ties.
Salām is the cloud of mercy that we spread out over the people, and as such, we say: “As-salāmu ‘alaykum” [May peace be upon you] instead of “As-salamu lakum” [May peace be to you].
The Holy Prophet (ṣ) used to say: “I shall never abandon the practice of greeting children in my life.”[1] Although offering salām is recommended and replying to it is obligatory, the reward of the one who first offers the salām is 10 times more than that of the one who simply replies.
We read in the traditions that the one riding has to convey salām first to the one walking; the one standing to the one sitting; and the one arriving to those who are sitting in an assembly.[2] And the Qur’an thus exhorts:
﴾ وَ إِذَا حُيِّيتُم بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيُّوا بِأَحْسنَ مِنهَا ﴿
“When you are greeted with a salute, greet with a better one than it.”[3]
!بَرَكاتُه وَ اللهِ رَحْمَةُ وَ عَلَيْكُمْ اَلسَّلامُ وَ
May Allah’s peace, mercy and blessings be upon you!
