Ask Me: Why Say Salam to Everyone?

My parents are always telling me to offer Salam to everyone and I don’t understand why it is so important.

All people have the custom of greeting one another, and every group has its own distinctive greeting that distinguishes them from other people. People’s greetings today are mostly hi, hello, or yo, inspired by the West and popular among teens.

The Arabs used to greet one another with the words ‘An’im Sabahan’ or ‘An’imu Sabahan’ (equivalent to ‘good morning’).

When Islam came, Allah (swt) prescribed that the manner of greeting among Muslims should be ‘Assalamu Alaikum’, and that this greeting should only be used among Muslims. The meaning of Salam (literally, peace) is harmlessness, safety and protection from evil and from faults. The name Al-Salam is one of the names of Allah (swt), so the meaning of the greeting of Salam is: “May the blessing of His name descend upon you.”

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