Mutual peace and respect
When believers meet during the day, they offer one an-
other their heartfelt best wishes; in other words, they wish
each other peace. By doing this, they fulfil Allah's recommen-
dation:
"When you are greeted with a greeting, return the
greeting or improve on it..."
(Surat an-Nisa': 86) In another
verse, Allah advises believers to offer the greeting of peace
when they enter houses:
…And when you enter houses greet one another with a
greeting from Allah, blessed and good. In this way Allah
makes the Signs clear to you so that hopefully you will
use your intellect. (Surat an-Nur: 61)
When a believer leaves his house, he pleasantly wishes
the neighbours he meets a good day and Allah's peace and
mercy. He greets people on the street, his friends at school and
other people in the same way. If someone greets him, no mat-
ter who, he receives his greeting and gives him an even better
one in return. This behaviour is one of the beautiful things
brought by the Qur'an and Sunnah to social relationships. By
offering a greeting of peace, the cold and tense atmosphere be-
tween people who do not know one another is removed.
People come closer together and a warm atmosphere is cre-
ated among them even if they don't know one another.
In ordinary society, however, the greeting of peace is gen-
erally done out of habit. Some people greet only those from
whom they make, or hope to make, some profit. Sometimes
they do not receive the greeting from people they regard as in-
ferior in status to themselves, or pretend not to hear it, in
order to humiliate them. More seriously, such behaviour is re-
garded as normal in some circles.
150
24 Hours in the Life of a Muslim
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