By ZIEMAN
The Star
source : malaysia today
Muslims should not feel uneasy or offended if non-Muslims use the expression assalamu’alaikum (peace be upon you) to greet them, said Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin. He said there were non-Muslims who greeted Muslims with the salam in the proper manner and “with all honesty, that is, they truly wish us peace.” “Islam teaches us that an honourable greeting must be replied appropriately. Therefore, Muslims should answer such a greeting fully.” Dr Asri, the country’s youngest mufti, said this in a new weekly column in mstar, the Malay news portal of The Star. The Islamic scholar skyrocketed into the Malaysian consciousness after his bold comments last year on the need for religious authorities to stop snooping and spying on Muslims for khalwat (close proximity), urging them to look at the bigger picture and focus on the community’s more pressing problems. Since then, the 35-year-old mufti has expressed opinions on a range of issues, some of which have not exactly endeared him to some of his more conservative peers and segments of the public. In his column, Dr Asri will take questions from Muslims and non-Muslims who want to know about Islam and its application in daily life in a multi-ethnic setting. His views on the Muslim greeting was in response to the following question posed by a non-Muslim: In the Middle East, it is customary to greet people, including non-Muslims, with the salam – Assalamu ‘alaikum (meaning, “peace be upon you”) – and to reply to the greeting with the phrase, “Wa ’alaikum salam (“and upon you, peace”). However, in Malaysia, the greeting seems to be confined to Muslims. Why? Dr Asri said: “In Malaysia, the greeting is a cultural practice established by people in the past. It is a problem of comprehension and interpretation, which has resulted in the belief that Muslims are not allowed to answer the salam expressed by non-Muslims. “This has happened because of a confusion over a hadith (tradition) of the Prophet, who instructed Muslims to reply to the salam from the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) with the phrase wa ’alaika (and upon you). “During the time of the Prophet, non-Muslims who were hostile to Muslims sometimes cynically greeted them with assamu ‘alaikum, which means ‘destruction upon you’. “That is why the Prophet told Muslims to reply with wa ’alaika. The instruction contained in this hadith is not applicable in every situation.” Dr Asri encouraged Muslims to show that Islam projects an image of harmony and that Prophet Muhammad was sent to bring peace. “There is no problem with Islam. All this happen because of inaccurate interpretations, and we have to fix it.”
Comments
astina wrote:
well said mufti .Atleats he knows what he is talking about .Its common in middle east and India as well ..
04/05 10:26:17
Susen wrote:
Dr Asri is a smart intelligent young guy. I had met him before he became the Mufti.I agree most of his thoughts, but, his colloboratin with the gangster CM Shahidan Kassim, has torn down his reputation little bit. Being a Mufti for UMNO guys, makes him less favorable for PAS members especially.He should stay independent from any political platform. May Allah bless you!!
04/05 10:34:41
docomo00 wrote:
an UMNO stooge called by any other title is still an UMNO stooge
04/05 10:45:41
Ricobajaj6666 wrote:
Well done Tuan mufti...now you can see others converting to islam ..not because of this but because you have lowered your hostile stance towards everyone else.Now when you open urself yo assimillation we will all learn to get along...dont u all think so?..so far so good tuan mufti...keep going...
04/05 10:54:40
KopiO wrote:
Muslims in Malaysia has so many taboos. I have encountered this incident before when I greeted a muslim friend "assalamu’alaikum" but was given a cold shoulder. It was a real put-off for me and my muslim friend though I meant good. Kudos to Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri! His comment is based on reason rather than prejudice.
04/05 11:02:25
randavi wrote:
ALHAMDULILLAH...!!
04/05 11:04:37
duncanstuart wrote:
Someone who has his feet on the ground... good on you!
04/05 11:14:20
Menanti wrote:
Assallaamualaikum was borrowed or copied from the Greek Christians's Pax Vobiscum and so was inshiallah which is volente deo. Malay Muslims are generally ill-informed and narrow-minded.
04/05 11:14:54
BobSam wrote:
A breath of fresh airThis is leadership.Now pray for more leaders of this mold.Not leaders who act like monkeys, KJ, etc.
04/05 11:16:44
AngryTaxpayer wrote:
Since when was this ever a problem? During my growing up years in the late 70s and 80s, don't remember any muslims being offended when my dad greeted his malays friends with salam.Just where did all these extremist come from?!
04/05 11:35:28
Otak Udang wrote:
The Malays in Malaysis are very stupid and so how to take offen when you dont know any better? In my Udang travels I have never coe a cross a group of people who intellectually challanged as the Malays. I am ashamed of it.
04/05 11:37:30
johnleemk wrote:
This is just another example of how Malaysians naturally unite when politicians don't get in the way - we can already see it in bahasa rojak:http://www.infernalrambling...
04/05 12:18:13
Angryman wrote:
Muslims should not feel uneasy or offended if non-Muslims use the expression assalamu’alaikum (peace be upon you) to greet them, said Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin. ****************************************Why a simple greeting will offense a person, the answers are as follow:1. no confidence2. no self respect3. no EQ4. arrogant5. can't live together with others6. can't stay along with others7. self righteous If you meet someone like these, just say:"Fuck you.". Just ignore whether he is being offensed or not.
04/05 12:20:53
Being Human wrote:
It is the intention or substance of the greeting that is important. It is very unfortunate that many muslims are easily tyrannized by their emotions when they hear the salam from non-muslims (even when the intention of good). Except a few, most religions are not EFFICIENT enough to accelerate the mental and psychological growth of their followers. Rather they pin the majority of their followers (Dr. Asri the exception) to act from the basement of their minds.When religious followers are dominated by their animal brains instead of being more human, they will continue to be provoked by the behaviours on non-believers.
04/05 12:30:21
Peace Be Upon U wrote:
As a malay, I congrat Dr. Asri for this clarification. Melayu need to think outside the box.. Kesian..Even Jesus pbuh used the same salam,shalom, whenever he meets his disciples. One of the occasions was the last supper.Since Muslim also believe in Jesus pbuh as the righteous master, we Muslim can boast as at least the follower of Jesus pbuh in his noble way to greet people apart from other traditions he did before like fasting etc.Well done Mufti...Please also tell hamid othman to consider the request from chinese muslim community to have their own (design) mosque. What's wrong with that..Tempurung Muslims never see this as an opportunity to promote Islam as deen to all..Those who went to St. John's KL did their friday prayers in Masjid India,where the medium is Tamil.
04/05 13:07:05
Task Force 101 wrote:
I wonder why does a mufti have to come out with such statements. Are Muslims in Malaysia such dim wits and have a poor/shallow knowledge of their religion that it needs a shepherd to address even such basic manners.If the answer to the above is yes, then Malaysian tax payers better cry this weekend since for the last 22 yrs their money has been wasted to build mosques in every corner of a housing estate, Hari Raya "gifts" and islamic schools.I guess with poor intelligence even with all the assistance, malay muslims cannot get basic manners right. I think African Muslims with no education or plush mosques to pray in have better understanding of their Islamic religion.Thanks to our dictator and economic terrorist Mahathir, he has used Islam to divide and run a country to the ground and created monkey malays who snoop, steal, rape and pillage the country's resources and then drive in their BMWs to a mosque 5 meters from their house to pray 5 times. Someone should tell them, GOD is merciful only if you are TRULY SORRY for your actions. Its not like a Gov't contract where one perbincangan get you 10 contracts.
04/05 13:18:28
clearmind wrote:
My colleague's daughter is exposed to Islamic prayers in school. So if a Muslim gets offended when they hear non-Muslims recite bismillah, prayers, etc -they only have themselves to blame.I know most of these children make fun of the Muslim prayers & recitals when they are among their own - who can blmae them? We Muslims have "opened" ourselves to this kind of ridicule. We can also be guilty of causing shame to our religion...And forbidng others to salam is another silly thing we do...it has nothing to do with religion.
04/05 13:41:18
joeawk wrote:
We, in Malaysia are not allowed to wish a muslim as such. If I can remember correctly, there is a dakwa which forbid non muslims mentioning the name of Allah as well.Islam as practise in Malaysia is ridiculous, yet they still think and belieeve that they will be the only ones going to heaven.Many must have been disapppointed and escape to came back to the physical realm with their physical bodies and create havoc. How else can anyone explain the ills affecting muslim youth despite their religious studies and enforced daily prayers.
04/05 13:48:58
L0RD wrote:
wtf wrong with just salam sejahtera.
04/05 14:00:19
gintak wrote:
I recommend our country should get rid of syariah court which is redundant to other existing court like civil court.Waste our tax payer money only and create more conflict among malaysians.
04/05 14:12:54
Cranky old man wrote:
Three cheers to tuan mufti!!!
04/05 14:27:08
tokioRain wrote:
I personally dont have a problem with a non-muslim greeting me this way. In fact I am happy he/she takes the trouble, irrespective whether he/she understands the meaning or not. What the fuck is wrong with these malays?
04/05 14:28:02
gintak wrote:
Mereka kena belajar civik di sekolah. Jika menteri kita pun macam samseng (lihat dari gambar masa pilihan raya di ijok), apa lagi dengan murid2 sekolah dan generasi kita yang akan datang? Ikut saja lah.
04/05 15:22:18
badshah wrote:
nothing wrong in muslims use salam in malay too.....arab is an alien language...why not issue salam in malay instead
04/05 16:07:09
badshah wrote:
i wished a malay arabic salam a long long time back...he stoped saying it is "reserved' to muslims....i never had...and never will do arabic salam again
04/05 16:08:50
badshah wrote:
beaareful guys...this is just atrick to islamize us
04/05 16:09:35
mak jun yeen wrote:
SHALOM ALEICHEM
04/05 16:21:11
Taikohtai wrote:
ASSLAMU'ALIKUM to you all!
04/05 16:25:50
admiraltojo wrote:
Nothing holy about greeting anyone PEACE/Salaam/Shalom etc. In fact nothing holy about leading a righteous (NOT religious) life at all. What is all the fuss about in the first place?In fact, there is NO provision for a Mufti to exist at all, in a righteous life. In the pagan Arab religion, there are Muftis aplenty.Salaam
04/05 17:04:09
vigthegreat wrote:
Article 11
04/05 17:09:41
JJay wrote:
Yes Dr.Asri, you are wise man.Hope you are not be used as political tools of BN later.This is type of Muslim who can preach how fine Islam about. Not like the Stupid JAIS Gengster.
04/05 17:43:51
Iblisakti wrote:
I love to hear more original of Islam.
04/05 19:30:15
klmatsalleh wrote:
Enlightened comments for sure, lets hope the Mufti or Perlis is not targeted because of his forward & modern thinking.
04/05 21:40:53
KarmannGhia wrote:
And Matsalleh says it's ok for Muslims to use "HELLO" also.
04/05 22:58:37
jimihendrix wrote:
The problem in Malaysia starts with the education system. In primary 1 the educators start doing their damage to the innocent minds. Children who integrated so beautifully in the kindergartens, regardless of race or religion are slowly poisoned and the segregation begins in earnest, particularly by the Islamic religious Ustads and Ustazahs.By the time these children reach Form 5 the segregation is complete.Then what happens? The government sends them to National Service camps, as if 3 months will undo 11 years of damage to their minds.This guy here has got something interesting to say about this: http://plkn.info/node/13Coming back to the Ustads and Ustazahs, just last week my youngest daughter, who is now in primary 1 in a sekolah kebangsaan said to me that her Ustazah informed the class that "Malays should not say Assalamualaikum to Indians". Now this really, really confused my daughter, because I am an Indian Muslim married to a Malay. So you see the damage really starts with these idiotic and racist and religious ignoramuses who call themselves Ustads and Ustazahs.
05/05 01:31:06
MM2007 wrote:
.CARA RASUL MEMBERI SALAM..Berikut ini adalah cara Rasululah telah memberi salam kepada orang yang beriman:.Surah 6:54 " Dan apabila orang-orang yang beriman kepada ayat-ayat keterangan Kami itu datang kepadamu maka katakanlah: SALAMUN ALAIKUM. . .'.Jadi salam yang betul dan baik sesama orang Islam yg diajar Nabi ialah SALAMUN ALAIKUM. .Bagaimana pula cara Nabi bersalam dengan orang bukan Islam seperti orang jahiliyah. Sila perhatikan :.Surah 28:55 "Dan apabila mereka mendengar perkataan yang sia-sia, mereka berpaling daripadanya sambil berkata: Bagi kami amal kami dan bagi kamu pula amal kamu; SALAMUN ALAIKUM; kami tidak ingin berdamping dengan orang-orang yang jahil (Al Jahileen)..Maka cara bersalam yang baik dan semporna dengan orang bukan Islam yg di ajar Nabi ialah SALAMUN ALAIKUM juga..SALAMUN ALAIKUM ialah cara bersalam daripada Tuhan yang di ajar oleh Rasul. Inilah cara bersalam dengan semua orang (Islam dan bukan Islam) yang paling sempurna. Sila lihat ayat berikut :.Surah 24:61 ". . apabila kamu masuk ke mana-mana rumah, hendaklah kamu memberi salam atas diri-dirimu dengan yang baik dari Allah yang diberkati. Demikianlah Allah menerangkan ayat-ayat supaya kamu memahaminya..Jadi apabila kita masuk sebarang rumah pun, rumah orang Islam atau bukan Islam, kita mesti bersalam atas penghuninya dengan salam yang baik yang diajar Allah dalam Al Quran. Inilah salam yang diberkati Tuhan ia itu SALAMUN ALAIKUM..Apakah yang akan berlaku kepada kita jika kita tidak mahu ikut salam yang simple dan baik ini dpd Al Quran yang di ajar Tuhan ? Apakah 'big deal' sangat kita mesti ikut 'Salamun Alaikum' yang di ajar Rasul kpd kita dalam Quran ? Sila lihat sendiri :.Surah 58:8 "Tidakkah engkau memerhatikan mereka yang telah dilarang daripada perbuatan berbisik-bisik, kemudian mereka berbalik melakukan perbuatan yang telah dilarang itu serta mereka berbisik-bisik berkenaan dengan melakukan dosa dan pencerobohan serta kederhakaan kepada Rasulullah? Dan lagi apabila mereka datang kepadamu, mereka memberi salam hormat bukan dengan lafaz salam hormat yang diberikan Allah kepadamu dan mereka berkata sesama sendiri: Apakah sepatutnya kami diseksa oleh Allah disebabkan yang kami ucapkan itu? Cukuplah untuk mereka Neraka Jahanam, yang mereka akan dibakar di dalamnya; maka itulah seburuk-buruk tempat kembali.' .Jadi janganlah kita menolak ayat-ayat Quran ia itu ajaran Rasul kita yang mulia walaupun untuk perkara yang kita nampak sebagai paling remeh dan simple seperti memberi Salam. Sebab memberi Salam antara manusia bukannya perkara yang remeh. Memberi salam itu adalah sangat penting kerana bersalam itu adalah pembuka jalan, pembuka persahabatan, pengenalan saling menghormati, pancaran niat kita dan banyak lagi..Cuba kita fikir. Kalaulah orang Islam ucap 'salam sejahtera atas kamu' (maksud SALAMUN ALAIKUM) hanya kpd orang Islam dan tidak mahu ucapkan salam sejahtera kpd orang bukan Islam, sudah tentu maksud nya ialah 'Saya tidak pedulikan kesejahteraan awak kerana awak bukan Islam'..Maka dunia akan sah mengenali kita sebagai orang gila terrorist yang tidak mahukan kesejahteraan pun ke atas orang bukan Islam. Maka kita akan termasuk di kalangan orang gila. Sesiapa pun tidak akan mendekati kita atau hendak menjadi kawan kita, Akhir sekali kita akan menjadi miskin, bodoh, celupar, kurang sopan, ganas, terkebelakang, sumbang mahram, penipu, pencuri dan banyak lagi. Semua ini memang connected...
05/05 11:15:47
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