the one who greets him, he will be happy about it, and he may remember the incident for the rest of his life; children do not easily forget what happens to them. These, then, are some of the advantages of giving salam to youngsters. Accordingly, whenever we pass by children playing in the marketplace, sitting there selling something, or engaged in similar activities, we should greet them for the benefits we have just outlined.

As for greeting women: extending salam to one’s female mahrams and to one’s wife is a Sunnah. A mahram is a woman whom it is permanently unlawful for you to marry. Thus, you may greet your wife, your sister, your paternal aunt, your brother’s daughter, your sister’s daughter, and the like; there is no objection to this at all.

With unrelated women, however, you should not initiate the greeting—except in the case of elderly women, provided you are certain that no temptation is involved. If you fear that greeting might lead to temptation, then do not greet. For this reason people nowadays customarily refrain from greeting a woman they meet in the marketplace, and this practice is correct.

Nevertheless, if you enter your home and find there women who are acquaintances and you offer salam, there is no harm in that so long as you are safe from temptation; the same rule applies to a woman greeting a man under the same condition.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—also cited the hadith about a woman who used to gather the roots of salq, a type of plant whose roots make a good relish. She would collect those roots, put them in water, and boil them over the fire.