- “Do not initiate the greeting with the Jews or Christians; and if you meet one of them on a road, compel him to its narrowest part.”
It was recorded by Muslim, al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad, Ahmad, and others, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. It has been traced in Irwa al-Ghalil (1271). The reason for citing it here is that, while a group of our fellow hadith scholars had gathered, a question arose concerning the permissibility of initiating the greeting with a non-Muslim. I replied in the negative, citing this hadith as evidence. One of them understood the hadith to mean that its prohibition applies only when one meets such a person on the road; but if one goes to him in his shop or home, there is no objection to initiating the greeting. A lengthy discussion then ensued, with each person offering his opinion.
What I said at the time was that the words, “Do not initiate,” are unrestricted and are not confined to the road. The words, “And if you meet one of them on a road ...,” do not restrict them, for this is a conjunction of one independent clause with another. I further supported this by the meaning contained in the latter clause: compelling them to the narrowest part of the road is merely an indication that they are not to be honoured because of their disbelief. It is therefore fitting, for that same reason, not to initiate the greeting with them; and this entails that the ruling is general.
That was what I said at the time. I later found several narrations that reinforce and support it:
The first is the statement of the hadith narrator, Suhayl ibn Abi Salih: “I went out with my father to Syria. The people of Syria would pass by those in the monasteries and greet them, so I heard my father say: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say ...’” He then related it. It was recorded by Ahmad (2/346) and Abu Dawud with an authentic chain meeting Muslim’s criteria. This is an explicit statement from the narrator of the hadith—Abu Salih, whose name was Dhakwan, a trustworthy Successor—that the prohibition includes a member of the People of the Book even when he is in his home and not on the road. The narrator of a hadith is more knowledgeable about the report he narrates than anyone else; at the very least, this may be used as supporting evidence in determining the stronger view.