Greeting

Dear Moulana,

I was advised (by a friend, who is not an Alim), that when sending sms’s, messages, e-mails, wedding cards etc, we should NOT begin with Salaam.

The reason given, was that it makes it wajib on the person receiving the salaam to reply to that salaam.

On discussing this with another friend he suggested that, by NOT starting with Salaam, we will be creating an ‘invention’ (bidah), by not following the practice of spreading salaam, as advised by our Nabi (peace be upon him).

Please advise what is correct.
Jzk

 

 

 

 

Answer

Assalaamu alaykum

Just as when one sends a letter one should begin with Salaam, similarly should be the case in other forms of communications like SMS, email, etc. In all these forms of communication, is is waajib to respond with Salaam, but the response can be made verbally without dispatching a reply.

For example, if I receive an SMS and then verbally say "wa alaykumus salaam", but do not type out any reply, this is sufficient.

And Allah Ta'ala knows best

Was salaam

Emraan Vawda