As-salamu alaykum explained
As-salamu alaykum (Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ,, pronounced as /ar/), also written salamun alaykum and typically rendered in English as salam alaykum, is a greeting in Arabic that means 'Peace be upon you'. The Arabic: salām (Arabic: سَلَام, meaning 'peace') has become a religious salutation for Muslims[1] [2] worldwide when greeting each other, though its use as a greeting predates Islam, and is also common among Arabic speakers of other religions (such as Arab Christians and Mizrahi Jews).[3]
In colloquial speech, often only Arabic: salām, 'peace', is used to greet a person. This shorter greeting, Arabic: salām[4] (Arabic: سَلَام), has come to be used as the general salutation in other languages as well.
The typical response to the greeting is Arabic: [[wa alaykumu s-salam|wa ʿalaykumu s-salām]] (Arabic: وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَامُ, pronounced as /ar/, 'and peace be upon you'). In the Quranic period one repeated as-salamu alaykum, but the inverted response is attested in Arabic not long after its appearance in Hebrew. The phrase may also be expanded to Arabic: as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuh{{smallsup|ū (Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ, pronounced as /ar/), 'Peace be upon you, as well as the mercy of God and His blessings'.
The use of salaam as an Arabic greeting dates at least to Laqit bin Yamar al-Ayadi (6th century),[5] and cognates in older Semitic languages (Aramaic Classical Syriac: šlāmā ʿalḵōn (Classical Syriac: ܫܠܵܡܵܐ ܥܲܠܟ݂ܘܿܢ) and Hebrew Hebrew: [[shalom aleichem]] (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם Hebrew: shālôm ʻalêḵem)) can be traced back to the Old Testament period.[6] [7] [8]
Pronunciation
The phrase is normally pronounced according to local dialects of speakers and is very often shortened.
For example:
- In Egypt: pronounced as /sæˈlæːmu ʕæˈleːku/, pronounced as /we ʕæˈleːkom es.sæˈlæːm/
- By native English-speaking Muslims:,
Grammatical variants
The expression commonly uses the second person plural masculine, even when used to address one person. It may be modified by choosing the appropriate enclitic pronoun to address a person in the masculine and feminine singular form, the dual form, or the feminine plural form. The conjugations are as follows (note: according to the standard pronunciation rules of Classical Arabic, the last short vowel in each word is not pronounced in pausa):
| Gender | Greeting | Response |
|---|
Singular
Masculine | Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ | Arabic: وَعَلَيْكَ ٱلسَّلَامُ |
| pronounced as /ar/ | pronounced as /ar/ |
| |
Singular
Feminine | Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكِ | Arabic: وَعَلَيْكِ ٱلسَّلَامُ |
| pronounced as /ar/ | pronounced as /ar/ |
| |
Dual
Unisex | Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمَا | Arabic: وَعَلَيْكُمَا ٱلسَّلَامُ |
| pronounced as /ar/ | pronounced as /ar/ |
| |
Plural
Masculine | Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ | Arabic: وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَامُ |
| pronounced as /ar/ | pronounced as /ar/ |
| |
Plural
Feminine | Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُنَّ | Arabic: وَعَلَيْكُنَّ ٱلسَّلَامُ |
| pronounced as /ar/ | pronounced as /ar/ |
| | |
A third-person variant, ʿalayhi as-salām, "peace be upon him", is often used by Muslims for prophets other than Muhammad and other holy personalities, such as angels.
In Islam
According to Islamic tradition, the origin of the greeting "Peace be upon you" dates back to the first human, Adam:
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Allah said: Go and greet with peace these groups of assembled angels and listen to how they greet you, for this will be the greeting among your progeny. Adam said: Peace be upon you. The angels said: Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. Thus, they added the mercy of Allah" [9]
The final Prophet said, "None of you will enter paradise until you believe and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not tell you about something which, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread salaam amongst yourselves."[10]
It is also stated that one should give the Salam greeting upon entering a house. This is based upon a verse of the Quran: "However, when you enter houses, greet one another with a greeting ˹of peace˺ from Allah, blessed and good. This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so perhaps you will understand." (An-Nur 24:61).[11]
The phrase appears a total of 7 times in the Quran, each time as salamun ʿalaykum (Arabic: سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ|link=no). In Classical Arabic, used in the Qur'an and early Hadith manuscripts, the phrase is spelled as Arabic: "ٱلسَّلَٰمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَٰتُهُ". In Rasm, it is written as Arabic: "السلم علىکم ورحمٮ الله وٮرکٮه".
Other variants, such as salamun ʿalā (Arabic: سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ), or the term salam (Arabic: سَلَام) alone is also mentioned in several other Ayahs of the Qur'an.
Usage by non-Arabic speakers
- Cognate Semitic language parallels include the Aramaic/Classical Syriac šlāmā ʿalḵōn (ܫܠܵܡܵܐ ܥܲܠܟ݂ܘܿܢ), and the Hebrew Shalom aleichem (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם shālôm ʻalêḵem).[6] [12]
- In Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, Salâm (Persian: {{Nastaliq|سلام) is used alone more frequently, with occasional use of Salam-o aleykom and the more common beh salâmat (Persian: {{Nastaliq|به سلامت), meaning "[go] with peace". Goodbye is supplanted by a Khudâ hâfez (Persian: {{Nastaliq|خدا حافظ), meaning "with the protection of God".
- In Albania and Kosovo, a diminutive form in the Albanian language, Selamun Alejkem or Selamun Alejqum is rarely used, the 'q' being a voiceless palatal stop typical of Balkan Turkish and Thracian Turkish phonology.[13] Similarly, Bosniaks and Macedonian Muslims use the phrase "Bosnian: selam alejkum" (Cyrillic: Macedonian: селам алејкум).
- In Amharic, the native Amharic term Selam is used in place of Tadias, which is the equivalent of "What's up".
- In Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, many religious people use Äs-sälamwaleykum or Turkish: selamun aleyküm and shake hands and it is the same for saying "Hello"; more secular and non-religious people say Selam and in Kazakhstan say Sälem or Sälemetsız be as an equivalent to "Hello" or "Hi". However, many Turks pronounce it differently as Selamün aleyküm.
- In Pakistan, the greeting is also associated with shaking right hands and is also often accompanied with a hug when meeting infrequently (only between the same gender). In some places, people put a hand on their heart as they shake your hand and greet. Also, the full greeting (As-salamu alaykum) is preferred versus the shorter greeting of "salam" or "salamu alaykum". Goodbye is supplanted by a "Khuda Hafiz" or the variation "Allah Hafiz", both of which mean "May God protect you".
- In India, the greeting mostly among Muslims is a simple handshake or hug, As-salamu alaykum or the shorter greeting "Salam" is used in informal situations. Goodbye is supplanted by a "Khuda Hafiz" or the alternative form "Allah Hafiz", both of which mean "May God protect you".
- In Bangladesh, Assalamu alaikum (Bengali: আসসালামু আলাইকুম) is the most common Muslim greeting.[14] Some Muslims greet their elders with these words whilst raising their right hand to the forehead.[15] Assalamu alaikum is even used as to say goodbye, while many others say "Khoda Hafez" or "Allah Hafez" "May God protect you".
- In Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, Assalomu aleykum is used as an informal greeting.
- In Indonesia, the greeting is sometimes mixed with other greeting phrases of other religions.
- Shortening the greeting to acronyms, such as A.S., As'kum (in Malaysia), or AsA is becoming common amongst Internet users in chat rooms and by people using SMS. This trend is similar to writing (S) or SAWS in place of ṣallā llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam.
- In Chechnya and other parts of the Caucasus, Salamun Alaykum is used to say hello, in Ossetia, a corrupted version of Salam is used .
- In Senegal which has a majority of Muslims with Tasawwuf-orientation, it is a common greeting. Spelled and pronounced in Wolof: "a-sala māleykum", with the reply being "må-lekum salām."
- In Xinjiang, China, "Essalam eleykum" is used as a greeting by Uyghurs, and the reply is "We-eleykum essalam".
- In Portugal, the expression Salamaleque gained a totally distinct and curious meaning: due to the habit of Iberian Arabs to bow and wave their hand when greeting a person, the expression "Salamaleque" is applied to exaggerated movements or acts in order to appear to be formal, entertaining or fancy. For example: "Os rapazes chegaram cheios de salamaleques".
- In Italy, Salamelecco has a similar meaning, referring to excessive courtesy and politeness.
- In France, salamalec has similar meaning, referring to excessive flattery.
- In Malta, Is-sliem għalikom is often used in Catholic Church masses as a way of greeting, often by the priest, as a way of saying "peace be upon you". As the Maltese language derives from Arabic, it inherited and still uses Arabic terms for religion amongst other things.
- In the Maldives, "Divehi; Dhivehi; Maldivian: އައްސަލާމް ޢަލައިކުމް" (assalaam 'alaikum) is used as a common formal greeting, used similar to "hello".[16]
- In Nigeria, the phrase assalamu alaikum is used as a formal greeting by Muslims.
- In Kurdish, the phrase "Kurdish: selam eleykum|italic=yes" is used as a formal greeting among, often shortened to just "Kurdish: selam|italic=yes".
- In Russia, Muslims use variations of the phrase, such as "Russian: салам алейкум" (Russian), "Chechen: салам алейкум" or "Chechen: ассаламу ӏалайкум" (Chechen), "Bashkir: әссәләмәғәләйкүм" (Bashkir), and "Tatar: әссәламү галәйкүм" (Tatar).
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Sayings of the Messenger (s.a.w) – Sahih Al-Bukhari- . ahadith.net . 2019-03-25.
- Web site: 'As-Salaamu-Alaikum' and 'Wa-Alaikum-as-Salaam' . ccnmtl.columbia.edu . 2013-07-27.
- Goldziher . Ignaz . 1892 . Der Dîwân des Ǵarwal b. Aus Al-Ḥuṭej'a . Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft . 46 . 1 . 22–23 . 43362216 . 0341-0137.
- Web site: assalamu . alaikum . Assalamu Alaikum सलाम करने के 38 सुन्नते और आदाब In HIndi . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20220301154652/https://www.irfani-islam.in/2021/11/assalamu-alaikum.html . March 1, 2022 . 2022-03-01 . Irfani-Islam.
- Book: Nöldeke, Theodor . Theodor Nöldeke . https://books.google.com/books?id=g_tGAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA708 . Orient und Occident vol. I . 1862 . Dieterich . 708 . de . Beitrage zur altarabischen litteratur und geschichte.
- May 19, 2018.
- Web site: shalom aleichem . Collins Dictionary . May 19, 2018 .
- Book: Dalman, Gustaf . Grammatik des Jüdisch-Palästinischen Aramäisch nach den Idiomen des palästinischen Talmud und Midrasch, des Onkelostargum (Cod. Socini 84) und der Jerusalemischen Targume zum Pentateuch . 1905 . Leipzig, Hinrichs . Robarts - University of Toronto . 244.
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5873, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2841
- Muslim (54), Aḥmad (2/391), and al-Tirmidhī (2513) narrated from Abū Hurairah
- Web site: Surat An-Nur [24:61] - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم |publisher=Quran.com |access-date=2013-07-27].
- Web site: shalom aleichem. Collins Dictionary. May 19, 2018.
- Balkan Turkish in Macedonia and Adjacent Areas . Victor A. . Friedman . . 18 December 2019 . 12.
- Introduction to the bangla language . . 6 . 18 December 2019.
- Enamul Haq. Customs and Traditions.
- https://english2dhivehi.com/ Common Phrases
