---
layout: post
title: "Ruling on initiating Salam with non-Muslims"
publisher: "alsalafiyyah@icloud.com"
source: "Fatawa Al-Lajnah Al-Da'imah of KSA, Fatwa no. 12087, Question 30"
category: [fatwas, walabara]
hijri: Dhul-Hijjah 5, 1441
lang: en
note: true
locale: en
excerpt: "It is not permissible to greet a disbeliever first even if they occupy high positions, because of the general prohibition mentioned in the Hadith"
muftis:
  chairman: 
    - name: Shaykh Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz
      url: /biography/binbaz/
  deputy_chairman:
    - name: Shaykh Abdul-Razzaq Al-Afifi
      url: /biography/afifi/
---

### Question: 

Is it permissible to begin greeting a disbeliever, especially if they are of high positions such as a professor in a university?

### Answer:

It is not permissible to greet a disbeliever first even if they occupy high positions, because of the general prohibition mentioned in the Hadith such as the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), "Do not start greeting the Jews and the Christians before they greet you..." (Related by Muslim) [^1]

---

[^1]: Sahih Muslim [Book on greetings] no. 2167; Al-Tirmidhi [Book on asking permission and manners] no. 2700; Abu Dawud [Book on manners] no. 5205; Musnad Ahmad p. 2/525.