Greeting · a Light

Greet the ones you know and the ones you do not

A man asked the Prophet ﷺ which part of Islam was best. The answer named two things: that you feed people, and that you give the greeting of peace to those you know and those you do not know. The second half is the harder one. Greeting an acquaintance is ordinary courtesy. Greeting a stranger is the deliberate removal of the line between the two. In a tribal society, whom you greeted announced whom you counted as yours, and the instruction erases that calculation. It is repeated in the reports as a habit he kept himself, on roads, in markets, and walking past groups of children. It is also the cheapest of all recommended acts, costing one word.

Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As · Madinah

Source · Bukhari 12, Muslim 39