Assalamu Alikum Warahmatu Allah wa barakatouh What we will talk about today is a project, a very simple and. easy project to implement and the pay back is huge but unfortunately many people underestimate it or don’t even know about it. When Allah SWT created Adam Peace be upon him, he taught him how to greet. He taught him to say Assalamu Alikum Warahmatu Allah wa Barkatouh to the angels and they answered him back. The salam which we say to each other today is actually the greeting of the people of (heaven) Jannah…..you will wonder …. Are all the people of Jannah Arabs!!?....No but their greeting will be Assalam Alikum as Allah SWT said in surat Yunus ayah 10: ﻭَﺗَﺤِﻴَّﺘُﻬُﻢْ ﻓِﻴﻬَﺎ ﺳَﻠَﺎﻡٌ (and their greeting therein will be, "Peace."…) And in Surat Al Waqia’ah ayah 26: ﺇِﻟَّﺎ ﻗِﻴﻠًﺎ ﺳَﻠَﺎﻣًﺎ ﺳَﻠَﺎﻣًﺎ (Only a saying: "Peace, peace.") That is why the Prophet PBUH always advised people to start any conversation with salaam, he even said if someone starts talking to you without beginning with Salam don’t respond to him until he says Salaam. Once the Prophet PBUH was sitting with his companions and a man entered and the Prophet PBUH said: Ten, then a second man entered and the Prophet PBUH said: Twenty!! Then a third person entered and the Prophet PBUH said: Thirty…. His companions were surprised and asked him why did you say that? The Prophet PBUH responded: the first one entered and said Assalam Alikum and I said: Ten and that is 10 hasanaat and the second one entered and said: Assalam Alikum Wa Rahmatu Allah and I said: 20 which is 20 hasanah and the third one entered and said: Assalamu Alikum Warahmatu Allah wa Barkatouh and I said: 30 which is 30 hasanah….Now will this cost you anything?!! You are losing a lot of hasanaat when you enter a majlis or pass by people and you don’t say Assalam Alikum… You and I are in need of those hasanaat. I know people are not used to this these days but you have to practice and you have to get them used to it….some people enter a majlis and say Good morning or Sabah Al Khair and when he is leaving some even say Bye!!! Which is not even an Arabic word….. How can you substitute the greeting of the people of heaven with Good morning or bye? You should say Assalaam when you greet and when you are leaving too. It is sunnah to greet those you know and those whom you don’t know…. Some people if they see someone they know they would say Salam but if they pass people whom they don’t know, they wouldn’t say anything…… well think of it as a reward…. Imagine if you were to pass on a street full of shops and as you pass you say Assalam Alikum or Assalam Alikum wa Rahmatu Allah or Assalam Alikum wa Rahmau Allah wa barakatuh to each person standing in front of the shop…. Imagine you pass 10 shops on your way going and 10 shops on your way coming back….count how many hasanah you will gain…… Subhana Allah how easy is that? This can be a habit…. Let’s start today….let’s call today the day of Salam….. Every time you enter the house say Assalam Alikum and when you leave the house say Assalam Alikum…. When you see a child or an adult or when you see an Arab or none Arab……. Say Assalam Alikum….. For the people who are not in Muslim countries, when you see a sister with a headscarf you know she is Muslim say Assalam Alikum whether you know her or you don’t know her. But I want to raise an important subject here and is can a Muslim Man greet a Muslim woman who is a none Mahrim to him?? The answer :There is nothing wrong with a man greeting a non-mahram woman with salaam, without shaking hands with her, if she is elderly, but he should not greet a young woman with salaams when there is no guarantee that there will be no fitnah (temptation). This is what is indicated by the comments of the scholars, may Allaah have mercy on them. Imam Maalik was asked: Can a woman be greeted with salaam? He said: With regard to the elderly woman, I do not regard that as makrooh, but with regard to the young woman, I do not like that. Sheikh Nabil Al Awadi told this story of a man he knew. Th man said: before I start praying, there was a man who used to pass me every day going to the masjid and he would greet me with Assalam Alikum and when he is coming back from the masjid he would also greet me with Assalamu Alikum ….. With time my heart started liking this man and I started liking the place he was heading to which was the masjid and I started going to the masjid too and pray and when I finish I look for him so I can greet him….. Subhana Allah, that man did not tell him pray and why you are standing and not going to the masjid, instead he smiled and greeted him every day…..and with his greeting…he did a dawah and caused the man to pray. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “You will not enter Paradise until you believe and you will not believe until you love each other. Shall I show you something that, if you did, you would love each other? Spread Salam between yourselves.” In Imaam Ahmad’s narration there is, "The closest to Allah, the most glorious and eminent one, from amongst all the people is the one who commences salaam."Similarly Tabrani narrates from Abu Darda, who says that we asked the Holy Prophet Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him, "O Prophet of Allah, we meet each other, so who from amongst us should give salaam first?" The Holy Prophet Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him replied, "The one who is the most obedient to Allah from amongst you." Assalam is one of the name of Allah SWT. So from today whoever calls you and starts talking, tell them say Assalam first…. I know people will be surprised at the beginning but they will get used to it with time and you will have the ajr in shaa Allah….. Someone walks into a majlis and sits down without saying Salaam; remind them. Let’s revive the sunnah of Assalam from today with our kids,our family, friends and those we don’t know. Assalam Alikum Wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatouh