• Greetings: Exchanged on Christmas, etc.
Back home, the followers of three religions live side by side: Muslims, Christians and Hindus. In any feast of any community, members of the two other communities congratulate those who have the festivity. For example, Hindus and Christians come and greet us on the occasion of Eid, and we congratulate Christians at Christmas and so on. Some people protest saying that this is unacceptable. Please comment.
Islam is keen on maintaining good relations with neighboring communities. It is clearly stated in the Qur'an that Allah likes us to be kind to those of the followers of other religions who do not try to fight us or turn us away from our land. And He loves those who are fair. It is only those who are hostile to us and who try to turn us out of our land with whom we are not allowed to have kindly relations. When different religious communities live peacefully together, it follows that they should congratulate each other on happy occasions. There is nothing wrong in that, nor is it forbidden to partake of their food unless we know that they slaughter their animals in a way which Islam forbids [Added: or if the food offered is otherwise forbidden by Islam.]
Islam goes further than that and imposes on the Muslims a duty to defend those non-Muslims who live peacefully under its fold. If they are attacked by a foreign power, we should help them repel it. [Added: Greeting them on their religious festivities or feasting with them is one thing, but Muslims should not, of their own, celebrate religious occasions of the non-Muslims.]
• Greetings: Replying while eating
It is suggested that replying to a greeting while eating is discouraged. Is this true?
This is simply a wrong interpretation of a social tradition which suggests "no greeting during eating". What this social tradition means is that a person who passed by another or a group who is eating need not greet them. He may join them without even saying hello.
This should not be interpreted literally. It simply means that a passer by is welcome to share the meal. If someone greets you when you are eating, you must return his greeting, because this is a duty in all circumstances.
• Greetings: When visting the graves
According to some Hadiths, it is recommended to greet the dead when one visits or passes by a graveyard. At the same time, Allah states in the Qur'an that those who are in their graves cannot hear. Please explain.
The Qur'anic verse which you have referred to is correct. It tells the Prophet : "You certainly cannot make those who are in the graves hear you." (35;22) This is a statement of fact which tells us that those who are dead cannot hear what we say; whether we address them directly or we are talking to each other.
At the same time, we are recommended to offer a greeting to the dwellers of a graveyard who are actually dead. When we enter a graveyard or pass it by, we are recommended to say: "You believers, the dwellers of this place, peace be to you. You are gone ahead of us and we shall certainly join you, Allah willing. I pray to grant both you and us security and peace."
If you examine this Hadith carefully, you are bound to come to the conclusion that it is meant as a reminder to ourselves. First of all, we state that those dwellers in the grave were believers and this means that even the most pious of believers will certainly die. We then state that we shall join them because Allah has made it inevitable that every human being dies. This is followed by a prayer of peace and security to those who are gone and to ourselves.
In practical terms, this is a reminder to ourselves to work hard in obedience to Allah before we are overtaken by death. A Muslim should always remember death because it is a warning. The Prophet says that Allah has given us two warnings: the Qur'an and death.
The fact that we use this form of reminding ourselves of the Day of Judgment does not mean that the dead will hear us. They certainly do not since Allah states this in the Qur'an. Allah, however, may pass on to them what we have said so that their souls, wherever they are, may reply to our greeting.
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