Assalamu alaikum, the greeting of Islam

Assalamu alaikum (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ) means "peace be upon you". It is how Muslims greet each other everywhere, in any language. The full greeting is assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh: "peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings". The reply is wa alaikum assalam, with wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh added when you were greeted in full.

Wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, word by word

• As-salamu (السَّلَامُ): peace, safety from every harm. As-Salam is also one of the names of Allah (59:23).
• Alaykum (عَلَيْكُمْ): upon you. It is plural, and Muslims use it for one person too.
• Wa rahmatullahi (وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ): and the mercy of Allah.
• Wa barakatuh (وَبَرَكَاتُهُ): and His blessings, the lasting good that Allah puts in something.

So the full greeting asks for three things for the other person: safety, Allah's mercy and His blessing. It is a dua, not only a hello.

The first salam, and the reward

The Prophet ﷺ said that when Allah created Adam, He told him to greet a group of angels and listen to their reply, "for it is your greeting and the greeting of your descendants". Adam said "as-salamu alaykum", and they replied "as-salamu alayka wa rahmatullah", adding the mercy of Allah (Sahih al-Bukhari 6227). In Paradise, too, the believers' greeting will be "Peace" (Quran 10:10).

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said "as-salamu alaykum", and he said "ten". Another said "as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah", and he said "twenty". A third gave the full greeting, and he said "thirty", meaning good deeds (Sunan Abi Dawud 5195, Jami at-Tirmidhi 2689). A report in Abu Dawud adds wa maghfiratuh and "forty", but its chain is weak, so most scholars stop at wa barakatuh.

Who greets first

The Prophet ﷺ said: "The young greet the old, the one passing greets the one sitting, and the few greet the many" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6231). Asked which deed in Islam is best, he said: "To feed people, and to greet those you know and those you do not know" (Sahih al-Bukhari 12). And: "Shall I tell you something that, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread the salam among you" (Sahih Muslim 54). Give salam when you leave a gathering as well as when you arrive (Sunan Abi Dawud 5208).

Is saying salam obligatory?

When you enter a home

Allah says: "When you enter houses, give greetings of peace upon each other" (24:61). Give salam to your family when you come in, and if the house is empty, say as-salamu alayna wa ala ibadillahis-salihin. See the dua for entering the home.

How to spell it

Assalamu alaikum, as-salamu alaykum, assalamualaikum, asalam o alaikum, salam alaikum and AoA are all the same greeting. The Quran also uses the form salamun alaykum (6:54), so "salam alaikum" is fine too. Writing the words in full keeps it a dua; a short "salam" or "AoA" in a message is still answered with the reply.

1. Sahih al-Bukhari 6227.
2. Quran 10:10, 24:61, 59:23 and 6:54, translation by Sahih International.
3. Sunan Abi Dawud 5195; Jami at-Tirmidhi 2689, graded hasan sahih gharib by at-Tirmidhi. The addition of wa maghfiratuh: Sunan Abi Dawud 5196, graded weak.
4. Sahih al-Bukhari 6231 and 12; Sahih Muslim 54; Sunan Abi Dawud 5208.
5. Al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah, and Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Karahiyah, on the salam. The other madhhabs' positions are summarised from their standard manuals.

The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.