When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ migrated from Makkah to Medinah, upon his reception he spelt out three advices to people of Medinah who had by then had no direction interaction with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and teachings of Qur'an. These three advices are very important in understanding the basic concept of Islam of spreading peace and feeding the poor, besides worshipping Allah in later part of the night, called Tahajjud.
These advices are mentioned Jami` at-Tirmidhi (37 - Chapters on the description of the Day of Judgement, Ar-Riqaq, and Al-Wara' / كتاب صفة القيامة والرقائق والورع عن رسول الله صلى الله / Chapter # 42 The Hadith: "Spread the Salam" / باب ) as Hadith number # 2485:
'Abdullah bin Salam said:
"When the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) arrived- meaning in Al-Madinah – the people came out to meet him. It was said that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) had arrived, so I went among the people to get a look at him. When I gazed upon the face of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w), I knew that this face was not the face of a liar. The first thing that he spoke about was that he said: 'O you people! Spread the Salam, feed(others), and perform Salat while the people are sleeping; you will enter Paradise with (the greeting of) Salam.'” (Sahih)
Arabic Text:
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ الثَّقَفِيُّ، وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، وَابْنُ أَبِي عَدِيٍّ، وَيَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ عَوْفِ بْنِ أَبِي جَمِيلَةَ الأَعْرَابِيِّ، عَنْ زُرَارَةَ بْنِ أَوْفَى، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سَلاَمٍ، قَالَ لَمَّا قَدِمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم الْمَدِينَةَ انْجَفَلَ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهِ وَقِيلَ قَدِمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَجِئْتُ فِي النَّاسِ لأَنْظُرَ إِلَيْهِ فَلَمَّا اسْتَبَنْتُ وَجْهَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَرَفْتُ أَنَّ وَجْهَهُ لَيْسَ بِوَجْهِ كَذَّابٍ وَكَانَ أَوَّلَ شَيْءٍ تَكَلَّمَ بِهِ أَنْ قَالَ " أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَفْشُوا السَّلاَمَ وَأَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ وَصَلُّوا وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ تَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلاَمٍ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ صَحِيحٌ .
The first and foremost thing that a Muslim should do when meeting anyone, even the non Muslims, to greet with Salam (peace). This is generally done by uttering of he Muslim form of greeting in Arabic. The usual usage of "Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh (اَلسَلامُ عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اَللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ" - meaning Peace and God’s mercy and blessings be upon you. This is a wholesome Dua / prayer to wish someone with peace and also for blessings and mercy of Allah. This wholesome greeting is far better than using the usual greeting worldwide of saying Good Morning (afternoon or evening).
This greeting is often answered by saying waalaikumsalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh would translate to “May Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah be Upon You Also. By uttering just the Islamic greetings, we spread the message of peace to everyone we come across. Remember, you will enter Paradise with (the greeting of) Salam
The second advice is to feed others, specially the poor and the needy. This is a great blessing that one can extend to others who cannot afford even one time decent meal.
The third advice is to perform Salat while the people are sleeping, that is the Salat of Tahajjud. the later part of the night is the most peaceful time from the entire day when all else are asleep and a believer finds time to communicate to his Creator in utter silence of the night. He is in no hurry and can take his time to open his heart to his Lord and say whatever he wants his Creator to listen to. And Allah does listens to His servants for He is As-Sami (السميع) - The Hearer of invocation.
* Read more about Tahajjad from links given in our reference pages:
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
Please refer to our reference page: Collection of Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for more Hadiths on the General Subjects.
For more hadiths on varying subjects, refer to our reference page: Sunnah and Hadith of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to know more about Hadiths and Sunnah of Prophet of Allah. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
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