# Can I have a close non-Muslim friend and answer his salam? *Reply to Assim al-Hakeem: a close non-Muslim friend and returning his salam* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/cnwajt1i9bo/s/1/ - Date: 2021-03-10 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Reply to Sheikh Assim on Having Non-Muslim Friend | Mufti Abu Layth (0:01–5:21) - Status: latest answer on its topic; general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnwAjt1i9Bo&t=1s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/cnwajt1i9bo/ **Topics:** Friendship and social life; Views on contemporary scholars; Speech and everyday conduct **Question as asked:** I have a very close non-Muslim friend who greets me with salam whenever we meet; he is seriously ill and it is not that he wants to accept Islam. Can I answer his salam, or in general can I answer the salam of a non-Muslim? **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth rejects as ignorance and nonsense the view that a Muslim cannot have a close non-Muslim friend or return his greeting. Assim al-Hakeem's answer in the clip, that only acquaintances are allowed and a non-Muslim's salam gets a smile at most, is the view being replied to. ## Longer summary Mufti Abu Layth plays a clip in which a caller asks Assim al-Hakeem whether he may answer the salam of a very close non-Muslim friend who is seriously ill and who greets him with salam, and whether the salam of a non-Muslim may be answered in general. In the clip Assim al-Hakeem replies that a Muslim may have a non-Muslim acquaintance or work colleague but not a dear friend used as a confidant and counsellor, and that a non-Muslim's salam is not to be returned but met with a smile, which he presents as the way of the Prophet and the most authentic opinion. Mufti ridicules the answer, playing on the name Hakeem and the word hikmah, and says this is the problem with such preachers. He then asks how anyone could claim a Muslim cannot have a non-Muslim friend, and says this is ignorance, hatred and venom that spreads toxicity, that the deen suffers because people are taught this and come to think it is what Islam is about, and that it is nonsense and a tragedy. ## Sources and names cited - Assim al-Hakeem - salam (the greeting of peace) - hikmah (wisdom) ## Transcript (machine tier, 0:01–5:21) [0:00] moving on to the next microscope it just keeps getting the universe keeps giving people the universe keeps giving so what are the right now if i can after from india my question is that i have a very close non-muslim friend and whenever we met he always used to say [Music] he is suffering from cancer and it's not like that that after knowing that he's suffering from cancer he wants to change and he wants to accept islam so i want to know can i answer his [0:38] salaam or in general speaking can i answer salaam of non-muslim the wise the wise is about to part his wisdom [1:08] learn right this is wisdom coming all the way bedouin wisdom poorer tsunami of wisdom is coming your way people after from india he says that he has a very dear friend of his who is a non-muslim moment [1:49] and this is uh an issue you should look into after you can't have dear friends who are non-muslims because yeah you can have an acquaintance a colleague at work but not a dear friend whom you hang out with and you use him as a confidant you tell him your secrets and you take his counseling no this is not uh recommended so he says that he's sick and he's not sure whether he's interested in islam or not however every time he meets him he says [2:28] should i reply to his salaam the answer is no any non-muslim who says you simply reply with a smile that's it and you don't complete you don't continue because this is the way of the prophet this is the most authentic opinion from india you you heard that people the wisdom right there pouring forth that it knocked my uh version see this is the problem people you know when you get these [3:06] uh bedouins [Laughter] the wise that's such an oxymoron that his parents decided to give him the name hakeem and allah decided to give him no hikmah [Laughter] that's just such that's just like a cruel joke [Laughter] ah that's just cruel that you think so [3:43] that's just like uh you know you know so it's it's a shame really it's a shame [Laughter] but here he is sharing any little ounce of wisdom that he can find in the desert amongst the camel study so he said people first of all [4:12] how can you even have a non-muslim friend explain me explain me this one how is possible no is possible you're muslim how can you have a non-muslim yes you can have an acquaintance you can have a colleague how can you have a friend friend friend friend friend friend [Laughter] [Music] kafir oh lahi this is the type of ignorance people this is the hatred and the venom the cancer the radioactive [4:51] toxicity that is being spewed this is why the deen suffers because people they have to learn this kind of stuff and think achara that's what my islam is about then i'm not even allowed to have these friends i should be weary it should be this should be that it's nonsense it is really a tragedy to be honest but it is what it is and ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment CnwAjt1i9Bo/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/cnwajt1i9bo/s/1/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.