Responding to Greetings with Kindness and Respect: A Quranic Perspective
RETURNING THE SALAM, WITH A BETTER SALAM
ALLĀH says,
وَإِذَا حُيِّيتُم بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيُّواْ بِأَحۡسَنَ مِنۡهَآ أَوۡ رُدُّوهَآۗ
And when you are greeted with a greeting, respond with a better greeting or at least similarly.
The greeting is that which is spoken by one of the two who meet one another, by way of honouring and praying for the other, along with what accompanies that of smiles and so on.
The best and most sublime of greetings is that which is taught by Islam of initiating and returning the greeting of salam.
ALLĀH instructs the believers that when they are greeted in any manner, they should give a response that is better than it in terms of wording, smiles and so on. What we may understand from this is that it is not allowed to refrain from returning the greeting altogether or to return it with something less than it.
From this verse we learn that initiating the greeting of salam is encouraged on the basis of two things:
ALLĀH instructs us to respond to the greeting with something better than it or (at least) equal to it. This implies that initiating the greeting is required according to Islamic teaching.
The fact that it refers to something better indicates that participating in giving then returning the greeting is a good thing.
However there is an exception to the general meaning of the verse, which is when someone greets another in a situation where it is not enjoined to return the greeting, such as if that person is busy reading Qur’an, listening to a khutbah, praying, and the like; in that case he is not required to respond to the greeting. A similar exception is made in the case of one whom the Lawgiver has instructed us to shun and not greet, namely the repentant sinner who may be deterred by shunning. He is to be shunned and not greeted, and his greeting is not to be returned, because doing so would undermine the general interest that may be achieved by shunning him.
Returning the greeting includes every greeting that is customary among the people and is not forbidden according to Islamic teachings; we are enjoined to return such greetings with a greeting that is equal to or better than it.
{Tafsir As-Sa’di}