As - salāmu ʿalaykum - wikipedia As - salāmu ʿalaykum This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2011 ) As - salāmu ʿalaykum ( Arabic : السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ ‎ ( asːaˈlaːmu ʕaˈlaikum ) ) is a greeting in Arabic that means `` peace be upon you ''. The greeting is a standard salutation among Muslims, whether socially or within worship and other contexts. The typical response to the greeting is waʿalaykumu as - salām ( وَعَلَيْكُم السَّلَام ( waʕaˈlaikumu sːaˈlaːm ) ; `` and upon you, peace '' ). This greeting appears in greatly abbreviated forms in many languages from Malagasy to Urdu as some variant of salām ( سَلَام ; cf. Persian سلام ( sæˈlɒːm ) ). Contents 1 Grammatical variants 2 In Islam 3 Usage by non-Arabic speakers 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Grammatical variants The expression uses the second person plural masculine, even when used to address one person. It may be modified by choosing the appropriate enclitic pronoun to address a person in the masculine and feminine singular form, the dual form, or the feminine plural form. The conjugations are as follow ( note : according to the standard pronunciation rules of Classical Arabic, the last short vowel in each word is not pronounced unless it is followed by another word ) : masculine singular as - salāmu ʿalayka ( عَلَيْكَ ) feminine singular : as - salāmu ʿalayki ( عَلَيْكِ ) dual : As - salāmu ʿalaykumā ( عَلَيْكُمَا ) feminine plural : As - salāmu ʿalaykunna ( عَلَيْكُنَّ ) A third - person variant, ʿalayhi as - salām `` peace be upon him '', is used in reference to prophets. In Islam Part of a series on Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh ) Ritual Salat Raka'ah Qibla Turbah Sunnah salat ( Tahajjud Tarawih ) Nafl salat Sawm Hajj Ihram ( clothing Mut'ah ) Tawaf Umrah ( and Hajj ) Political Islamic leadership Caliphate Imamah Wilayat al - faqih Bay'ah Dhimmi Marital Marriage Contract Mahr Misyar Halala Urfi Mut'ah Polygyny Divorce Khula Iddah Kafa'ah Adoption Sexual Masturbation Hygiene Sexual violation Zina Awrah Criminal Hudud Blasphemy Maisir ( gambling ) Zina ( illicit sex ) Hirabah ( unlawful warfare ) Fasad ( `` mischief '' ) Rajm ( stoning ) Tazir ( discretionary ) Qisas ( retaliation ) Diya ( compensation ) Etiquette Adab Gender segregation Mahram Honorifics Rada Toilet Economic History Zakat Jizya Nisab Khums Sadaqah ( Waqf ) Bayt al - mal Banking Riba Murabaha Takaful Sukuk Inheritance Hygiene Sexual Toilet Taharah Ihram Wudu Masah Ghusl Tayammum Miswak Najis Dietary Dhabihah Alcohol Pork Comparison with kashrut Military Jihad Hudna Istijarah ( asylum ) Prisoners of war Islamic studies It is also preferred to use the greeting when arriving and also while leaving. It was reported that Abu Hurairah said `` When one of you joins a gathering, let him say ' Peace '. When he wants to get up and leave, let him say ' Peace '. The former is not more important than the latter '' ( Hasan hadith reported in Jāmiʿ at - Tirmidhi ). According to hadith, Muhammad was asked who should begin the greeting and he said, `` The one who is riding should greet the one who is walking and the one who is walking should greet the one who is sitting and the smaller group should greet the larger group '' ( Ṣaḥīḥ al - Bukhārī, 6234 ; Muslim, 2160 ). It is also stated that one should give the Salam greeting upon entering a house. This is based upon a verse of the Quran : `` But when you enter the houses, greet one another with a greeting from God blessed and good '' ( An - Nur 24 : 61 ). Shortening the greeting to acronyms, such as A.S., As'kum ( in Malaysia ), or AsA is becoming common amongst Internet users in chat rooms and by people using SMS. This trend is similar to writing ( S ) or SAWS in place of ṣallá l - Lāhi ʿalayhi wa s - salām. Usage by non-arabic speakers This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2013 ) In Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran, Salām is used. In Albania and Kosovo, a dimunitive form in the Albanian language, Selamun Alejkem or Selamun Alejqum is rarely used, the ' q ' being a voiceless palatal stop typical of Balkan Turkish and Thracian Turkish phonology. In Amharic, the native Amharic term Selam is used in place of Tadias, which is the equivalent of `` What 's up ''. In Turkey and Kazakhstan, many religious people use this statement and shake hands and it is the same for saying `` goodbye '' ; more secular and non-religious people say Selam as an equivalent to `` Hello '' or `` Hi ''. However, many Turks pronounce it differently as `` Selamün aleyküm ''. In Pakistan, the greeting is also associated with shaking right hands and is also often accompanied with a hug when meeting infrequently ( only between the same gender ). In some places, people put a hand on their heart as they shake your hand and greet. Also, the full greeting is preferred versus the shorter greeting, `` salam ''. In India, the greeting mostly among Muslims is accompanied by raising the right hand to the chest ( arz hai `` regards '' ; adaab `` respect '' ) or a simple handshake or hug, the shorter greeting `` Salam '' is used in informal situations. Goodbye is supplanted by a `` Khuda hafiz '' ( secular / less formal or to an acquaintance ) or `` Allah hafiz '' ( less secular / generally to strangers, formal ), both of which mean `` May God keep you safe ''. In Bangladesh, Assalamu alaykum is a simple greeting. In Uzbekistan, Assalomu aleykum is used as an informal greeting. In Indonesia, the greeting is usually accompanied with a kind of two - handed `` handshake '', whereby the shaker 's palms remain closed, and the fingers alone open to admit the other 's proffered hand -- which briefly touches the proffered 's fingers or fingertips alone. In this way more adherent males and females may greet though touching -- but remain true to the Islamic or cultural teachings forbidding physical contact between the genders. Occasionally, the right hand will touch the left breast or heart area after this. In Indonesia 's Javanese / Sasak culture, a remnant of feudalism is retained, where an elder 's proffered right hand is taken and pressed briefly against the forehead. Some may instead briefly kiss the hand or the main ring. This is very common for young children to greet older relatives ( of their parents ' age, though, on occasion, if very polite children, younger ). In Chechnya and other parts of Caucasus, Salam Aleykum is used to say hi. In Senegal which has a majority of Sufi Islam it is a common greeting. Spelled and pronounced in Wolof : `` ( a ) sala maaleykum '', and the reply `` maa lekum salaam. '' In Xinjiang, China, `` Essalam eleykum '' is used as a greeting by Uyghurs, and the reply is `` We'eleykum essalam ''. See also Islam portal Names of God in Islam Pax ( liturgy ) Salam Pax Shalom aleichem Š - L-M References Jump up ^ `` '' As - Salaamu - Alaikum '' and `` Wa - Alaikum - as - Salaam '' ``. Ccnmtl.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2013 - 07 - 27. Jump up ^ Sheikh Muhammad Salih Al - Munajjid. `` Is it mustahabb for one who gets up to leave a gathering to say salaam to those who are still sitting ? ''. Islamqa.info. Jump up ^ `` As Salaamu Alaikom ? ''. Archived from the original on 2010 - 11 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Surat An - Nur ( 24 : 61 ) - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم ''. Quran.com. Retrieved 2013 - 07 - 27. Jump up ^ https://humstatic.uchicago.edu/slavic/archived/papers/Friedman-TurkEncyc.pdf External links Audio clip for Salam A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam LivingHalal.com Islamic audio project Islamic Greetings General As - salamu alaykum Wa alaykumu s - salam Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=As-salamu_alaykum&oldid=815347510 '' Categories : Arabic words and phrases Arabic words and phrases in Sharia Greeting words and phrases Islamic honorifics Islamic terminology Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from April 2011 All articles needing additional references Articles containing Arabic - language text Articles containing Persian - language text Articles needing additional references from May 2013 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Aragonés Asturianu Azərbaycanca বাংলা Bosanski Català Čeština Corsu Dansk Davvisámegiella Deutsch Español فارسی Français Furlan 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Ladino മലയാളം मराठी مازِرونی Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Нохчийн Norsk Occitan پښتو Polski Português Română Русский Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska தமிழ் Татарча / tatarça Türkçe Українська اردو Vèneto West - Vlams 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 14 December 2017, at 08 : 09. 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Question: what to say in response to salam alaikum
Answer: waʿalaykumu as-salām (وَعَلَيْكُم السَّلَام [waʕaˈlaikumu sːaˈlaːm]; "and upon you, peace")