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Fatwa CenterGreet other Muslims whether or not you know them
Question
Assalaamu Alaykum. Dear Shaikh, I used to go to pray in a small mosque where i live, the problem is that people who pray there have no respect whatsoever towards you. If they don't know you you say Assalaamu Alaykum,they turn their face to the other side, but if they know you they smile at you, talk to you, greet you and as soon as we finish the prayer, they sit with each other and start to talk loudly laughing, joking as if they are not at the mosque. I kept telling them to go outside and let us do Nawaafil, but no one listens. Even the Imaam have said it, but they think they know better, and to be honest I do not want to go to the mosque and nor to greet them as I was brought up to greet any Muslim in the mosque. At the same time, I do not want them to look at me as if I am desperate to talk to them. What should i do?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
A Muslim is religiously required to greet another Muslim with 'Salaam' and respond to the one who greets him with ‘Salaam’. A Muslim should greet other Muslims whether or not he knows them as confirmed in the Sunnah. Also, it is not permissible for a Muslim to raise his voice in the mosque even when mentioning Allaah if this disturbs other praying people. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 84464.
Therefore, if the people whom you referred to in the question did what you said, then they are wrong, so one should continue to advise them and greet them altogether with one Salaam, as there is no necessity to greet each person separately.
You should continue to do this great moral act upon which you were raised as it is the right of a Muslim on his Muslim brother, and the Prophet said: “The better amongst the two is the one who starts greeting the other with Salaam.”
Finally, it should be noted that you should not abandon the congregational prayer in that mosque just because of this, but it is permissible for you to go to another mosque.
Allaah Knows best.
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