The 365 · Sunnah · Day 114 · Social
Giving Salām to Children (Building Their Adab Early)
The hadith
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَرَّ عَلَى غِلْمَانٍ فَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِم
Anas ibn Mālik reported: 'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by some boys and gave them salām.' (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6247, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2168.) Anas added: 'He used to do this often.' The hadith establishes the structural Prophetic practice: the senior gives salām to the junior.
Svenska: Anas ibn Mālik berättade: 'Profeten ﷺ passerade några pojkar och gav dem salam.' (Sahih al-Bukhari 6247, Sahih Muslim 2168.) Anas tillade: 'Han brukade göra detta ofta.'
Sahih Bukhari 6247, Sahih Muslim 2168 (Anas ibn Mālik)
The story
The Companions modeled this. They gave salām to children of Companions, children of strangers, children of slaves. The structural pattern was that no Muslim was outside the salām-network because of age, status, or relationship.
Why it's here
The Prophet's ﷺ explicit practice of giving salām to children establishes two structural principles: (1) age does not exclude from the salām-network; (2) the senior should not wait for the junior to initiate. The classical scholars: the believer who gives salām to children trains them in the discipline of salām-receiving and salām-returning, building the umma's social fabric from young.
Try it today
1. When you encounter children of fellow Muslims (at the masjid, in your neighborhood, in family gatherings), give them salām explicitly. 2. Wait for them to return; if they do not (because they have not been trained), gently teach them how to return. 3. Train your own children to receive and return salām correctly. 4. Build the family-rhythm: morning-and-evening salām exchanges, salām at home-entry and home-exit.
In your day
Modern adults often skip greeting children, treating them as below-the-greeting-threshold. The Prophetic inverse: the Prophet ﷺ, the most senior Muslim, gave salām to boys. The discipline: include children in your salām-network.
A reflection to carry
The Prophet ﷺ gave salām to children. Anas ibn Mālik: 'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by some boys and gave them salām. He used to do this often.' (Bukhārī 6247.) Age does not exclude from the salām-network.
Read the longer reflection
The Prophet's ﷺ explicit practice establishes two structural principles: age does not exclude; the senior should not wait for the junior to initiate. The believer who gives salām to children trains them in salām-receiving and salām-returning, building the umma's social fabric from young. Cure: when you encounter children of fellow Muslims (at masjid, neighborhood, family gatherings), give them salām explicitly; wait for them to return; if they do not (because untrained), gently teach them; train your own children to receive and return correctly. Modern adults often skip greeting children; the Prophetic inverse: the most senior Muslim gave salām to boys.
Sources: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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