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Fatwa CenterTraining oneself to use Islamic forms of greeting is not hypocrisy or ostentation
Question
Alsalama 'alaikum warahmatullah. I am struggling to become a better Muslim and I'm finding myself having a difficult time adjusting. What I'm noticing about a lot of Muslims that I admire, is that they have beautiful speech. By this I mean they often say things like the salam and jazakallah khr rather than just hello or thank you. They say alhamdulillah and subhanallah often and make dua for people. I too would like to speak like this, except that it is not how I was raised so I dont want to push myself to do something that's unnatural to me. And also I fear I may fall into riyaa and hypocrisy. on the other hand I want to start making my speech more Islamic, because I feel it would help me build a more Islamic character, and that I would constantly remember Allah and remind others as well, and also because it spreads the love between Muslims. please give me advise regarding this. I know it seems insignificant but I grew up in family where we didn't speak of loving things often or show affection and so people look at you strange if you say something like"may Allah reward you". When I once said this to my brother he told me it was weird and unnatural to hear me say that. And he was right.
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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
The soul may be unaccustomed to certain things at first, but if it is trained, it becomes accustomed to them. A Muslim should exert effort to train oneself to do something and eventually it becomes second nature that one does without feeling any awkwardness.
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Knowledge is only from learning, and forbearance is only from endeavoring to have forbearance. He who pursues the good is given it, and he who is on his guard against the bad is guarded from it." [Al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab Al-Eemaan and others - Al-Albaani classified it as Saheeh (sound)]
Therefore, we advise you to spread such good speech among people; and this does not constitute hypocrisy or ostentation (Riyaa'). With the passage of time, using those good words will become familiar to you and you will not find any difficulty or inconvenience in saying them. And there is nothing wrong with saying, for instance, both "thank you" and "Jazaak Allaahu Khayra", or saying both "Hello" and "As-Salaamu ‘Alaykum".
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