THE ISLAMIC COMMUNICATION ETIQUETTE

Abstract

We meet our friends, relatives and acquaintaances more or less every day. We often visit them and communicate with them. However, we must always abide by the rules of a proper Islamic behhavior. Those are as follows: - We are required to respect the dignity of each person which means we cannot enter the person’s intimate world without the permission. In other words, we cannot enter the person’s home or some other place of residence without their expressed permission. In fact, we are required to request the permission (isti’zan) each time we wish to join a certain company or enter somebody’s home. - Every gathering should begin with the greetiing and if it is a gathering of Muslims, the greeting should be an Islamic greeting - salaam. We have to follow a certain procedure with which we express courtesy, sympathy and respect towards people we meet. This means the younger ones shall greet the elders and those who are passing someone shall greet first. At the same time they will shake hands, inquire about the health and in case of closeness or in case they have not seen each other for a while, they shall embrace cordiality. Naturally, we have to be mindful of the Sharia regulations governing the relations between the sexes. - Once we are at the gathering, we have to ensure that all of the present are given proper atttention and respect, with particular respect given to those who deserve it, based on generally accepted standards. We shall do this primarily by cordial addressing or by addressing the people with their proper titles, ranks or customary honorable names. The topics of the conversations should be nice and useful subjects. There is no room for vulgar or useless conversations. The elders are entitled to direct the conversation as well as to impose the manner of the conversation. We should ensure that there no person feels left out, humiliated or laughed at. - Additionally, we always have to show good taste. We should not impose on people nor should we take more of their time than they are willing to give us.