A few weeks ago, Dr. Zohaib Ahmad who teaches Jainism at Islamia University in Bahawalpur in Pakistan invited me to meet and teach his class of 22 students.  As is the custom, I said Jai Jinendra (a Jain Salutation) and then Salaam Aaikum (a Muslim salutation) to all.

After the class, I spent quite a bit of my own personal time to understand and reflect on this beautiful Muslim salutation and in doing so, many questions and thoughts popped up in my mind. These are:

What is the literal meaning of this salutation?

How sincere and genuine I or anyone else should be in wishing this salutation?

What am I wishing them, and the very broad and deep meaning hidden in this salutation?

How does it compare with the Jain Philosophy of Ahimsa/nonviolence and is not the Muslim Salutation conveying the same message of Ahimsa?

Here is my take.

Salaam Aaikum is a religious salutation for Muslims worldwide which means ‘Peace be upon you’. The typical response to the greeting is wa ʿalaykumu s-salām, which also means, ‘and peace be upon you’. 

We must remember that Peace does not fall from the sky and is not meant for someone else.  Also, we must keep in mind that peace is a choice, not something that just happens. In actuality, it is up to each and every one of us to sincerely desire and work towards establishing a climate of genuine peace all around us. 

Thru this salutation, I am wishing them a true and lasting (not a temporary or flying) peace.

What is meant by Peace?

My definition and approach to that person whom I am wishing Peace are that.

• First, I myself should have the most sincere and genuine (not just as a ritual) mind and desire to wish the other person true and genuine peace.  
• Second, I am wishing, that person should be mentally and physically free and without any affliction, pain, suffering of any kind. 
• Without all this, there cannot be any peace in the life of that person.  

When I make such a wish, there are certain pre-requisites too that fall upon me. These are.

That I have a true feeling of love and that I harbor no feeling of enmity, jealousy, and revengefulness towards that person. As long as I don’t have all this, then I cannot wish the other person a genuine Peace. 

I am also wishing, that under no circumstances would I seek to cause that individual any type of anguish, pain, hurt, torture, or agony, whether it be verbally, physically, directly, indirectly, or mentally and therefore I wish him/her a genuine happiness, joy, and fun. 

Also, If I have caused you any pain and hurt, then I ask for a true and sincere forgiveness from you and similarly if you have hurt me in any way, I grant and convey my forgiveness to you as well. By doing so, we both completely clean our slate of any ill feelings and resentment towards each other. 

Also, if  you are   afflicted and suffering in any way,  it is my first  and prime duty  and  responsibility  as a human being, to work to lessen or eliminate your suffering This means, not only that I will not hurt you, but  if you are  hurt and suffering, then I will not just walk away  but I will try my utmost to make things better.  

This is the true Peace and thru this salutation this is exactly what I am conveying and wishing to you. In short, I am wishing you unlimited, joy and happiness always. 

In Jain Philosophy this is called unconditional Ahimsa or Democracy of Peace to all 

Ahimsa/nonviolence is defined as

“Mentally, verbally, physically, directly, indirectly, knowingly, unknowingly, Intentionally, and unconditionally, not by self, not through others (engage or ask others) and not condone or provide support to others in any shape or form to injure, harm, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, discriminate, torment, persecute, torture, or kill, any creature or living being (humans and non-humans) however so small, is ahimsa”.

In Jainism, ahimsa/nonviolence   extends to all life forms (humans and non-humans) and thus   by connecting it with the teachings of Islam, I wish to extend this Muslim salutation of wishing Peace to all life forms in the universe.

In my view, Salaam Aaikum is a message of amity, love, compassion, care and sharing and non-hurting that does not wish to do harm and injury to anyone. 

This is the true Peace and through this salutation, this is exactly what I wish to convey to you. In short, I am wishing you unlimited, joy and happiness always.

The whole world is mine. I have a coexistence, and interdependence and my existence is intertwined with the happiness and peace of all. The ancient Jain aphorism “Parasparopa graho Jivanam (interdependence)” means that all life is bound together by mutual support and inter-dependence or as an alternate translation, souls render service to each other.  It means that all aspects of nature belong together and are bound in a physical as well as metaphysical relationship. All living things are connected in nature, dependent on each other for continued survival. Life is viewed as a gift of togetherness, accommodation and assistance in a universe teeming with interdependent constituents. It is not only the human perspective that we must consider, but those of all living beings. Therefore, it is important to live in harmony, and not attempt to dominate nature or other living beings. 

This is what Salaam Aaikum is and denotes. 

Dr. Sulekh C. Jain lives in Henderson, NV and is the cofounder of International School for Jain Studies. Previously, he served as President of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA). He can be reached at scjainphd@gmail.com

Dr. Jain also authored the book An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide, which can be accessed free at www.isjs.in

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the above article solely belong to author Sulekh Jain, Ph.D., and are not an endorsement by vegasdesi.com. The editor is pleased to provide vegasdesi.com as a platform for the community members to engage in intellectual debates, opinions, constructive criticisms, and discussions.