As-salamu alaykum

As-salamu alaykum (Arabic: ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ, romanized: as-salāmu ʿalaykum, pronounced [as.sa.laː.mu ʕa.laj.kum] ^ⓘ), also written salamun alaykum and typically rendered in English as salam alaykum, is a greeting in Arabic that means 'Peace be upon you'. The salām (سَلَام, meaning 'peace') has become a religious salutation for Muslims^[1][2] worldwide when greeting each other, though its use as a greeting predates Islam, and is also common among Arabic speakers of other religions (such as Arab Christians and Mizrahi Jews).^[3]

In colloquial speech, often only salām, 'peace', is used to greet a person. This shorter greeting, salām^[4] (سَلَام), has come to be used as the general salutation in other languages as well.

The typical response to the greeting is wa-ʿalaykumu s-salām (وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَامُ [wa.ʕa.laj.ku.mu‿s.sa.laːm] ^ⓘ, 'and peace be upon you'). In the Quranic period one repeated as-salamu alaykum, but the inverted response is attested in Arabic not long after its appearance in Hebrew.^[5] The phrase may also be expanded to as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuhu (ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ [as.sa.laː.mu ʕa.laj.kum wa.raħ.ma.tu‿ɫ.ɫaː.hi wa.ba.ra.kaː.tu.hu], 'Peace be upon you, as well as the mercy of God and His blessings').

The use of salām as an Arabic greeting dates at least to Laqit bin Yamar al-Ayadi (6th century),^[6] and cognates in other Semitic languages – including Aramaic šlāmā ʿalḵōn (ܫܠܵܡܵܐ ܥܲܠܟ݂ܘܿܢ) and Hebrew shalom aleichem (שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם shālôm ʻalêḵem) – can be traced back to the Old Testament period.^[7][8][5][9]