I heard this a few days ago from my host dad: ¨Salam waylaykum¨ means Peace be upon you all. It's a plural you, and you use it for Muslim people even when you only see one person standing there. Because it means Peace Be Upon You and God, who is always with Muslim people.
¨Salam waylayk¨ however, is reserved for people that are alone, that don't walk with God, so for that reason, it's a singular you. Peace be upon you, the implication being ... infidel.
I might be wrong, but this was interesting to here, especially him saying it in the sense, this is what we say to us, and this other is what we'd say to you.
But it doesn't particularly matter, I've never heard anyone use anything other than the plural version to me, and sometimes even the longer version that exists. I had my teacher a few months back write the longer version out... she had to be careful because if I practiced saying it aloud myself, I'd instantly be converted (the most fundamental thing in Islam is saying outloud to more than 2 people in a room that can be witnesses : There's no God but God and Mohamed is His Prophet). She didn't want me to accidentally convert unwittingly so she just wrote it on a paper for me.
But when I hear others saying this to me, wanting me to repeat it, I know better so I just sit and smile. The custom though, is that if a person starts saying the longer version, then you most say an even longer more elaborate version than whatever is the one they told you. This can turn into nearly a power/ dominance exchange, among the educated and the illiterate who maybe only know a little Arabic, even if they've memorized some of the most famous suras in their entirety.
You've maybe hear in the news about Madrassas where people memorize the Qu'ran without knowing any Arabic at all? It's because the script is so clear and precise that as long as you can pronounce the letters then you can begin memorizing the syllables that are maybe meaningless to you, though people believe the power is in the recitation itself, regardless if you catch the meaning, almost as if it is able to make itself understood without needing someone to explain what it means. Like any sacred chants from ancient times, people believed that the word itself is powerful, is self-explanatory, that even some objects there is only one word that can exist for that.
While in Sefrou, one of the few religious conversations I had during Ramadan the year before was that a Frenchman had been converted by hearing the Muezzin call to prayer, that even if he didn't speak or understand what the man was saying, (which always starts with Alluha Ahkbar!, God is Great! then turns into a high-pitched mechanized jumble--though when in Rabat last time, Fauve and I took a trip just to hear a famous Muezzin call that was exceedingly clear and operatic in his embellishments) it wasn't necessary because the message reached his heart anyway.
Interesting stuff in an interesting part of the world.
¨Salam waylayk¨ however, is reserved for people that are alone, that don't walk with God, so for that reason, it's a singular you. Peace be upon you, the implication being ... infidel.
I might be wrong, but this was interesting to here, especially him saying it in the sense, this is what we say to us, and this other is what we'd say to you.
But it doesn't particularly matter, I've never heard anyone use anything other than the plural version to me, and sometimes even the longer version that exists. I had my teacher a few months back write the longer version out... she had to be careful because if I practiced saying it aloud myself, I'd instantly be converted (the most fundamental thing in Islam is saying outloud to more than 2 people in a room that can be witnesses : There's no God but God and Mohamed is His Prophet). She didn't want me to accidentally convert unwittingly so she just wrote it on a paper for me.
But when I hear others saying this to me, wanting me to repeat it, I know better so I just sit and smile. The custom though, is that if a person starts saying the longer version, then you most say an even longer more elaborate version than whatever is the one they told you. This can turn into nearly a power/ dominance exchange, among the educated and the illiterate who maybe only know a little Arabic, even if they've memorized some of the most famous suras in their entirety.
You've maybe hear in the news about Madrassas where people memorize the Qu'ran without knowing any Arabic at all? It's because the script is so clear and precise that as long as you can pronounce the letters then you can begin memorizing the syllables that are maybe meaningless to you, though people believe the power is in the recitation itself, regardless if you catch the meaning, almost as if it is able to make itself understood without needing someone to explain what it means. Like any sacred chants from ancient times, people believed that the word itself is powerful, is self-explanatory, that even some objects there is only one word that can exist for that.
While in Sefrou, one of the few religious conversations I had during Ramadan the year before was that a Frenchman had been converted by hearing the Muezzin call to prayer, that even if he didn't speak or understand what the man was saying, (which always starts with Alluha Ahkbar!, God is Great! then turns into a high-pitched mechanized jumble--though when in Rabat last time, Fauve and I took a trip just to hear a famous Muezzin call that was exceedingly clear and operatic in his embellishments) it wasn't necessary because the message reached his heart anyway.
Interesting stuff in an interesting part of the world.
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