عنْ سهْلِ بنِ سعْدٍ رَضِيَ اللّهُ عَنْهُ قالَ: كانَتْ فينا امْرَأَةٌ -وفي روايةٍ: كانَتْ لَنا عَجُوزٌ- تأْخُذُ مِنْ أُصُولِ السِّلْقِ فتطْرَحُهُ في القِدْرِ، وَتُكَرْكِرُ حَبَّاتٍ مِنْ شَعِيرٍ، فإذا صَلَّيْنا الجُمُعَةَ انْصَرَفْنَا نُسَلِّمُ عَلَيْها، فَتُقدِّمُهُ إليْنَا. رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ.
From Sahl ibn Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: There was among us a woman —and in a narration: We had an old woman— who used to take the roots of chard and put them in the pot, and grind some grains of barley. When we had prayed the Friday prayer, we would leave and greet her, and she would present it to us. Reported by al-Bukhari.
الشرح · explanation
عجوز: امرأة مسنّة، ويقال للذكر والأنثى. أصول السلق: السلق نوع من البقول، وأصوله: سيقانه. تُكَرْكِر: أيْ تَطحَنُ.
"An old woman ('ajuz)": an aged woman; the term is used for both male and female. "The roots of chard": chard (silq) is a kind of vegetable, and its roots are its stalks. "She grinds (tukarkir)": that is, she grinds.
الدروس · lessons
لا بأس من إلقاء السلام على أي جماعة ولو كانت جماعة نساء لعموم الأحاديث و لفعله صلّى اللّهُ عليه وسلّم وهذا مقيد بأن تُؤمن الفتنة فلو أُمِنت الفتنة سلّم ولو على غير المسنّات. راوي الحديث سهل بن سعد كان صغيرًا في زمن النّبيّ صلّى اللّهُ عليه وسلّم فهؤلاء أطفال صبية، وهذه امرأة عجوز، فالفتنة مأمونة ولا بأس من السلام والدخول عليها.
There is no harm in giving the greeting to any group, even a group of women, because of the generality of the hadiths and because of his practice (peace and blessings be upon him). This is restricted by the condition that temptation be safely avoided; so if temptation is safely avoided, one may greet even women who are not aged. The narrator of the hadith, Sahl ibn Sa'd, was young in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); these were young children, and this was an old woman, so temptation was safely avoided, and there is no harm in greeting her and entering upon her.