Why You Should Stalk People’s Birthdays on Facebook

"O people! Spread (the greeting of) Salam." Every day, Facebook shows a list of people whose birthday it is on that day. Imagine if on each day, you greeted the person with salam in a short message, and wrote a short dua for him, shared a brief hadith or a kind word.

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, and the Most Merciful

Allah, blessed and exalted, is very Kind to His slaves, very appreciative of their efforts, very generous in His giving, and very forgiving of their faults.

وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَانَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

And never would Allah have caused you to lose your faith. Indeed Allah is, to the people, Kind and Merciful. (2:143)

He guides the hearts of those who believed, and He is their ally and their protective friend.

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ مَوْلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَأَنَّ الْكَافِرِينَ لَا مَوْلَىٰ لَهُمْ

That is because Allah is the protector of those who have believed and because the disbelievers have no protector. (47:11)

All praise be to Him, and endless thanks, and grateful hearts and remembering souls.

وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَعَشِيًّا وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ

And to Him is [due all] praise throughout the heavens and the earth. And [exalted is He] at night and when you are at noon.

Every day, Facebook shows a list of people whose birthday it is on that day. Imagine if on each day, you greeted the person with salam in a short message, and wrote a short dua for him, shared a brief hadith or a kind word.

You don’t have to wish them a happy birthday. Just use that as an opportunity to give them salam.

That will bring joy to their hearts, rewards to your scales, affection between believers, and a means to paradise. Maybe that will incline their hearts to Islam, remove a grudge they have against you, or they will be a witness to your good chatacter and learn from it. The Prophet ﷺ said:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَفْشُوا السَّلاَمَ وَأَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ وَصِلُوا الأَرْحَامَ وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلاَمٍ

‘O people! Spread (the greeting of) Salam, feed others, uphold the ties of blood (with relatives), and pray during the night when people are sleeping, and you will enter Paradise with peace. (Ibn Majah, 3251, Sahih - Darussalam)

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr: A man asked the Prophet (ﷺ) , "What sort of deeds (or what qualities) of Islam are good?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied,

تُطْعِمُ الطَّعَامَ، وَتَقْرَأُ السَّلاَمَ عَلَى مَنْ عَرَفْتَ وَمَنْ لَمْ تَعْرِفْ

“To feed food and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not know. (Bukhari 12)

May Allah make us people who spread the salam, greet those we know and do not know, for this is of the wisdom taught by the Messenger, and the direction of this great religion, and a mercy from the Lord of the worlds.

 اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ السَّلاَمُ وَمِنْكَ السَّلاَمُ تَبَارَكْتَ يَا ذَا الْجَلاَلِ وَالإِكْرَامِ

O Allah, You are Peace, and from You comes peace, blessed are You, O one of Magnificence and Generosity. (Abi Dawud 1512, Sahih - Al Albani)