Does the traditional Arabic greeting (As-salamu alaykum) have religous meaning?

Question

There is a greeting I have often heard among Muslims. (Thanks to Geeo in the comments for helping me find the "correct" spelling of the phrase, which made searching for it easier):

As-salamu alaykum

To which there is a "traditional" reply as well:

Wa alaykumu s-salam

What do these phrases mean? Do they carry religious meaning or connotations, or are they used by non-Muslim Arabic-speakers as well? Would it be offensive (or at least out of place) if, as a Caucasian non-Muslim middle-class young male, I greeted a Muslim or Arabic speaker with this expression?

Answer 1

It has three forms, the short one:

Salam

Which means "peace", this is usually used between friends or when entering a shop or with people you usually meet.

Second form is the medium form:

As-salamu alaykum

The medium one means "peace be upon you". It has no religious meaning or whatsoever as it stands this way even though it was first used by the early Muslims. This form is the most used even in official meetings.

And the long form:

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatu allahi wa barakatuh

The long form is indeed religious and means "peace be upon you and the mercy and blessings of god" or something like that. It is also used but not as much as other forms.

One thing to mention, the reply should be as long as the greeting or the longer form, if some one said "salam" you can reply with salam or one of the longer forms, if some greets you with "salam alaykum" reply with the same form or the longer one, it is not nice to reply with a shorter form.

Answer 2

Wikipedia provides the answer for you:

As-salamu alaykum (السلام عليكم) is an Arabic greeting often used by Muslims around the world and is widely used in the Muslim world even by non-Muslims. It nearly translates to "peace be upon you", but is often considered the equivalent to "hello", "hi" or "good day" in English. The standard response to the greeting is Wa alaykumu s-salam.

The response has a wikipedia entry on its own:

Wa alaykumu s-salam or Wa ‘alaykum al-salaam (وعليكم السلام) is an Arabic greeting often used by Muslims and Arabs around the world translating nearly to "And unto you peace", but is often considered the equivalent to "hello" or "good day" in English. It is the standard response to the As-salamu alaykum greeting.

As a non-muslim I have used both greetings, but wikipedia has more elaborate explanations that it is okay for a non-muslim to use.

Answer 3

As-salamu alaykum and its response have definite muslim connotations. They're used all over the world. It's not offensive for an outsider to use them though, and especially not to respond in kind.

Note that there's a perfectly straightforward way to say hello in Arabic without any religious connotations: 'ahlan أهلا

Answer 4

As other posters have mentioned, in many countries, these greetings are standard and it is entirely polite for everybody to use them, with no religious connotation. However, in malaysia, this is more controversial: some Muslim people may take offense at the use of these phrases (as they are spelled locally: assalamualaikum and waalaikumussalam) by non-Muslim folks. It is better to offer a different greeting (selamat pagi/petang/malam in the morning/afternoon/evening) if you do not know the preferences of the person you are talking to.