What means the hand gesture in the Arabic salute “salaam”?
I know that “salaam” means “peace”, and the salute is a form of showing respect for the one receiveing it. But I want to know a little more… As a kid, I remember seeing in an Omar Sharif movie this splendid Arabic salute. Traveling the world, I’ve met people saluting in the (so to speak) “traditional Salaam manner”, by accompanying a low bow with a hand touching the forehead. The thing is, as I remember (from that movie), while performing the bow, the hand was touching the chest, the mouth and only then the forehead. What is the significance of these “touching points” in this salute, and which one is the real one: the simple one, or the complex one?
