ABSTRACT
Among the Badawin until quite recently if a man returned your customary greeting of salám ’alaikum (peace be upon you) with the reply ’alaikum as salám (on you be peace), this was equivalent to sealing a peace-pact between him and you, in the same way as if you ate salt with him, or drank a cup of coffee in his tent, and you could call upon him to protect you, just as if you were his tent-neighbour, and had taken refuge with him.
