What is the ruling on a woman speaking with her neighbor and inquiring about the well-being of his family, without being submissive in speech or exaggerated, and does the ruling differ if she was the one who initiated the greeting of peace?

There is no harm in a woman speaking with her neighbor if the conversation adheres to the strictures and etiquette of Sharia. However, if the woman is young and the neighbor is young, they should not engage in such conversation for fear of the devil's interference. Shafi'i jurists have stipulated the unlawfulness for a young woman to initiate a greeting of peace (salam) with a non-mahram man and for her to return his greeting. They also deemed it disliked for a man to initiate a greeting of peace with her, because her speech with him might tempt him. Al-Khadimi al-Hanafi stated that speaking with a young non-mahram woman is impermissible without need, because it is a cause for temptation (fitna).