Question:
Is it allowable for a muslim woman to greet a muslim man by shaking hands?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
For a man to shake hands with a non-mahram woman (one to whom he is not related) is haraam and is not permitted at all. Among the evidence for this is the hadeeth of Ma’qal ibn Yassaar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If one of you were to be struck in the head with an iron needle, it would be better for him than if he were to touch a woman he is not allowed to.” (Reported by al-Tabaraani; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 5045).
There is no doubt that for a man to touch a non-mahram woman is one of the causes of fitnah (turmoil, temptation), provocation of desire and committing haraam deeds. No one should say that their intention is sound or their heart is clean, because the one who was the purest of heart and the most chaste of all, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) never touched a non-mahram woman, even when accepting bay’ah (oath of allegiance) from women. He did not hold their hands when accepting their bay’ah, as he did with men; their bay’ah was by words only, as was reported by his wife ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her). She said that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would test the believing women who emigrated to him with the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): “O Prophet! When believeing women come to you to give you the bay’ah (pledge), that they will not associate anything in worship with Allaah, that they will not steal, that they will not commit illegal sexual intercourse, that they will not kill their children, that they will not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood (i.e., by making illegal children belong to their husbands), and that thye will not disobey you in any ma’ruf (Islamic monotheism and all that which Islam ordains), then accept their bay’ah and ask Allaah to forgive them. Verily Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [al-Mumtahinah 60:12] ‘Aa’ishah said: “So whoever of the believing women agreed to these conditions, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would say to her: ‘I have accepted your bay’ah by words.’ By Allaah, his hand never touched the hand of any woman when accepting their bay’ah; he accepted their bay’ah by saying ‘I have accepted your bay’ah on this basis.’”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 4512; according to another report: he accepted their bay’ah by words… the hand of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) never touched the hand of any woman except a woman he owned . Reported by al-Bukhaari, 6674).
Some Muslims feel too embarrassed to refuse when a woman offers her hand to them. In addition to mixing with women, some of them claim that they are forced to shake hands with fellow-students and teachers in schools and universities, or with colleagues in the workplace, or in business meetings and so on, but this is not an acceptable excuse. The Muslim should overcome his own feelings and the promptings of the Shaytaan, and be strong in his faith, because Allaah is not ashamed of the truth. The Muslim could apologize politely and explain that the reason he does not want to shake hands is not to offend or hurt anybody’s feelings, but it is because he is following the teachings of his religion. In most cases this will earn him respect from others. There is no harm done if they find it strange at first, and it may even be a practical opportunity for da’wah. And Allaah knows best.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
my question is.. who is considered as relative in islam?
i would really like to know so i can understand better who i can shake hands with
thanks
in this post “relative” is refered to the people with whom you cannot marry (mahram).
On family basis cousins also can be considered as relatives, but in islam we can marry with cousins, so it is not allowed for us to hand shake with our cousins who are mature and of opposite sex.
i want to ask if a person has not reched age of puberty, can he still shake hands with opposite sex?
The above ruling is very black and white and selective in its justifications to prove a point — a position that has always been a minority among early and classical scholars. I think the eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, offers a detailed and comprehensive ruling on this matter. But Allah knows best…
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503546332
An American girl is converting to Islam and the Imam is shaking hand and hugging the woman, there is a big difference of saying and act of these hypocrites.
Allah knows best
‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said that when describing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It is mentioned in the lengthy story about Sa’d ibn Hishaam ibn ‘Aamir, when he came to Madeenah and went to ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) and asked her about some matters. He said: I said: O Mother of the believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allaah (S). She said: Do you not read the Qur’aan? I said: Of course. She said: The character of the Prophet of Allaah (S) was the Qur’aan. I wanted to get up and not ask about anything else until I died… Narrated by Muslim (746).
Since the character of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W.) was the qur’an,then interprete his words as follows: Hadith according to qur’an, Hadith according to Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W.) sunnah, Hadith according to the Shahaba’s(R.A.) words or teachings, Hadith according to those expert in Arabic quraishi language like the four Aimmah( Imam Maliki, Imam Hanafi, Imam Shafii, and Imam Ahmad ibno Hanbali( May Allah be merciful and well-pleased with them.)Don’t interprete his words according to the methodology of khawariji. The khawarij interprete the Holy qur’an and Hadith according to their brains
The Khawariji interprete the Holy qur’an according to their brains and ideology. If the Authentic hadith does not agree with their desires they would declare it as daeef or rejected. If the Hadith is daef or rejected but does not contradict their ideology and support their desires, they would declare it as Authentic or Shahih. If the words of the Sahabah(R.A.) contradicted their ideology, they will reject them.Everybody contradicted their literal understanding of Holy qur’an and hadith, they would call him bidaa, kufur, haram, shirk.And Halal for them to kill the muslims and to marry their wives as booty and steal their wealth. Who killed Alih(R.A.)? He was a khawarij.
i love u all fellow muslims. may Allah forgive our major & minor sins and by Allahs willing i will never shake hand with non muharram.