Scholars have given two situations when exchanging hand shake with opposite sex is permissible. Firstly, shaking hands between males and females who are not relative is only permissible when there is no desire.
Secondly, handshaking between males and females who are not relatives should be restricted to necessary situations. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Al-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains, Lubbock, Texas, states the following: There are two common hadiths concerning shaking hands with the opposite sex. In the first hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “I do not shake hands with women” (Al-Bukhari).
The second hadith is narrated on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), he said, “The female slave from Madinah would take hold of the hand of Allah’s Messenger and lead him wherever she wished, without withdrawing her hands from his hands until the Prophet fulfils her need” (Ahmad).
Based on the two hadiths, we conclude that the basic rule discourages shaking hands with members of the opposite sex, but if one were put in an awkward situation, then there would be no harm to shake hands with members of the opposite sex. It is permissible to do it. Contradiction in hadiths prohibiting hand shakes.
1. It was narrated that Ma’qil ibn Yassaar said: the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “For one of you to be stabbed in the head with an iron needle is better for him than that he should touch a woman who is not permissible for him.” Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, 486. 2. It was also narrated from Ma’qal ibn Yassaar that, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to shake hands with women from beneath a garment.” Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Awsat, 2855. 3. Another narration by women who visit the prophet to take oath of allegiance mentioned that, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not shake hands with them, it was said that ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) shook hands with them on his behalf.
Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Awsat, 2833. I deliberately took my time before trying to respond to the controversy generated by the hand shake of the President Elect with Oshiomhole’s new wife. The response by some Muslims to the hand shake can simply be described as a misdirected energy, though, they have a right to their expression. Talking about hand shake with opposite sex, majority of scholars concluded that, it is prohibited to shake hands with opposite sex because of fear of temptation or desire, but if there is no fear of temptation or desire, it is permissible.
It has been noted from the numerous contradictory narrations that, the hadith relied upon by some scholars to completely prohibit hand shake is not reliable. This is why you see Muslim leaders even in the Arabic world exchanging hand shakes with women when it is necessary to do so. But before going into that aspect proper, let me talk about this particular incident of Buhari. First, Buhari has been shaking women for God’s know how long, i can bet you that his hand shake with women has gone beyond count. When Buhari was a young soldier, he would have shake hands with superior female officers. Hand shake in military is a form of charge or commendation. He might have also shake hands with female junior officer when he was in command. While serving as Governor, he would have shake many women in the civil service in time of their appointment and many other occasions. When serving as Minister of petroleum, he would have shake uncountable female business partners from various companies and countries. As PTDF chairman, we would have shake hands with many female workers, one of such could be the late Dora Akunyili, which he Buhari recommended for NAFDAC appointment. And as head of state, he would have shake hands with many Ambassadors, female presidents, Prime Ministers, envoys etc. So, exchanging hand shake with women, if need be cannot be a new thing for Buhari. Secondly, Buhari his not the only Muslim that exchange hand shake with women, uncountable Muslims leaders all over the world had been shaking women for centuries. Even in Saudi Arabia, the birth place of the noble prophet (S.A.W), the King had been shaking all sort of women for ages. The King of Saudi is regarded as the Muslim leader all over the world. So we must ask, is shaking hands with opposite sex entirely prohibited in Islam? To guide my friends here on this page, i asked a question which is yet to get adequate response. The question was simple ”Can anybody show me one verse in the Quran, where it is prohibited for men to shake women”?, till this moment, nobody was able to do that. Certainly, there is no such prohibition in the Holy Quran. So, If the Quran did not prohibit it, where was it prohibited? Sunnah (Hadiths)….? Here, we must ask, what is Sunnah and how can you confirm a sunnah when there are dispute on its authenticity as can be seen in the many contradictions? A Sunnah is the saying and practice of Prophet Muhammed. But we must ask, where is Prophet Muhammed? He died about a thousand 500 years ago. Here we know, the prophet is no more. He can’t confirm what he said or what he did not say. He can’t confirm what he did, or what he did not do. All we are left with is written text, by third, fourth, fifth and uncountable parties. To make matter worse, we have records of fabricated hadiths (Sunnah)……. During the period of Umar as the leader of the Muslim Ummah, a terrorist was caught in an act against prophet Muhammed and islam. “I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken.” ~MUHAMMAD (Al-Tabari 6:111) That was a confession by a fabricator who circulated over 23000 fake Hadith. He made that confession after being tortured when he was caught. With this example, it is not a surprise that we have many contradictory hadith, this is why hadith are categorized. Hadith Suhih (Sound Hadiths) Hadiths Hassan (Good Hadith) Hadith daif ( Poor Hadiths) We also have fabricated hadith. The measure outlined to check authenticity of hadith, was a way to try to identify the fake hadith, but even that measure cannot be relied upon completely because it doesn’t actually confirm the authenticity of a hadith, it only try to establish channel of reports to determine if those who claimed to have reported a certain hadith lived during the period of claim. This means that, very few hadith can entirely be relied upon on its own merit, except we get a Quranic verse which authenticate the hadith. Since there is no Quranic evidence to show its prohibition,and the many contradictory hadith cannot be authenticated, it is left to the conscience of Muslims to decide and act right as they deem fit. I decided to take you down this lane to understand how we got here….. In Islam, the agreement of majority of scholars is usually considered if there is dispute. And since they said the prohibition cannot be authenticated, so be it. Though they advised that, we should try to avoid it unless when it is important to do so.
As a Muslim, you have a choice to go with any of the 2 positions you deem convincing to you and Buhari has chosen his. Why the unnecessary criticism? But before you comment, know that there are two school of thought on this subject in Islam. Those who said it is prohibited and those who said it is not. Those who said it is prohibited are the minority, those against its prohibition are in the vast majority. Finally and Ultimately, Prophet Muhammed has stated it all. All actions are judged according to intention. If the intention of exchanging hand shake is to enjoy the feeling of the hand of an opposite sex with desire, it is forbidden. If such hand shake could lead to further sexual feeling, its prohibited. But if it is all about duty and function as a leader. It is not prohibited. Therefore, as president, Buhari is free to shake hands with opposite sex in the course of his duty. QED
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