# Is it haram for men and women to shake hands?

*Is shaking hands with the opposite sex haram? The conventional view and the iron-rod hadith*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/h8sxk-2-w-4/s/1/
- Date: 2018-05-04 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Hadith Analysis: Why men and women CAN shake hands -Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–2:36)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8SXk-2-W-4&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/h8sxk-2-w-4/

**Topics:** Interaction between men and women; Authenticating hadith

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Nothing in the Quran or Sunnah explicitly says shaking hands with the opposite sex is haram; that is a popular convention, not an established ruling. The iron-rod hadith is not authentic as claimed, and many scholars read its 'touch' as a euphemism for sex.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that nothing in the Quran or Sunnah explicitly and clearly proves that shaking hands with the opposite gender is haram, and that the report preferring an iron rod in the head to touching a woman is not authentic as people would like and was understood by many ulama as a euphemism for sex.

**Evidence, his words at 1:57:** “first of all these narrations are not authentic the way people would like them to be they're not” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8SXk-2-W-4&t=117s)

## Longer summary

Returning to the ruling on shaking hands, prompted by the case of a woman whose refusal to shake hands set off a controversy, Mufti Abu Layth distinguishes the conventional understanding, which he declines to call traditional since he does not believe it necessarily comes from the Prophet, from an analytical view. The conventional, popular view of most scholars and Muslims is that shaking hands between the genders is haram; the analytical view asks where Islam says so and finds that nothing in the Quran or Sunnah explicitly and clearly proves it. He then takes the hadith people cite, that one would rather have an iron rod placed in one's head than touch (massa) a woman, with its varying narrations. He says these narrations are not authentic the way people would like them to be, and that even if accepted, many ulama understood 'touch' as a euphemism for sex.

## Sources and names cited

- report: it is better for an iron rod to be driven into your head than to touch a woman not permitted to you
- the case of a woman refused French citizenship over her refusal to shake hands (2018)
- haram

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–2:36)

[0:00] okay now coming back to this ruling now of shaking hands because what's happened is this woman I've forgotten their name but she should refuse to shake hands and that that's what triggered this whole incident so what is the ruling about shaking hands with the opposite genders now I want to say first of all there is a conventional understanding what I mean by conventional and I'm not saying traditional because I don't believe it's necessarily from the trooper I'll say it's convention as it it's the popular mainstream understanding of the general scholars and Muslims is that shaking

[0:39] hands people feel is haram between the genders then you have an analytical view now the analytical view has taken a look at this and said well why is where does it say in Islam that shaking hands with the opposite gender is haram and it's really interesting that upon inspection you find that there are actually no Hadi or nothing in the Parana Sunnah that actually explicitly and clearly so it's sorry and so here proves that or

[1:18] demonstrates that it's Haram to shake hands with the opposite gender so so you think well wait a minute wait a minute so whereas all of this kind of come from if if that's the case so there's a few things here to look at now that is that one people use this hadith that the Prophet said oh that rather than you should touch a woman and tomasa that you touch mess is the word mean seen in

[1:57] Arabic to touch and the word lumps can be used as touch as well but must that if you touch a woman you'd rather that there was a metal rod placed in your hand or in head and there's varying narrations now first of all these narrations are not authentic the way people would like them to be they're not but regardless even if you accept them as authentic many Oh Lama understood here this to mean this to mean this was a euphemism for sex

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment H8SXk-2-W-4/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/h8sxk-2-w-4/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.