3In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

AYAHS AND HADITHS REGARDING THE KISSING OF HANDS

1- “‘Ulul ‘irbati minarrijal”. Elderly people are like the fathers, uncles, brothers etc. (Noor, 31). So their hands can be kissed.

The hands of elderly people are kissed because of their age, and the hands of the greatest scholars are kissed because of their knowledge.

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2.  Kissing the hand of the brother in religion is a form of musafaha (hand shaking) (kanz-al-Irfan, Hadith no: 932)

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3. A group of Jews kissed the hand and foot of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. (Sunan Ibn Maja, Vol. 9, Hadith no: 3705).

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4. There is no harm in kissing the hand of the scholar or the pious. (Durar)

Musannif narrated from Al-Jami that there is nothing wrong in kissing the hand of righteous sultan. Some even say that this is sunnah. (Mujtaba)

Kissing a scholar’s head is better than kissing his hand. Al-Bazzaziyya says so, too. [Ibn Abidin, (Raddal mukhtar), Vol. 15, p. 429]

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 5. It is makrooh for someone to kiss one’s hand in order to praise another person. (This happens in our time.) If a person kisses another person's hand, if this is because of his righteousness, knowledge or status, then it is not makrooh to do so. The same fatwa exists with the Samarkand scholars.

If a lay person kisses the hand of a sultan, even though this sultan is not fair, or if they kiss the hand of one who appears to be a scholar, but is not, then there is no harm. (Fatawayi Hindiyya, Vol. 12, p. 168)

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6. It is acceptable to kiss the hands of the greatest scholars because applying knowledge is a reflection of one of Allah’s attributes, Aleem (the Knowing); the state of having knowledge is only praised when it is performed.

There is no harm in kissing the face of a dead person who was pious for barakah. For instance, when the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,, passed away, Abu Bakr Siddiq, radi-Allahu anhu, kissed the middle of his eyes. (Bariqah, Vol. 5, p. 298-299)

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7. There are six types of kissing:

a- Kissing for love (kissing the cheek of children)

b- Kissing for compassion (i.e. kissing the heads (hands) of parents)

c- Kissing for affection (i.e. kissing the forehand of brothers)

d- Kissing a wife or concubine in lust on the mouth

e- Kissing for endowment from believers on the hand

f- Some state that sixth type of kissing is for religion. Kissing the Qur’an is something like that. (al-Kinya)

Some say that kissing the Qur’an is a bid’ah. According to a narration from Omar, radhiallahu anhu, he took the Qur’an every morning and kissed it, saying that this is a compilaton of the words of my Lord. Uthman, too, kissed it and rubbed his face over it. [Ibni Abidin (Radd-al Mukhtar), vol. 15, p. 430-431)]

“A believer is more virtuous than the Ka’ba.” (Ramuz-al-Hadith, hadith no: 4323; Ihya-al Ulum-ad-din, vol. 4, p. 275)

Allah did not say: “I am in the Ka’ba”. He said: “The heart of my servant can hold Me.”

“If you search Me, look in the vast hearts of my servants.”

“Neither My heavens nor My earth can hold Me, but the heart of my servant is a house for Me. (Mawahib-al-ladunniya, Vol. 1, p. 447; Muzakkin-Nufus, p. 43; Marifatnama, p. 574)

“I am the secret of human beings, my secret is within their secrecy.”

If the kissing of Hajar ul Aswad is acceptable, why would it not be acceptable to kiss a believer’s hand?

Iblis wore the cloth of curses because he did not obey Adam. Musa, alaihissalam, never defied any will of Allah. Yet, when Allah ordered him to obey Khidr, Musa opposed Khidr three times. This shows that obeying Allah is easy, yet obeying His servant is difficult. The head of a sincere believer is a sacred place. His heart is the Ka’ba and his hand is the Hajar ul Aswad.

Hadith Qudsi: “When I love one of my servants, I shall be his hearing with which he shall hear, his sight with which he shall see, his hands with which he shall hold, and his feet with which he shall walk. And if he asks (something) of Me, I shall surely give it to him” (Bukhari, Tajrid-e Sarih, Vol. 12, Hadith no: 2042; Ramuz-al-Hadith, hadith no: 4094; Ghunyat-at-taliben, p. 1048, 1057; Riyadh-as-Saleheen, p. 293, hadith no: 385; Bariqah, Vol. 1, p. 313). What is there left to say?

Our Prophet, , sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,, kissed the Hajar ul Aswad because it will intercede on the Day of Judgment. It is not appropriate to kiss every part or the windows of Our Prophet’s, , sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,, tomb, thinking that we are kissing his hand. The appropriate manner is to recite the Qur’an and pray. The tomb can be kissed tenderly and with good manners, once, when it is time to leave. When you receive a letter from a respected and well-known man, you may want to kiss it as you think that he has touched the letter. This resembles the same kind of respect.

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8- Abdullah Ibn Omar, radhiallahu anhu, narrated that he kissed the hand of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,. Abu Ya’la narrated this hadith. (Hayat-as-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 48)

In Jam-al Fawaid, it is narrated that Omar, radhiallahu anhu, kissed the hand of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. (Hayat-as-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 48).

When his repentance was accepted, Kab Ibn Malik, radhiallahu anhu, kissed the hand of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. (Hayat-as-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 48; Tabarani narrated, as well)

Ummu Aban says: My grandfather Amir’s son, Vazi, radhiallahu anhu, narrated:

“When we came to Medina, we raced to be the first to dismount and kiss the hand and foot of Allah's Prophet." (Hayat-as-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 48, Bukhari narrates this in his Adab al-mufrad.)

In addition to these, there are thirteen hand-kissing examples stated in Hayatu-as-Sahaba. (Hayat-as-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 48-49)

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It is acceptable to kiss the hand and forehand of a brother in Islam; it is makruh to kiss the mouth. (Ghunyat-at-taliben, p. 53)

When Fatimah, radhiallahu anha, came to see the Prophet, , sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,, (or the Prophet, , sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,, came to see Fatimah, radhiallahu anha) she would rise to her feet, take his hand, and kiss it. (Ghunyat-at-Talibeen, p. 53)

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10- Aisha, radhiallahu anha, narrated:

Zayd ibn Harithah came to Madina when Allah's Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, was in my house. Zayd came to the house and knocked at the door. Allah's Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,, got up and went to him naked, trailing his garment. He then embraced him and kissed him. I swear by Allah that neither before nor after that did I ever see him naked. (Hayat-as-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 46-47; Tirmidhi, Vol. 4, Hadith no: 2875)

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11- If there is a believer who loves Allah's Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, more than his daughter or son, then he should kiss his hand and foot. (Imad-al-Islam, p. 38)

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12- The companions of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, also kissed his hand. [Islam Tarihi (M. Asım Köksal), Vol. 1-2, p. 56; Narrated in Bukhari, Abu Dawud, Ibn Maja]

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13- A person came to Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and said:

- Show me a miracle that will increase my belief!

Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, asked the man to order a nearby tree to uproot itself and walk to him. The man said to the tree:

- Allah’s Prophet is calling you.

The tree, obeying the Prophet, greeted him, pulled up its roots and walked over to him. The Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, asked it to return to its place.

The narrator of this hadith said that Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, permitted the man to kiss his head and feet. Then, the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, said:

- Had it been permissible that a person prostrates before another, I would have ordered that a wife prostrate before her husband. (Ibn Abidin, vol. 15, p. 434, Narrated by Hakim)

To those who claim that Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, never allowed for his hands to be kissed:

If our Prophet had allowed everyone to kiss his hand, everybody, be they hypocrite or sinner, would have ask for their hands to be kissed. There are some scholars who claim that Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, never allowed for his hands to be kissed. Now, if the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, happened to come your house, what would you do? Would you salute him by pointing a finger at him? Would you just nod? Would you bend down, prostrating before him? Would you put your hand on your heart and stand, just like this? These are all bid’ah. When you meet him, will you make musafaha with him by saying “Assalamu Alaikum”? Will you place him on a chair and sit down next to him? Personally, I would prefer to kiss his hand if I could. If not, I would kiss the place where he stood. If I could not see him, I would kiss those who had seen him and rub their hands over my face. If you say that you can do the same, you are lying. Those who deny that Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, allowed for his hands to be kissed, will also oppose this. The companions of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, passed the water with which he had made wudu’ over their faces. (Nura Dogru, Vol. 4, p. 2287)

When Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, was born, the Ka’ba prostrated before him, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. (Siyar Nabi, Vol. 1, p. 250)

The Ka’ba, the earth, the heavens, the ’arsh, the qursi, all of creation has been created because of his blessing. (Mir’at-e-Qainat, Vol. 1, p. 414, 434; Irshad, Vol. 2, p. 446; Kara Dawud, “The Explanation of Delail-e Khairat” p. 334) Our Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, has almost 200 names. (Irshad, Vol. 1, p. 55) One of them is “Haqiqat-al Haqaiq” (The Truest of all Truths). Another name is “Abal Arwah” (the Father of all Souls). There is no creation other than Our Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, who rose to the Arsh A’la (Highest rank) and talked to Allah Almighty. His conversation consisted of ninety thousand questions and answers, each of which is equal to ninety thousand pages. This makes up 180 volumes each of which has 500 pages.

Even if your parents are infidels or sinful, you should kiss their hands. If you assume that the hand of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, cannot be kissed, how will you explain the manners of our time? Is this all non-Muslim manners? While you treat this as normal, you object to the manner of Muslims who kiss elderly people and great scholars. “What Muslims take as good is also good in the eyes of Allah.” (500 Hadith Book, Hadith no: 357, p. 294)