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Muṣāfaḥa (Arabic: مصافحة) means handshaking. It is a social etiquette and a recommended act performed when people meet. Some Muslims shake hands after finishing the congregational prayer, although there is a difference of opinion regarding its specific recommendation (istiḥbāb) at that time. According to hadiths, shaking hands strengthens bonds of friendship, removes rancor, attracts Divine Mercy, and causes sins to fall away. Squeezing the hand and prolonging the handshake are considered parts of its etiquette. According to Islamic jurisprudence, shaking hands with a Non-Mahram is haram.

Concept and Status

Musafaha means "shaking hands out of friendship and sincerity."[1] Some researchers emphasize that in Musafaha, the palms of both hands must touch, and merely the contact of fingers is not called Musafaha.[2]

Handshaking is one of the Islamic traditions (Sunna)[3] and recommended acts[4] emphasized in hadiths.[5] Shaking hands among believers is considered superior to shaking hands with angels.[6] It is said to carry a thousand rewards (ḥasana),[7] and numerous individual and social effects have been mentioned for it.[8]

Time of Handshaking

In hadiths, handshaking is emphasized at the time of meeting one another, alongside giving Salam (greeting).[9] Shi'a[10] and Sunni[11] Muslims shake hands with each other after finishing the Congregational prayer. However, there is a difference of opinion regarding the specific recommendation of this act after prayer.

Some believe this practice is derived from the general recommendation of shaking hands with believing brothers at any time and place, as well as a hadith stating that in Mi'raj, Ibrahim (a) shook hands with the Prophet Muhammad (s) after the congregational prayer.[12][13]

Muhammad Fadil Lankarani and Nasir Makarim Shirazi, two Shi'a Marja', believe that establishing its recommendation based on the Mi'raj hadith is difficult. However, if it is done with the intention of rajaʾ (hope for reward) and gaining reward, it is not considered innovation and there is no objection to it.[14] Some others believe this act is futile, and considering the emphasis of hadiths on performing Ta'qibat (post-prayer supplications), it is better for the worshiper to refrain from it and engage in Ta'qibat instead.[15]

History

According to hadiths, handshaking has its roots in the practice of angels.[16] Handshaking is not exclusive to Muslims; the vast majority of people around the world shake hands when meeting face-to-face and before beginning a friendly conversation.[17]

The reason for this claim is the discovery of a stone relief dating back to the 9th century BC, which depicts the Assyrian king shaking hands with a Babylonian.[18]

Effects and Etiquette

Whenever you meet your brothers, shake hands with one another and show joy and cheerfulness. When you separate, whatever sins you had will have vanished.

— Imam Ali (a), [19]

According to hadiths, strengthening bonds of friendship,[20] removing rancor,[21] attracting Divine Mercy,[22] and the shedding of sins[23] are among the effects of Musafaha.

Hadiths have mentioned certain etiquette for handshaking, the most important of which are: squeezing the hand[24]—provided it does not cause pain or annoyance[25]—tashbik (opening the fingers),[26] continuity and repetition,[27] and prolonging the handshake.[28]

Rulings

Rulings regarding Musafaha have been stated in jurisprudential texts,[29] including:* It is Haram to shake hands with a Non-Mahram.[30]

  • There is no difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim regarding the prohibition of shaking hands with a non-Mahram.[31]
  • It is permissible to shake hands with a non-Mahram from over a cloth (barrier);[32] although Nasir Makarim Shirazi considers it better to avoid it except in cases of necessity.[33]
  • If refusing to shake hands is considered an insult, it does not justify abandoning a Wajib (obligatory act) or committing a Haram act.[34]

Notes

  1. ↑ Dihkhudā, Lughat-nāma, under the word Musafaha.
  2. ↑ Maḥmūd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Muʿjam al-muṣṭalaḥāt wa l-alfāẓ al-fiqhiyya, 1419/1998-9, vol. 3, p. 296.
  3. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, al-Fiqh: al-silm wa l-salām, 1426/2005, p. 351.
  4. ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ, 1414/1993-4, vol. 9, p. 24.
  5. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, pp. 179-183.
  6. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, p. 183.
  7. ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1409/1988-9, vol. 12, p. 223.
  8. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Khiṣāl, 1362Sh/1983, vol. 1, p. 22; Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, pp. 179, 183; Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1409/1988-9, vol. 12, p. 224.
  9. ↑ See: Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1409/1988-9, vol. 12, pp. 218-223.
  10. ↑ Fāḍil Lankarānī, Jāmiʿ al-masāʾil, 1425/2004-5, p. 97; Makārim Shīrāzī, al-Fatāwā al-jadīda, 1427/2006, vol. 1, p. 78.
  11. ↑ Ḥukm al-muṣāfaḥa bayn al-muṣallīn baʿd al-ṣalāt, Dār al-Iftāʾ al-Miṣriyya; Ḥukm al-muṣāfaḥa baʿd al-ṣalāt, Mawqiʿ al-Shaykh Ibn Bāz.
  12. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403/1983, vol. 18, p. 318.
  13. ↑ Dast dādan baʿd az namāz-i jamāʿat, Porseman Site.
  14. ↑ Fāḍil Lankarānī, Jāmiʿ al-masāʾil, 1425/2004-5, p. 97; Makārim Shīrāzī, al-Fatāwā al-jadīda, 1427/2006, vol. 1, p. 78.
  15. ↑ Baʿd az namāz-hā; taʿqībāt yā dast dādan bā dīgarān, Tebyan Site.
  16. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, p. 181.
  17. ↑ Dalīl-i tārīkhī-yi muhimmī ki dast dādan rā bi yak rasm-i jahānī tabdīl kard, Hamshahri Online.
  18. ↑ Dalīl-i tārīkhī-yi muhimmī ki dast dādan rā bi yak rasm-i jahānī tabdīl kard, Hamshahri Online.
  19. ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1409/1988-9, vol. 12, p. 225.
  20. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, p. 179.
  21. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, p. 183; Ibn Abī Jumhūr, ʿAwālī al-laʾālī, 1405/1984-5, vol. 1, p. 294.
  22. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Wāfī, 1406/1985-6, vol. 5, p. 609.
  23. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Khiṣāl, 1362Sh/1983, vol. 1, p. 22; Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1409/1988-9, vol. 12, p. 224.
  24. ↑ Nūrī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil, 1408/1987-8, vol. 9, p. 64.
  25. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403/1983, vol. 73, p. 26.
  26. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403/1983, vol. 73, p. 26.
  27. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, p. 179.
  28. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403/1983, vol. 73, pp. 28, 30.
  29. ↑ See: Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, 1427/2006, vol. 1, pp. 349-350.
  30. ↑ See: Fāḍil Lankarānī, Jāmiʿ al-masāʾil, 1425/2004-5, p. 439; Sīstānī, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, 1417/1996-7, vol. 3, p. 12; Makārim Shīrāzī, Kitāb al-nikāḥ, 1424/2003-4, vol. 1, p. 43.
  31. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, 1427/2006, vol. 1, p. 349; Ḥukm-i dast dādan bā zanān-i ghayr-i musulmān chīst?, Islam Quest.
  32. ↑ See: Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, n.d., vol. 2, p. 243; Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Hidāyat al-ʿibād, 1416/1995-6, vol. 2, p. 398; Dast dādan, Official website of Ayatollah Sistani.
  33. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, 1427/2006, vol. 1, p. 233.
  34. ↑ See: Fāḍil Lankarānī, Jāmiʿ al-masāʾil, 1425/2004-5, pp. 439-440; Makārim Shīrāzī, al-Fatāwā al-jadīda, 1427/2006, vol. 1, p. 216; Ḥukm-i dast dādan bā nā-maḥram agar mumāniʿat az īn kār tawhīn talaqqī shavad, Mehr News Agency.

References

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