Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamalaikum,
Kindly let us know about greeting and shaking hand with one hand(right hand) is Sunnah or not. 

 

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Answer:

 

Greeting and shaking hands sunnah

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

Ref: Greeting one another

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 86:

86      When a (courteous) greeting is offered you meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or (at least) of equal courtesy.  Allah takes careful account of all things.

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.27 Narrated by Abdullah bin Amr

A person asked Allah's Messenger (saws) "What (sort of) deeds in or (what qualities of) Islam are good?"  He (saws) replied, "To feed (the poor), and greet (with Salaam) those whom you know and those whom you don't know."

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 849         Narrated by Abu Yusuf Abdullah ibn Salam

Abdullah heard the Prophet (saws) say: ‘O people!  Spread the Salaams (greetings), feed (the poor and needy), behave kindly to your blood relations, offer prayer when others are asleep, and (thus) enter Paradise in peace.

 

Ref: Shaking the hands of one another

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 888         Narrated by Anas ibn Malik

A man asked the Prophet (saws): ‘O Messenger of Allah (saws)! When any one of us meets a Muslim brother or a friend, should he then bow his head (as a sign of courtesy to him)?’  He (saws) said: ‘No.’ The man said: ‘Should he embrace and kiss him?’  He (saws) said: ‘No.’  The man then asked: ‘Should he clasp his hands?’  He (saws) said: ‘Yes.’

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4679        Narrated by Al-Bara' ibn Azib

The Prophet (saws) said: "Two Muslims will not meet and shake hands without having their sins forgiven them before they separate.

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.279         Narrated by Qatada

I asked Anas bin Maalik (who served the Prophet (saws) in his (saws) house for ten years), "Was it a custom of the companions of the Prophet (saws) to shake hands with one another?"  He said, "Yes."

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4681        Narrated by Abu Umamah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "The perfect way for one of you to visit an invalid is for you to put your hand on his forehead or on his hand and ask him how he is; and the perfect way for you to greet one another is to shake hands."

 

Greeting one another with ‘Salaams’ and supplications, and the shaking of hands when greeting, regardless if one uses only the right hand or one wishes to clasp both hands, is indeed from amongst the preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

 

 

Burhan