The Ruling on Bending When Greeting
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: I see some of the visitors who greet one another by bending slightly toward each other, and this may be a custom among them. Is this included in shirk (associating partners with Allah) or not?
Answer:
Yes, it is not permissible to bend, because this is ruku' (bowing). Ruku' is not permissible except for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Exaggerating this bending is a type of ruku', and this is not permissible except for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about, if you meet your brother, shake his hand without bending. As for bending, it is exalting the created being by bowing to him, and this is not permissible. It falls under shirk because it is a form of exaltation that falls under worship, because ruku' is worship and is not permissible except for Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
He says: I see some of the visitors who greet one another by bending slightly toward each other, and this may be a custom among them. Is this included in shirk (associating partners with Allah) or not?
Answer:
Yes, it is not permissible to bend, because this is ruku' (bowing). Ruku' is not permissible except for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Exaggerating this bending is a type of ruku', and this is not permissible except for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about
A man meets his brother; does he bend to him? He said: No. It was said: Does he shake his hand? He said: Yes.
الرجل يلقى أخاه أينحني له؟ قال لا، قيل يصافحه؟ قال نعم،
Source
لقاء مفتوح [الزلفي] — alfawzan.live (28:48)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.