The ruling on shaking hands with a non-mahram woman for the purpose of da'wah
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The questioner:
May Allah keep you safe. Peace be upon you. Shaykh, may Allah reward you. One of the lecturers, some time ago, or some of the brothers at one of the airports, was exposed to a situation where a young woman approached them and offered them some gifts. He says that we found ourselves in a situation where she started shaking hands with some of the brothers.
Another questioner:
A girl approached them and offered them some gifts. He says: We were presented with a situation where she began shaking hands with some of the brothers.
The Shaykh:
So one of them refused her hand. It seems that the lecturer, may Allah guide him, objected to this stance, saying that this is not a da'wah method. He said that it would be better to shake hands to attract the young woman to Islam. What is your opinion, Honorable Shaykh?
Another questioner:
This is a mistake. The lecturer’s statement is a mistake. It is not permissible to shake hands with a woman, especially if she is attractive and young. Da'wah is not done by committing what is forbidden. Da'wah is not done by committing what is prohibited. A man shaking hands with a non-mahram woman who is not lawful for him is haram (forbidden), and he should not shake her hand. And should he refrain from shaking her hand?
The Shaykh:
This is the correct path. Da'wah is not done by committing a sin through shaking hands. So what he said, that shaking hands is permissible for the sake of da'wah, is a mistake. Da'wah is not done through disobedience. Rather, it is done through lawful means: encouraging, warning, clarifying the truth, and arguing in the best manner. Yes.
This is the correct position: the call to Islam must not be carried out through a forbidden act like shaking hands. This is what he said: that shaking hands is not permissible for the sake of the call. It is a mistake to think the call is done through sin. Rather, it is done through lawful means: encouraging, warning, clarifying the truth, and arguing in the best manner. Yes.
May Allah keep you safe. Peace be upon you. Shaykh, may Allah reward you. One of the lecturers, some time ago, or some of the brothers at one of the airports, was exposed to a situation where a young woman approached them and offered them some gifts. He says that we found ourselves in a situation where she started shaking hands with some of the brothers.
Another questioner:
A girl approached them and offered them some gifts. He says: We were presented with a situation where she began shaking hands with some of the brothers.
The Shaykh:
So one of them refused her hand. It seems that the lecturer, may Allah guide him, objected to this stance, saying that this is not a da'wah method. He said that it would be better to shake hands to attract the young woman to Islam. What is your opinion, Honorable Shaykh?
Another questioner:
This is a mistake. The lecturer’s statement is a mistake. It is not permissible to shake hands with a woman, especially if she is attractive and young. Da'wah is not done by committing what is forbidden. Da'wah is not done by committing what is prohibited. A man shaking hands with a non-mahram woman who is not lawful for him is haram (forbidden), and he should not shake her hand. And should he refrain from shaking her hand?
The Shaykh:
This is the correct path. Da'wah is not done by committing a sin through shaking hands. So what he said, that shaking hands is permissible for the sake of da'wah, is a mistake. Da'wah is not done through disobedience. Rather, it is done through lawful means: encouraging, warning, clarifying the truth, and arguing in the best manner. Yes.
This is the correct position: the call to Islam must not be carried out through a forbidden act like shaking hands. This is what he said: that shaking hands is not permissible for the sake of the call. It is a mistake to think the call is done through sin. Rather, it is done through lawful means: encouraging, warning, clarifying the truth, and arguing in the best manner. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-37-قضايا فقهية - 01|صالح الفوزان|العام|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (46:54)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.