A Summary of the Ruling on Kissing the Hand of a Scholar or Shaykh
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The Shaykh : A Summary of the Ruling: It is incumbent upon the people of knowledge and students of knowledge not to focus on kissing the hand, but rather on shaking hands. They should consider the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as their masters, and how vast is the difference between them and us. They should consider the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as their shaykh, and how vast is the difference between him and us. What did they do with him?!
So let them do with their shaykh what they did, and not go beyond that. What did they do?!
You know that they used to shake his hand and did not kiss his hand. The narrations we referred to earlier do not state that any of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who knew his character and were impressed by his humility, kissed the hand of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It is possible that the one who kissed his hand was a Bedouin who came from the desert, heard of the greatness, virtue, and status of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and came longing for him, so he kissed his hand. It is obvious that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not turn him away in such a situation. Rather, his policy (peace and blessings be upon him) was further from such rejection, and it was pure wisdom in some of what came from his Companions (peace and blessings be upon him) that he himself did not like to be done to him, but he knew at the same time that what they were doing with him was driven by their intense love for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, he approved of it for a period of time, then turned them away from it with wisdom and good exhortation. I mean: many hadiths have come that the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek blessing from some of his traces, even from some of his leftovers, and more clearly, from his wudu (ablution), especially in the story of al-Hudaybiyyah, which is not hidden, if Allah wills, from a student of knowledge. When the messenger of the polytheists, whose name was Suhayl ibn 'Amr, came as a messenger from the polytheists to hear from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) what he wanted, his eyes fell upon a phenomenon he had not seen the like of in other nations with their kings and rulers. He saw the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rushing and competing to seek blessing from the wudu (ablution) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the water he used for ablution, and even from the remnants of his nose and his spittle. This was a strong cause and reason for this Suhayl to return to his people to advise them not to fight Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), because he had seen Kisra and Caesar and their followers, and he did not see any of them honoring their kings as he saw the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) honoring Muhammad. So you have no way to fight these people. This story happened and contained profound wisdom, as indicated by the statement and advice of Suhayl to the disbelievers of Quraysh.
So let them do with their shaykh what they did, and not go beyond that. What did they do?!
You know that they used to shake his hand and did not kiss his hand. The narrations we referred to earlier do not state that any of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who knew his character and were impressed by his humility, kissed the hand of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It is possible that the one who kissed his hand was a Bedouin who came from the desert, heard of the greatness, virtue, and status of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and came longing for him, so he kissed his hand. It is obvious that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not turn him away in such a situation. Rather, his policy (peace and blessings be upon him) was further from such rejection, and it was pure wisdom in some of what came from his Companions (peace and blessings be upon him) that he himself did not like to be done to him, but he knew at the same time that what they were doing with him was driven by their intense love for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, he approved of it for a period of time, then turned them away from it with wisdom and good exhortation. I mean: many hadiths have come that the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek blessing from some of his traces, even from some of his leftovers, and more clearly, from his wudu (ablution), especially in the story of al-Hudaybiyyah, which is not hidden, if Allah wills, from a student of knowledge. When the messenger of the polytheists, whose name was Suhayl ibn 'Amr, came as a messenger from the polytheists to hear from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) what he wanted, his eyes fell upon a phenomenon he had not seen the like of in other nations with their kings and rulers. He saw the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rushing and competing to seek blessing from the wudu (ablution) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the water he used for ablution, and even from the remnants of his nose and his spittle. This was a strong cause and reason for this Suhayl to return to his people to advise them not to fight Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), because he had seen Kisra and Caesar and their followers, and he did not see any of them honoring their kings as he saw the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) honoring Muhammad. So you have no way to fight these people. This story happened and contained profound wisdom, as indicated by the statement and advice of Suhayl to the disbelievers of Quraysh.