Continuation of the answer regarding the ruling on kissing the hands of one's parents.

The Shaykh : Let us return to the matter of kissing. This is about kissing the hand of the father. This topic reminds me of a brother of ours who passed away a few months ago—may Allah have mercy on him. He was an ordinary man, and he used to attend our old lessons with some of our old brothers. He was a man of wit and humor despite his lack of formal education. At that time, I was still practicing the trade of repairing watches in my shop, and his home was close to my shop. So on most days, he would come to me. Between one visit and another, he would bring me a person, entering with complete calm and a kind of humility that was somewhat affected, displaying a sort of meekness. He was good, you know. He would say, "Let me introduce you to so-and-so, so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, who is dutiful to his parents. Every morning when he wakes up, he kisses his mother's and father's hands, but he does not pray to Allah! So he is dutiful to his parents, but the Lord of the Worlds is angry with him!" [Everyone laughs!]
We observe in reality this phenomenon, where the father and mother, in particular, are satisfied by the son displaying this meekness, this submission, and this reverence toward his parents. As for commanding him to maintain prayer, to purify his soul, and so on, they are satisfied with each other through this hypocrisy, which I call social hypocrisy. The two parents are satisfied with the son's obedience, which costs him nothing other than what? "Kissing" this hand! And he is also satisfied with this obedience, especially since he may find someone who issues a fatwa that this is part of the humility and submission to parents that was commanded in the Noble Qur'an.
From such an example—and there are many, many examples—we increase in faith every day that the truth is as the Messenger—peace be upon him—used to say: . O people, if this matter does not enter your minds in the manner of arithmetic, which everyone shares in knowledge of, then believe, for it is better for you. Believe that the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. Believe that this standing that people have become accustomed to for the shaykhs and for non-shaykhs is not of Islam in any way, not of the religion in any way, and not of the recommended matters in any way. It is never a means of honoring and revering the Muslim. Believe that this kissing that people do today with the shaykhs, let alone with their fathers and mothers, is not of Islam in any way. So we must develop our lives and make them different every day, step by step, toward what life was like in the era of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—in the era of the best of generations, after which the earth will not find a time purer, better, and further from evil than that pure era.
This is a word regarding the answer to the previous question. Kissing the hands of the parents is not a worship in any way, and it is not included in the verse that he mentioned. Because if it were so, the quickest people to implement it would have been the Companions with their fathers and mothers. Especially since, as he mentioned in passing, this kissing is not a newly invented matter, so that we would say, "By Allah, they did not seize upon it." No, kissing is a known custom, an old and very old one. Kissing even reached stones. But some of it is Shari'ah, as you heard regarding the Black Stone, and some of it is not Shari'ah, such as kissing all stones, kissing the windows of the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous, their graves, and the like. All of this is what some scholars, even from the later ones, even those who are not known to be meticulous in the science of Sunnah and religious innovation, such as the shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali, explicitly state, where he mentions that kissing graves and touching them is the practice of the Jews and the Christians. So kissing is not something new... but it is something new in making it a religion, where one is praised for doing it and blamed for leaving it.
Here we must remind you of something, and then we will conclude this gathering to move to another gathering—Allah willing. We observe a father or a mother becoming angry because there is a righteous son who grew up, to some extent, in obedience to Allah. I say "to some extent" because, unfortunately, the times do not help today's youth to be like the youth of the Companions. Then he grew up, also to some extent, in the Sunnah. So he listens and learns, and he kisses, but he does not kiss his father's or mother's hand, so they become angry at him. We know from many fathers that they become angry when some sons leave something that is at least said to be: he did not disobey Allah and His Messenger. Yet they become angry. Meanwhile, there are other sons who do not pray, perhaps do not fast, yet the fathers are satisfied with them. Why? Because they are hypocritical toward them, they kiss the hand. Because this one who does not pray and does not fast does not care about kissing the hand, even if it were forbidden, as long as his father is satisfied with him and his mother is satisfied with him. So he will do this kissing. This difference is very apparent. So this one who does not pray and does not fast and falls short in obedience to Allah—Mighty and Majestic—in many matters, they do not stand against him at all. And this young man who is growing up in obedience to Allah, who should be encouraged to continue in this obedience and increase in it, the fathers and mothers become angry at him. Why? Because he has departed from the prevailing custom, which is kissing the hand morning and evening.
This is a reminder, and the reminder benefits the believers.