What is the ruling on kissing the head of the scholar?
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The questioner : But we have seen this when we see them kissing your head. We see that you do not speak, but we see from your face that you disapprove of this.
The Shaykh : Yes, because this is not like that. There is no authentic hadith regarding this, and especially since this kissing causes annoyance to the one being kissed. In truth, when it is in a crowd and this phenomenon started in the mosque of Abu Malik, but if we go to Saudi Arabia, I can barely walk; you find one here and one there and one there, my brothers. By Allah, this is a violation of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). There is no doubt about this at all. The master of the people is the one whom people should rush to and kiss, yet this kissing was not something that occurred. Then, may Allah have mercy on Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, who is a memorizer among the memorizers of Andalusia. The East is the source of knowledge, and the West came later, so there are few memorizers among them. This is one of those few who said that kissing the hand is the lesser prostration, specifically when it is accompanied by some bending. Then he said, or someone else did, I no longer remember now, that kissing the hand is a humiliation for the follower and a trial for the one followed. So this kissing that I see in Saudi Arabia, especially, and then the infection spread to the Saudis in general, this is a trial for this one who is kissed. It is a trial because he is not a human being who is a protected prophet; rather, he is a human being. So when people are here and there and here and there, may Allah preserve us and keep us firm with the firm word. This is a trial, and therefore we dislike these things. But I distinguish where the Shari'ah distinguishes. If kissing the hand had not come in some authentic hadiths and authentic reports, I would not have said anything about it at all. But this Saudi kissing has no basis; it has no authentic basis in the Sunnah. Therefore, I distinguish between what is established and what is not established.
The Shaykh : Yes, because this is not like that. There is no authentic hadith regarding this, and especially since this kissing causes annoyance to the one being kissed. In truth, when it is in a crowd and this phenomenon started in the mosque of Abu Malik, but if we go to Saudi Arabia, I can barely walk; you find one here and one there and one there, my brothers. By Allah, this is a violation of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). There is no doubt about this at all. The master of the people is the one whom people should rush to and kiss, yet this kissing was not something that occurred. Then, may Allah have mercy on Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, who is a memorizer among the memorizers of Andalusia. The East is the source of knowledge, and the West came later, so there are few memorizers among them. This is one of those few who said that kissing the hand is the lesser prostration, specifically when it is accompanied by some bending. Then he said, or someone else did, I no longer remember now, that kissing the hand is a humiliation for the follower and a trial for the one followed. So this kissing that I see in Saudi Arabia, especially, and then the infection spread to the Saudis in general, this is a trial for this one who is kissed. It is a trial because he is not a human being who is a protected prophet; rather, he is a human being. So when people are here and there and here and there, may Allah preserve us and keep us firm with the firm word. This is a trial, and therefore we dislike these things. But I distinguish where the Shari'ah distinguishes. If kissing the hand had not come in some authentic hadiths and authentic reports, I would not have said anything about it at all. But this Saudi kissing has no basis; it has no authentic basis in the Sunnah. Therefore, I distinguish between what is established and what is not established.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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