A note from the Shaykh on proper conduct with scholars.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : As for what follows:
Before we begin discussing what we wish to speak about regarding our Imam’s recitation in the Tarawih prayers of Ramadan, I would like to thank my brothers who offer their greetings and attempt to kiss my head, but they come to us from behind and choke the neck. If Allah were not holding it back, something would have happened. The truth is that this is bad manners, not respect or honor for me, but rather bad manners in the final sense. A person who wants to honor someone comes to him calmly and from the front, and greets him without coming with violence and excessive boldness. First: because your Muslim brother has a right over you that you honor and respect him. Second: you are in the Sacred Mosque in the Sacred Land in a month that is among the best of months, so how can you be aggressive toward your Muslim brother? You come to him as if he is the lowest thing to you, then you take his head from behind and claim that you want to honor him. This is humiliation. If you want to honor me, may Allah reward you with good, then a handshake is sufficient, and what is in the heart is above all of that and is sufficient for everything. A handshake, "As-salamu alaykum," "How are you?" and then he leaves.
As for this thing that is not befitting, neither for your Muslim brother, nor for the place, nor for the time, I think that a Muslim should consider himself above such a shameful behavior. This is what I told you, and I hope that it will have an impact on you and that you will be content with a handshake. If the kissing were done calmly, and a person held his brother’s hand and shook it so that their sins would be scattered, and then he kissed his head out of respect and reverence in a befitting manner, the matter would be easy. But it is the opposite. This is a note that concerns me specifically.
Before we begin discussing what we wish to speak about regarding our Imam’s recitation in the Tarawih prayers of Ramadan, I would like to thank my brothers who offer their greetings and attempt to kiss my head, but they come to us from behind and choke the neck. If Allah were not holding it back, something would have happened. The truth is that this is bad manners, not respect or honor for me, but rather bad manners in the final sense. A person who wants to honor someone comes to him calmly and from the front, and greets him without coming with violence and excessive boldness. First: because your Muslim brother has a right over you that you honor and respect him. Second: you are in the Sacred Mosque in the Sacred Land in a month that is among the best of months, so how can you be aggressive toward your Muslim brother? You come to him as if he is the lowest thing to you, then you take his head from behind and claim that you want to honor him. This is humiliation. If you want to honor me, may Allah reward you with good, then a handshake is sufficient, and what is in the heart is above all of that and is sufficient for everything. A handshake, "As-salamu alaykum," "How are you?" and then he leaves.
As for this thing that is not befitting, neither for your Muslim brother, nor for the place, nor for the time, I think that a Muslim should consider himself above such a shameful behavior. This is what I told you, and I hope that it will have an impact on you and that you will be content with a handshake. If the kissing were done calmly, and a person held his brother’s hand and shook it so that their sins would be scattered, and then he kissed his head out of respect and reverence in a befitting manner, the matter would be easy. But it is the opposite. This is a note that concerns me specifically.