HANDSHAKE WITH WOMEN

Q: The hadith of Anas in al-Bukhari, that the slave-women of Madina would take the Prophet (saws) by the hand to ask whatever need they had. Can the meaning of this be  that even  the lowest and least educated level of society had complete free access to him (SAWS) and that there was not one iota of haughtiness in him, hence al-Bukhari placed this report in the chapter on kibr in the book of adab in his Sahih. Could this act as prooftext for the leeway of at the very least a passive handshake for the da‘i in the West if not more?

A: The Ulama have understood the word, ‘take by the hand’ in this tradition to mean that, ‘Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) used to obey the request of that slave woman totally’, i.e. the literal meaning is not intended. This is the understanding of Haafiz ibn Hajar (RA) (Fathul Baari vol.10 pg.602), Allaamah al-Ainiy (Umdatul Qaari vol.22 pg.141) and Allaamah al-Qastalaaniy (Irshaadus saariy vol.13 pg.91)

In fact, Sayyyidatuna Aaisha (Radhiallaahu Anha) used to take an oath and say that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) never touched the hand of any woman. (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith5288 and Sunan ibn Maajah Hadith2875). This is also reported by Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Amr bin al-Aas (Musnad Ahmad vol.2 pg.213 Hadith6998)

However, even if it is accepted, this could not be used as proof because Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) is considered to be the father of his Ummat and his wives, their mothers. Allah Ta’ala says in the noble Qur’aan, ‘The prophet is more rightful over the believers and his wives are their mothers.’ (Surah al-Ahzaab Aayat6). Hence, an analogy in this case of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) on anyone else is incorrect.

and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best