A Question About Shaking Hands.

A sister asked: is it lawful to shake the hands of men that are not a Mahram knowing that traditionally there, men stand up for women out of respect and shake their hand ?



It is not lawful for a woman to shake the hand of a man that is not a Mahram to her and it is not lawful for a man to shake the hand of a woman who is not a Mahram to him because touching the skin of a woman that is not a Mahram is Haram, it is like gazing or worse in terms of Fitna, but if the woman is from his acquaintance and he shaked her hand through an object that blocks skin contact, there is no harm in that, but if they fear the Fitna, he should not do so even with a blocking object and to resume this: a man shaking the hand of women that are a Mahram to him is lawful and shaking the hand of women who are not a Mahram even if they are an acquaintance is Haram except through a blocking object with making sure that no Fitna could arise from that.

Translation of the answer of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen.