Kissing on the Cheeks

Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:

A man said: "O Messenger of Allaah, when one of us meets his brother or his friend, should he bow to him?" He said: "No." He said: "Should he embrace him and kiss him?" He said: "No." He said: "Should he take his hand and shake hands with him?" He said: Yes. 

[This hadeeth was classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan al-Tirmidhi]

Also, Shaykh al-Albani addressed this issue, after mentioning the hadeeth above:

"In fact the hadeeth clearly states that kissing when meeting is not prescribed in Islam. That does not include kissing one's children or wife, as is obvious.

With regard to the ahaadeeth which state that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) kissed some of his companions on various occasions “such as when he kissed and embraced Zayd ibn Haarithah when he came to Madeenah, and when he embraced Abuâl-Haytham ibn al-Tayhaan, etc “ the following points may be noted in response to that:

1.“ These are unsound ahaadeeth which cannot be taken as evidence.

2.“ Even if any of them were saheeh, it is not permissible to use them against this saheeh hadeeth, because it is an action on the part of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which may be interpreted as applying to a specific case or there may be some specific reason for that which makes this hadeeth unfit to be used as evidence, unlike this hadeeth(one narrated by Anas, radiya Allahu anhu) which is a verbal hadeeth that is addressed in general terms to the ummah as a whole, so it is strong evidence which cannot be rejected. 

3. It is established in the field of usool that words take precedence over deeds in the event of a conflict, and the hadeeth which indicates a prohibition takes precedence over another which indicates permissibility. 

4. This hadeeth is verbal and indicates a prohibition, so it takes precedence over the other ahaadeeth mentioned even if they are saheeh.

Similarly, with regard to hugging and embracing, we say that it is not prescribed because the hadeeth forbids it, but Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: When the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) met, they would shake hands, and if they had come from a journey they would embrace Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Awsat, and its men are the men of saheeh, as stated by al-Mundhiri (3/270), and al-Bayhaqi, 8/36

Al-Bayhaqi (7/100) narrated with a saheeh isnaad from al-Sha’bi that when the companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) met, they would shake hands, and when they came from a journey they would embrace one another.

Al-Bukhaari narrated in al-Adab al-Mufrad (970), and Ahmad narrated (3/495) that Jaabir ibn 'Abd-Allaah said: I heard  that a man knew a hadeeth and had heard it from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). I bought a camel, loaded my luggage onto it, and traveled for a month until I came to Syria, where I found 'Abd-Allaah ibn Unays. I said to the doorkeeper: Tell him: Jaabir is at the door. He said: Ibn 'Abd-Allaah? I said: Yes. He came out tripping on his garment and he embraced me and I embraced him¦ Its isnaad is hasan as stated by al-Haafiz, 1/195. al-Bukhaari narrated it among the muâ'aalaq reports.

So it may be said that embracing in the case of a journey is exempted from the prohibition, because the Sahaabah did that."

[Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth al-Saheehah (1/74, hadeeth no. 160)]

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