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Is it permissible to continuously kiss and embrace a female manager at work if one's feelings towards her are like those towards a mother?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The jurists differed on the ruling concerning embracing and kissing among people of the same gender: The Hanafis and Malikis held it to be disliked (makrooh) absolutely. As for the Shafi'is, they deemed it a sunnah for someone returning from a journey or after a long absence, and disliked it otherwise. The Hanbalis held it to be permissible absolutely if it was an act of honor and respect for religious people. However, the most preponderant opinion is the dislike of embracing except for someone returning from a journey, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Do not embrace, but rather shake hands," and specifying this for the situation of returning from a journey.

As for a man embracing his unmarriageable kin (mahārim), it has its own specific rulings. However, a man embracing a non-mahram woman or one for whom desire is felt is Haram by consensus. It is recommended to resist such feelings to avoid falling into forbidden acts.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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