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What is the ruling on men kissing each other on the face, and what is the Sunnah regarding that?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A man kissing his brother's face is disliked (makrooh) except for someone returning from a journey or similar situation. It is disliked for anyone other than a child or someone returning from a journey. The evidence for its disliked nature is what was narrated from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade bowing and kissing when meeting a brother, but permitted shaking hands. As for the permissibility of kissing for someone returning from a journey, the evidence for it is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) stood up for Zayd ibn Harithah, embraced him, and kissed him upon his arrival. The ruling of disliked nature or permissibility applies when there is no lust. If the kissing is for lust, then it is absolutely forbidden. The Sunnah when a Muslim meets his brother is to shake hands.

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

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