Back to search

Why are people not pleased with someone who refuses to shake hands with girls, in adherence to the Hadith: "Whoever pleases Allah at the expense of displeasing people, Allah will be pleased with him and will make people pleased with him"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban narrated a hadith stating that whoever seeks Allah's pleasure despite people's displeasure, Allah will spare him the burden of people and make people pleased with him. And whoever seeks people's pleasure despite Allah's displeasure, Allah will entrust him to them and make people displeased with him. Regarding people's displeasure, the answer can be summarized in points: First, one must first ascertain Allah's pleasure, as there might be other sins preventing Allah's pleasure and, consequently, people's pleasure. Second, if Allah is pleased, He will make people pleased with the righteous servant, as in His saying: "Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection," but this does not include all people, rather only the people of obedience and faith. Third, people might become pleased with you in the future, even those whom you displeased for the sake of obeying Allah, and this is generally the case with weak believers. Fourth, the term "people" does not necessarily mean everyone; it can refer to a group among them. So, it is not a condition for everyone to be pleased with you; the pleasure of the righteous is sufficient. Fifth, the pleasure of all people is an unattainable goal. Al-Shafi'i said: "The pleasure of people is an unattainable goal. So, adhere to what benefits you, for there is no way to their pleasure."

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy