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Does the Hadith: «For one of you to be stabbed in the head with an iron needle is better for him than to touch a woman who is not lawful for him» apply to women, and what is the ruling on their shaking hands with men if it does not apply?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Prophetic Hadeeth: "For one of you to be stabbed in the head with an iron needle is better for him than to touch a woman he is not permitted to touch," indicates the prohibition of a man shaking hands with a non-mahram woman and vice-versa, and this ruling is not exclusive to men. This generalization is affirmed by the hadeeth: "Every son of Adam will inevitably have his share of zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), for the eye's zina is looking, and the hand's zina is touching..." Thus, a Muslim does not compromise in his religion and does not shake hands with a non-mahram woman under the pretext of avoiding embarrassment. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever seeks Allah's pleasure despite people's displeasure, Allah will suffice him against people's burden. And whoever seeks people's pleasure despite Allah's displeasure, Allah will entrust him to people."

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

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