Is it permissible to shake hands with the wife's maternal grandmother (her mother's mother) or paternal grandmother (her father's mother), the wife's paternal aunt, her paternal uncle's wife, and her maternal uncle's elderly wife?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The wife's grandmother is a to her daughter's husband, so it is permissible for him to shake her hand, whether she is the paternal grandmother or the maternal grandmother, due to Allah's saying: "And your wives' mothers" (An-Nisa: 23). This includes every female who gave birth to the woman. As for the wife's paternal aunt and the wife's paternal uncle's wife, it is not permissible to shake their hands because they are ajnabiyyat (non-mahram). As for the elderly maternal uncle's wife, shaking her hand is a matter of dispute among scholars, and the safer course is not to shake hands.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/101718
Where this answer came from
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 101718
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy