Praise
be to Allah.
There is
nothing wrong with kissing mahrams, such as if a man kisses his mother or
sister or daughter, or kissing his paternal aunt or maternal aunt, if
there is no risk of temptation and provided that this kissing is by way of
compassion and affection, not by way of joking and fooling about, let
alone kissing with desire.
There is also
nothing wrong with a man kissing the little daughter of his brother or his
sister. But in the case of a young woman who is married, that is not
appropriate, unless she is elderly and there is no fear (of temptation) with
regard to kissing her. That is because the Shaytaan flows through the son of
Adam like blood, and there is the fear that kissing may provoke desire or
the Shaytaan may put thoughts in his mind that are not appropriate.
If the man is
young and his sister’s daughter is also young, then kissing and hugging her
is a reprehensible action; it is likely to provoke desire and lead to evil
consequences. Therefore you have done well to tell her not to do that, and
she is obliged to obey you and to not let him into the house when you are
absent. Carelessness in such matters is indicative of a lack of protective
jealousy. How much pain and sorrow have resulted from that, especially
nowadays, when piety is weak and prudence is rare. This is not an accusation
against the mahram; rather it is helping him to do good and is protecting
him against corruption and evil. Islam came to ward off evils and to bring
that which is in people’s best interests, and to bar the ways that lead to
temptation.
Among the
things that should be denounced is that which has become widespread in some
societies of young people kissing one another when they meet; some of them
have gone further and have started to kiss their mahrams every time they see
them. Even worse than all of that is kissing one’s cousins (daughters of
paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of maternal uncles and aunts). This
is an effect of foreign customs that have come to the Muslims. Otherwise, it
was not customary among the Muslims to kiss in this manner. Kissing one’s
cousins is clearly haraam, because they are non-mahrams and it is not
permissible to shake hands with them, let alone kiss them.
At-Tirmidhi
(2728) narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A
man said: O Messenger of Allah, one of us may meet his brother or friend;
can he bow to him? He said: “No.” He said: Then may he hug him and kiss him?
He said: “No.” He said: Then may he take his hand and shake hands with him?
He said: “Yes.”
Classed as
hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan at-Tirmidhi.
The Standing
Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked: There is a phenomenon of younger
people kissing one another on the cheek every time they meet, every day.
This phenomenon has spread even among imams, and in the mosque, and in the
classroom. Is that contrary to the Sunnah, or is anything wrong with it, or
is it a bid‘ah or sin, or is it permissible?
They replied:
What is
prescribed when meeting is to greet with salaam and shake hands. If they
meet after returning from a journey, then it is also prescribed to embrace,
because it is proven that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When
the Companions of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) met
one another they would shake hands, and if they had come from a journey they
would embrace. As for kissing on the cheeks, we do not know of anything in
the Sunnah that indicates that.
End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah (24/128)
Please see
also the answer to questions no 60351 and
114193
May Allah help
us all to do that which He loves and is pleased with.
And Allah
knows best.