Kissing Is Not Worship, Its A Sign Of Love, Respect & Honor:

Kissing Is Not Worship, Its A Sign Of Love, Respect & Honor:

Clock wise, (1) Girl kissing Quran, (2) Pilgrim kissing stone of kaba, (3) Relatives kissing new born girl, (4) Arabic culture of greeting, (5) Girl kissing mother, (6) kissing a dream or newly owned car (7) Sportsperson kissing the trophy (8) Husband kissing wife (9) Center - Father kissing his son after 36 years of his death

Some people say that to kissing the hands and the feet of the pious people is prohibited in islam as this is a form of worship/ibadah and categories the kissing of holy relics, hands & feets of pious, parents as Shirk (associating partners with Allah).

We fail to understand how a kiss becomes ibadah and sign of Elah/divinity??

The Ahle Sunnah Wal Jama'at believes that this act is permissible and desirable as the books of Ahadith prove that the Ahle Bait and the Sahaba-e-Ikraam kissed the holy relics as well as blessed hands and feet of the Holy Prophet (sallal laahualaihi wasallam) and they even kissed the hands & the feet of one another.

Therefore, to kiss the feet of the elders or pious persons can never be termed as shirk.

In general there are five kinds of kisses:
a. The kiss of affection and love like a father kissing his son,
b. The kiss of meeting (mulaqat) like a Muslim kissing another Muslim on meeting one another,
c. The kiss of love and regard like a son kissing his parents,
d. The kiss of friendship, when someone kisses his friend, and
e. The kiss of sensual love, like the husband kissing his wife or vice versa.
Some have added another kind of kiss as a mark of religious sanctity like of the Hajar-e-Aswad. (Alamgiri)

Apart from the above mentioned types, we also notice one more type kiss which is generally related with worldly success or achievement few of which can be seen in above image, such as winner kissing trophy, parents of children kissing progress card to encourage children, kissing a new car out of excitement, kissing much awaited letter or dreamt employment offer and so on, the list is never ending.

In order to cut short and end this article to the point, few Ahadees are mentioned below proving permissibility of subject matter which includes hadith on the following.

a) Kissing the children
b) Kissing hands and feet of prophet (peace be up him)
c) Kissing Hajr-e-aswad (stone at kaba, pic 2)
d) Kissing the blessed relics
e) Kissing the Quran
f) Kissing the dead

a) KISSING THE CHILDREN:

1. Abu Hurayra razi allahu anhu said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, kissed Hasan ibn 'Ali while al-Aqra' ibn Habis at-Tamimi was sitting with him. Al-Aqra' observed, 'I have ten children and I have kissed any of them.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, looked at him and said, 'Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy (Al adab al Mufrad, under chapter looking after children 50:91)

b) KISSING HANDS AND FEET OF PROPHET (PEACE BE UP ON HIM) AND THE PIOUS

2. A Jew asked his companion to take him to the Prophet (peace be upon him). When they met him, they inquired of him about the nine clear signs (given to Moses); this was followed by the recital of the relevant Hadith. This made the issue quite clear. In the end both of them kissed his hands and feet and said: We bear witness that you are indeed a Prophet. Transmitted by Tirmidhi. {Al-Tirmidhi Hadith, Hadith 280}

3. Usama ibn Sharik (radi allahu 'anhu) narrates : "I came to see the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) while his Companions were with him, and they seemed as still as if birds had alighted on top of their heads. I gave him my Salaam and I sat down. [Then Bedouins came and asked questions which the Prophet answered.] ... The Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) then stood up and the PEOPLE STOOD UP. They began to kiss his hand, whereupon I took his hand and placed it on my face. I found it more fragrant than musk and cooler than sweet water."(Narrated by Abu Dawud [#3855], Ti[2038 - hasan sahih], Ibn Majah [3436], al-Hakim [4:399], and Ahmad [4:278]. Al- Hafiz Imam Bayhaqi cites it in Branch 15 of his Su'ab ul-iman entitled : The Fifteenth Branch of Faith, Namely A Chapter On Rendering honor To The Prophet, Declaring His High Rank, And Revering Him Vol. 2 p.200 [#1528])

4. When we went to Medina, we hurried out of our vehicles and started kissing the hands and feet of the beloved Prophet References: 1. Abū Dāwūd, Sunan, b. of adab (good manners) 4:357 (#5225) 2. Bayhaqī, as-Sunan-ul-kubrā (7:102)

5. Suhayb said, "I saw 'Ali kiss the hands and feet of al-'Abbas."
Reference: Al-Adab al-Mufrad Al-Bukhari by Imam Bukhari. Greetings Chapter 445 Hadith No 976

6. Anas was asked, "Did you touch the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with your hand?" He replied, "Yes," so they kissed it.
Reference: Al-Adab al-Mufrad Al-Bukhari by Imam Bukhari. Greetings Chapter 445 Hadith No 974

7. Ahmed bin Hamdan al-Qasaar said that he saw Muslim bin Hajjaj (rah) i.e Imam Muslim R.A coming in the court of Imam Bukhari (rah) and kissed his forehead, "THEN HE ASKED HIS PERMISSION TO KISS HIS FEET" he then said: O Teacher of Teachers master of traditionalists and grand scholar on hadith weaknesses. [Al Bidayah wan Nihayah (11/33), Published by Maktaba al Ma'rif, Beirut, Lebanon]

C. KISSING OF THE HAJR-E-ASWAD:

8. It is in Hadith - Narrated by Naafi’ (razi allahu anhu) He said: I saw Ibn Umar (razi allahu anhu) touch the Stone with his hand then he kissed his hand. He (Ibn Umar - razi allahu anhu) said, I have never ceased to do this since I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) do it. (Muslim - 1268).

D. KISSING THE BLESSED RELICS:

9. Ibn `Umar used to touch the seat of the Prophet's minbar and then wipe his face for blessing. al-Mughni 3:559; al-Shifa' 2:54; Ibn Sa`d, Tabaqat 1:13; Mawsu`at Fiqh `Abdullah ibn `Umarp. 52.

10. Abd Allah ibn Ahmad said: "I saw my father take a hair that belonged to the Prophet , put it on his mouth, and kiss it. I believe I saw him put it on his eyes. He also dipped it in water and drank the water to obtain cure. I saw him take the Prophet's bowl (qas'a), wash it in water, and drink from it. I saw him drink Zamzam water in order to seek cure with it, and he wiped his hands and face with it." I say: Where is the quibbling critic of Imam Ahamad now?

It is also authentically established that 'Abd Allah asked is father about those who touch the pommel of the Prophet's e pulpit and touch the wall of the Prophet's e room, and he said: "I do not see any harm in it." May Allah protect us and you from the opinion of the Khawarij and from innovations!

[ Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' (9:457). Ch. on Imam Ah.mad, section entitled Min adabih]

E. KISSING THE QURAN:

11. It is stated in Durra Mukhtar' that Hadrath Farooq-e-Azam Omar bin Khattab (Radiallahu tala anhu) used to take, kiss each page of Holy Quran every morning and say, "This is the command of my Lord Allah SWT and His manifesto." Similarly Hadrath Uthman bin 'Affan (Radiallahu tala anhu) used to kiss the Holy Quran and keep it on his face, to obtain blessings of it. Ref: Durre Mukhtar' Vol. No: 5, Pg. No: 272.

F. KISSING THE DEAD:

12. Narrated ibn abbas and aisha: Abu Bakr razi allahu anhu kissed (the forehead of) the prophet sallelahu alaihiwa sallam when he passed away. {Sahih Al-Bukhari – 7.610}

13. Abu Bakr razi allahu anhu kissed the prophet sallelahu alaihiva sallam when he passed away, Tirmidi and Ibn Majah transmitted it {Al-Tirmidhi Hadith – 508}

14. The Prophet, peace be upon him, kissed 'Uthman ibn Maz'un after his death {Fiqh-us-Sunnah - 4.16}

15. Dawud ibn Salih said: "[The governor of Madina] Marwan [ibn al-Hakam] one day saw a man placing his face on top of the grave of the Prophet. He said: "Do you know what you are doing?" When he came near him, he realized it was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The latter said: "Yes; I came to the Prophet, not to a stone., ref:

a. Ibn Hibban in his Sahih,
b. Ahmad (5:422)
c. Al-Tabarani in his Mu`jam al-Kabir (4:189) and his Awsat according to Haythami in al-Zawa'id (5:245 and 5:441 #5845 Book of Hajj, "Section on the honoring of the dwellers of Madina, chapter on placing one's face against the grave of our Master the Prophet " and #9252 Book of Khilafa, "Chapter on the leadership of those unworthy of it"),
d. al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (4:515);
e. both the latter and al-Dhahabi said it was sahih.
f. It is also cited by al-Subki in Shifa' al-siqam (p. 126)
g. and leader of salaf Ibn Taymiyya in al-Muntaqa (2:261f.)