THE ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE OF HUGGING AND SHAKING HANDS WITH A COUSIN
QUESTION:
As Salaamu Alaykum
Is it Halal or Haram to hug or shake hands with a Cousin?
because in Pakistan my Family come from a Village and that People says Iam a Wahhabi because I dont shake hands or hug any of my Cousin(Girls).So please can you give a Fatwa with evidence and all and too about the view of the Hanifa School(Fiqh/madhab),because I belong to the Hanifa School/Fiqh/madhab).
ANSWER:
Wa Alaikum As Salaam,
Your cousin is a non-blood relative to you, and though she is a relative, she is not your Mahram. Since it is permissible for you to marry her, she will be considered as an ‘Ajnabiya’ that is, a stranger (that is,a woman who is not a blood relative to a male). This being the case, it will not be permissible for you to hug her or shake hands with her.
In Al Hidaya, the famous and reliable book of the Fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifa (A.R), it is written, ‘And it is not lawful to touch the face and hands of an ‘Ajnabiya’ (a female who is not a Mahram to a person), even though one is safe from desires’ ( Al Hidaya – Kitab Al Karahiyah- Vol.4 pg.458 Maktaba Rahmaniya Lahore Pakistan).
If however, your female cousin is a very young child ( who has not yet reached the state of having desires like a grown up girl), then there is no prohibition in touching or holding her hand. ( Al Hidaya – kitab Al Karahiya Vol.4 pg.459