Kissing the hands and feet of the Righteous and the Scholars

Hadīth 1

Usama ibn Sharik narrates: “I came to see the Beloved Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam 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 salam and then sat down…The Beloved Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam 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.”

Recorded by Abu Dawud (#3357), Tirmidhi (#1961 hasan sahih), Ibn Majah (#3427), Hakim (4:400 Sahih), Hafiz al-Khatib in Kitab al-Jami’ (1:90 #314), Imam Ahmad (4:161 #16831) and Bayhaqi in his Shu’ab (#1528). See also Bukhari’s Sahih (#3289) and Tabarani’s Mu’jam al-Awsat (4:348-49 #4398).

Hadīth 2

Safwan ibn ‘Assal narrates that two Jews came to the Beloved Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam and asked him some questions, which he answered. And then they kissed his hands and feet.

Recorded by Tirmidhi (#2657, #3069 Sahih), Ibn Majah (Kitab al-Adab, #3695), Nasa’i (7:111 #4010), Tabarani (M. Kabir, 8:69 #7396), Ibn Abi Shayba (8:436-37), Abu Nu’aym (5:97), Bayhaqi (Sunan 8:166, Dala’il 6:268), Tayalisi (#1260), and Hakim (1:9 Sahih), and it is Sahih (Nawawi’s Adhkar p. 336).

Hadīth 3

Ummul Mu’minīn Sayyidah A’isha rađiyAllāhu ánha narrated that Sayyidah Fatima rađiyAllāhu ánha, whenever the Beloved Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam came to her house, would stand for him, kiss his hand, and then have him sit in her seat.

Abu Dawud (4:355 #4540), Nasa’i (Sunan al-Kubra: 5:96 #8369), Tirmidhi (5:700 #3807), Hakim (3:160; 4:272-73 Sahih), Tabarani (M. Awsat, 4:242 #4089), Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Iman (6:467 #8927) and Sunan al-Kubra (7:101), and Bukhari in his Adab al-Mufrad (#974), Ibn Muqri’ (Taqbil al-Yad, #26), and others. Imam Nawawi used it among other hadiths to prove the permissibility of standing for someone out of respect and love.