Shaking Hands with Women

1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Isa from Sama‘ah ibn Mehran who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abdillah عليه السلام, about men’s shaking hands with women. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is lawful for men to shake hands with women with whom marriage is not lawful, like sister, daughter, paternal and maternal aunts, daughter of sister or so. However, a woman with whom marriage is lawful, shaking hands is unlawful, except from behind the cloth but he must not squeeze her palm.’”