[Adwāʾ al-Bayān] (6/602-603): Know that it is unlawful for a man who is not a maḥram to shake hands with a woman who is likewise unrelated to him, and it is not permissible for any part of his body to touch any part of hers. The evidence for this rests on several points.

First: It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “I do not shake hands with women….” Allah, the Exalted, says, “There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent example” (Al-Ahzāb 33:21).(1) Consequently, we are required to refrain from shaking hands with women, following his ﷺ example. We have already cited and explained this ḥadīth under Sūrat al-Ḥajj in the discussion of the prohibition on men wearing clothes dyed with safflower, whether in iḥrām or otherwise, and again here under Sūrat al-Ahzāb in the verse on ḥijāb. The fact that he ﷺ did not shake hands with women at the time of accepting their pledge of allegiance—an occasion that would ordinarily call for it—is a clear proof that a man must not shake hands with a woman, nor allow any part of his body to touch any part of hers. The lightest form of physical contact is the handshake; when he ﷺ refrained from that even at the moment most likely to warrant it, namely the pledge, it shows that it is impermissible. No one has the right to oppose him ﷺ, for he alone legislates for his community through his words, deeds, and tacit approvals.

Second: As we have already stated, the woman in her entirety is ʿawrah (something that must be concealed) and is therefore obliged to observe ḥijāb. Lowering the gaze was only commanded to avert temptation, and there is no doubt that body-to-body contact is even more potent in arousing desire and a stronger inducement to