and the etymology of the very word points to the same ruling.

Lisān al-ʿArab states: “al-muṣāfaḥa (handshaking) is the taking of the hand; al-taṣāfuḥ is the same. A man shakes hands with another when he places the flat of his palm against the flat of the other’s palm. The phrase ṣafḥā kafayhimā refers to the two inner faces of their palms. Hence the ḥadīth about handshaking upon meeting. The term is in the reciprocal form and signifies pressing the inside of one palm to the other while the two faces turn toward one another.”

I add: Some of the aḥādīth already mentioned convey this meaning as well, such as the marfūʿ report of Ḥudhayfah: “When a believer meets another believer, greets him with salām, takes his hand and shakes it, their sins fall away just as the leaves of a tree fall.”

Al-Mundhirī said (3/270): “Al-Ṭabarānī transmitted it in al-Awsat, and I do not know of any narrator in its chain who has been criticized.”

I remark: It possesses corroborating chains that elevate it to soundness, among them the report of Anas recorded by al-Ḍiyāʾ al-Maqdisī in al-Mukhtārah (240/1-2), which al-Mundhirī also attributed to Aḥmad and others.

These aḥādīth together show that the Sunnah in handshaking is to clasp one hand only. Therefore, the practice of some shaykhs who shake with both hands is contrary to the Sunnah—let this be understood.

Third benefit: handshaking is likewise prescribed when taking leave. This is supported by the general wording of the Prophet’s statement, “Completing a greeting includes handshaking.” Judging by its various chains, the ḥadīth is fair, and we may devote a separate discussion to it, Allah willing. After tracing those chains more closely, however, I found them extremely weak, unfit for consideration or for strengthening the report; for that reason I listed it in al-Silsilah al-Ukhra (1288). Its value as evidence—or more precisely, as supporting material—only becomes apparent when one bears in mind the established legitimacy of giving salām.