Shaking hands with the opposite gender

Generally in the West, shaking hands is a polite form of greeting, and not shaking hands is often considered rude. Many times, non-Muslim men want to shake my hand (I am female). When there is an opportunity to explain my religion, I do. But sometimes, there is not this opportunity or their gesture to shake my hand happens in front of an audience, such as at a banquet or during a formal introduction. I do not want to be rude and give Muslims a bad image (I especially do not want to be condescending). How do I go about this awkward situation?

Assalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah,

The ruling across the madhhabs is that it is not permitted to shake hands with someone non-related of the opposite sex. This is sometimes difficult to implement: the ruling of impermissibility remains, however, and one should:

a) Ask Allah to make things easy; and

b) Seek the means to be able to avoid falling into the impermissible, for Allah not only commanded us to avoid the sinful but also to take the means that enable one to do so.

Faraz Rabbani.

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