Should the shaking of hands be stopped as a tradition to prevent offending muslims?

Question

at least within the police force. or ban all women police officers from doing it.

http://www.itv.com/news/index_0f14468b9b1be8b207bb3e2fe6519cde.html

Why do people always assume that anything negative said about muslims is BS and lies, i've even put a link to the article in the news. how can i be lieing?

Answer 1

No custom, practice or tradition of the United Kingdom should be discontinued or altered in any way in order to accommodate aliens.
Anyone of foreign extraction who voices discontentment with this, their host country should be expelled without further ado.

Answer 2

I am a male, but I will answer this question :). Please forgive me if I should not. Being in a Western country for many years, I have been exposed to that constantly. It is part of their culture, which is fully different than being in Islamic country where a female would not (for the most part) stretch her hand to shake with a non-Mahram man (or vise versa). However, thanks to Allah, I never had a physical contact with a girl in the West (EXCEPT by mistake such as when she gives a change of money and she touches me by accident or so) including shaking hands even in the professional environment. I found out that people here in the West (for the most part) are pretty respectful and they know that this is part of our religion/culture, so they would not understand it in a negative way. It is always great to do good things and avoid the haram: 1. Allah will like that and He is very generous. Remember it is hard, but Allah knows that and He never forgets. 2. It is not only that, but that makes me feel stronger (الحمد لله) as I am able to avoid things that other people are shy/afraid to avoid 3. I am pretty respectful to any country I visit and I always do my job in the best way I can do it, even paying my personal time (which is not what Western people do in general), so people know exactly who I am. 4. We should care more about how we look in the eyes of Allah not the eyes of people. When it comes to choose between one of two, we should choose the former one. EDIT: As people living in the West, we should be able to know how to explain such a thing to people and handle it in a proper way so that people will get a good image and won't get offended by what we do.

Answer 3

i think thats rubbish, and as said, she should put her public duties above her religion when need be, what sort of impression does that give the public if they are so picky over things.

this is just another thing along the line of the sloggi adverts, two muslim people complained about it and there was a huge fuss and they were ripped down, whereas other churches had complained for years about them and had nothing.

just doesnt make sense, 2 people protest and a big fus is made, how many protested against the war and that still went ahead

Answer 4

It would certainly reduce the spread of various viruses and bacteria by a percentage since very few people actually use good handwashing technique. Now if we could just get people to cover their mouths when they cough and/or sneeze...

If someone uses good common sense and educates about Islam then the wherefores of shaking hands would be simple. There's no need to "stop" it.

_()_

Answer 5

muslims dont get offended when other women shake hands they just dont want to shake any guys hands themselves. why does it matter to you? i'm not for ending something that is part of western culture, but its my choice if i do not want to participate in it.

and the example of the mosque is not a good one. if shoes were not allowed in churches, no muslim would come in there with shoes either. shaking hands with another guy is not allowed in islam so why would you force it. if you lived in a muslim country i dont think you would like to be forced to wear hijab either. just leave it alone its not that big of a deal.

i bet that if this was a group other than muslims people wouldn't give as much attention to it. whenever there is something about islam, people are happy to get a chance to bash it.

Answer 6

NO !

Look - this is a WESTERN country with our own traditions, we should not have to alter hundreds of years of traditions and culture to please a minority.

If a Muslim does not want to shake someones hand fine, not a problrm - They should smile at the person and explain that they do not shake hands for cultural reasons. I would not be offended if it happened to me. No one would mind.

It's called EXPLAINING & MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING.

Answer 7

>>Should the shaking of hands be stopped as a tradition to prevent offending muslims?<<

Not just Muslims; Orthodox Jews as well. I think it should also be stopped because it spreads germs.

Answer 8

Shaking hands in its traditional sense, is meant to extend friendship and means that you intend no harm. I think to eliminate this gesture because of the traditions of one group, is to ignore its significance to a much larger global community.

Answer 9

shaking hands is largely a cultural tradition in the West. It shows that a person is unarmed and not likely to attack.

I realize that shaking hands with men or women a Muslim is NOT related to can be a problem. I see nothing wrong with them simply stepping back and putting their hands behind them saying, "I am not comfortable with this custom.'

Answer 10

They're in a Christian country - they should respect Christian customs & culture. They wouldn't like it if we went into a mosque & didn't remove our shoes. It's the same thing.