Joining palm to palm in a handshake

Question

Shaking hands (musafaha) with both hands is sunna — but in what manner? From the hadith it appears that the palm of each hand meets the palm of the other hand, and this is possible only when each hand is joined separately. However, in the prevailing manner, for each of the two parties the palm of one hand meets the other person’s hand while the palm of the other hand remains on top — this is what is customary; that is, the palms of the right hands of both meet, and the palms of the left hands of both lie on the…

Answer

In Sahih al-Bukhari the report of ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud ﵁ is mentioned: [ar]وَكَانَ كَفِّي بَيْنَ كَفَّيْهِ[/ar] “…and my palm was between his two palms…” From this it is known that one hand of the Companion ﵁ was in both hands of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. In this case the meeting of palm with palm is perfectly clear, while the other hand would be on the back of the hand.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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