Asking forgiveness by clasping someone’s feet

Question

Is it permissible in Islam to ask forgiveness by clasping someone’s feet? For in clasping the feet one has to bend down, and bending down before anyone is not right. And if it is permissible, is it good or not?

Answer

Clasping the feet in order to ask forgiveness is something I have not come across anywhere. Outwardly, this is the veneration of Brahmins. Among them, even without asking forgiveness, there is a custom of touching someone’s feet, which they call “touching the feet” (پیرالاگن); it is even sent as a message to someone: “Convey our touching of the feet.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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