Is the doctrine of necessity accepted by one of the madhhabs exclusive of the stated examples or can one include 'functions of state in a secular society' as a necessity regarding the subject of a man shaking hands with a woman who is not mahram (permanently unmarriageable)?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Shaking hands with a non-mahram woman is prohibited; evidence from the Sunnah proved this, and we have already explained it in fataawa 82318 and 84011.

There is no doubt that the rule ‘necessities render prohibitions permissible’ is something established by the scholars, but they clarified the necessity that makes what is forbidden permissible, which is when a person reaches a point that if he does not do what is forbidden, he will perish or nearly perish. This meaning is not achieved in general by refraining from shaking hands with women.

Yes, some people find some embarrassment and potential hardship when avoiding to shake hands with a non-mahram woman, but this in itself does not render what is forbidden lawful. Rather, one has to be patient and steadfast. Soon, the matter will be made easy and the Muslim will gain the pleasure of those who were angry with him at first.

This is in conformity with the hadeeth by ‘Aa’ishah who said, "I heard the Prophet say, 'Whoever seeks Allaah's pleasure by angering people, Allaah will suffice him from the people, and whoever seeks people's contentment by angering Allaah, Allaah will forsake him and leave his matters to the people.'" [At-Tirmithi]

As regards calling this matter 'functions of state', then this is nothing but defeatism and trying to please the people of certain communities in forbidden matters. Indeed, a Muslim is required to hold fast to his principles wherever he is, and if he does so, then he usually earns the respect of the wise people, and not to try to please them at the expense of his religion, because if one does so, he loses his religion and his worldly affairs.

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “Be prompt in doing good deeds before you are overtaken by afflictions which would be like a part of the dark night. During this period of affliction, a man would be a believer in the morning and a disbeliever in the evening, or he would be a believer in the evening and a disbeliever in the morning, and he would sell his faith for a worldly (temporary) benefit.” [Muslim]

For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 86477.

Allaah knows best.