You mentioned previously that males should greet by shaking hands only, and that it is allowed to embrace after an absence or traveling. In certain cultures at special times e.g. 'Eed, men embrace and kiss each other on the cheeks, is this allowed?

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 is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

We have already clarified in Fataawa 84311 and 87730 that a man hugging and kissing another man who has not come back from a trip is disliked and we provided evidence in this regard.

The hugging and kissing that people do in 'Eed is included in this dislikeability for the general meaning of the narration reported by Anas which reads: "A man asked: "O Prophet of Allaah, when a man amongst us meets his brother, should he bow to him." The Prophet replied: "No." The man asked again: "Can he hug him and kiss him? The Prophet replied: "No." The man further asked: "Can he shake hands with him." The Prophet said: "Yes."

Ibn Al-Haaj from the Maaliki school, said in one of his books regarding the issue of hugging in 'Eed: 'A man should not hug and kiss another man who is resident with him, i.e. who is not coming from a journey.'

Allaah Knows best.