"we pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) and he recited to us that we should not associate anything with Allāh and forbade us from wailing, then a woman withdrew her hand and said: 'So-and-so has helped me....'" The ḥadīth was recorded by al-Bukhārī, and it is not explicit in stating that the women shook hands with him (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam). Thus, it does not refute the explicit text of his (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) statement and his action, which was narrated by Umaymah bint Ruqayqah, ʿĀʾishah, and Ibn ʿUmar, as will be mentioned. al-Ḥāfiẓ said: "It is as if ʿĀʾishah was indicating a refutation of what was reported from Umm ʿAṭiyyah. According to Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Bazzār, al-Ṭabarī, and Ibn Mardawayh, through the route of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān from his grandmother Umm ʿAṭiyyah in the story of the pledge, he said: 'He extended his hand from outside the house, and we extended our hands from inside the house, then he said: O Allāh, bear witness.'" Similarly, the ḥadīth that follows, where it is stated "a woman withdrew her hand from us," suggests that they were pledging allegiance to him with their hands. The first can be answered by saying that extending the hands from behind the veil was a sign of the pledge occurring, even if a handshake did not occur. As for the second, the meaning of withdrawing the hand could be delaying acceptance, or the pledge was made with a barrier. Abū Dāwūd narrated in "al-Marāsīl" from al-Shaʿbī that when the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) pledged allegiance with the women, he brought a Qatari cloak and placed it on his hand and said: 'I do not shake hands with women....'" Then he mentioned the rest of the ḥadīths with similar meanings, and all of them are mursal and do not establish proof. What he mentioned in response to the ḥadīths of Umm ʿAṭiyyah is the main point, as her ḥadīth through Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān is not strong because Ismāʿīl is not well-known, and he is only used as supporting evidence, as I explained in "Ḥijāb al-Marʾah al-Muslimah" (p. 26, Islamic Office edition). In summary, it is not authentically reported from him (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) that he ever shook hands with a woman, even during the pledge, let alone shaking hands upon meeting. Thus, some people's argument for its permissibility based on the ḥadīth of Umm ʿAṭiyyah, which I mentioned, even though handshaking is not mentioned in it, and their disregard for the explicit ḥadīths indicating his (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) abstention from handshaking, is not something that would come from a sincere believer, especially when there is a severe warning for those who..