with this corroboration. However, the previous corroborations are sufficient to strengthen the ḥadīth, and it seems for this reason that the ḥāfiẓ in "al-Talkhīṣ" (367) acknowledged al-Tirmidhī's grading of it as ḥasan. From this, you learn that al-Bayhaqī's statement, "Ḥanẓalah was the sole narrator of it," is not correct, and Allāh knows best. Knowing this, it serves as a refutation of some contemporary scholars engaged in ḥadīth studies. One of them authored a small treatise titled "Iʿlām al-Nabīl bi-Jawāz al-Taqbīl," in which he gathered all the ḥadīths on kissing that he could find, whether authentic or not. He then presented this ḥadīth and weakened it due to Ḥanẓalah, perhaps unaware of these corroborations that support it. He then interpreted it by suggesting it applies when the motivation for kissing is worldly benefit, such as wealth, status, or leadership, for example! This is a false interpretation because the Companions who asked the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) about kissing certainly did not mean the alleged type of kissing, but rather a greeting kiss, just as they asked him about bowing, embracing, and handshaking. All of these were meant as forms of greeting, and he did not permit them anything except handshaking. Is handshaking for worldly benefit? By no means. The truth is that the ḥadīth is an explicit text against the permissibility of kissing upon meeting, and this does not include kissing children and wives, as is evident. As for the ḥadīths that mention the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) kissing some Companions on various occasions, such as his kissing and embracing Zayd ibn Ḥārithah upon his arrival in Medina, and his kissing and embracing Abū al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyahān and others, the response to these is from several angles: