Personally, I do shake anyone's hand that offers it to me, including men (non- Muslims, because Muslim men should know better). I do think it's a very normal way of people to greet each other in the west, and Allah(swt) knows intentions.

However, for people who refuse to shake hands with the opposite gender (whom I have admiration for, if they are doing it for the sake of Allah), one suggestion is to place your hand on your heart, smile and say something to the effect of, 'My religion prohibits me from touching the opposite gender' and hopefully the other party will not get offended. It can be an awkward situation, but inshaAllah you'll figure out what best suits you :)

this is always something that i've struggled with as well. even when used to try not to, it would be especially difficult not to when you are with a group of people and another hijabi shakes a guys hand. If you don't do it and explain that you can't then it makes you look extreme or the person your with bad. its always been tough and sad to say i've succumb to just not even trying and in business settings just shaking.

on a side note...what ever happen to curtsies? lol..i wonder what a guy would do if you curtsied while he put his hand out. hahaha

Loool that would be so funny!! Throw a “charmed I’m sure” in there for good measure. Hehe. Hey let’s make a comedy sketch about it. ;)

PS a proper American woman never should curtsy... though it would make a hilarious comedy routine

how come?

Maybe curtsies are British rather than American?

Hmm... very intwesting. Thanx for the info ZZ. :)

Was the curtsy talent passed down? Cuz you know, I may meet the queen one day and need to know something like that...

You girls are so funny...

but mashaAllah you knocked this topic dead..I have nothing more to add...and I personally get stuck in situations where I have to shake hands, sometimes I do what bushra said( put your hand on your heart) and so far no one got offended, I think you need to pick and choose who you do that with...

oh by the way..everyone is invited tonight to the MAS office (college and up) pleaaaaaaase come...you wont regret it!

Asalaamu alaikum,
VERY nice topic because it's something we all struggle with. Although it can be awkward and thus easy to give in, it is important to remember the hadith to put things into perspective (and maybe scare us a little into doing the right thing):

"The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 'If one of you were to be struck in the head with an iron needle, it would be better for him than if he were to touch a woman he is not allowed to."
(Reported by al-Tabaraani; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 5045).

SubhanAllah.

Oh I found this too (just replace the word "woman" with "man" for our case):

Some Muslims feel too embarrassed to refuse when a woman offers her hand to them. In addition to mixing with women, some of them claim that they are forced to shake hands with fellow-students and teachers in schools and universities, or with colleagues in the workplace, or in business meetings and so on, but this is not an acceptable excuse.

The Muslim should overcome his own feelings and the promptings of the Shaytaan, and be strong in his faith, because Allaah is not ashamed of the truth. The Muslim could apologize politely and explain that the reason he does not want to shake hands is not to offend or hurt anybody’s feelings, but it is because he is following the teachings of his religion. In most cases this will earn him respect from others. There is no harm done if they find it strange at first, and it may even be a practical opportunity for da’wah. And Allaah knows best.

From: http://islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=2459&ln=eng

Alhamdulillah, thank you everyone for your help and advice. :) And thank you Miriam for the information. I'll have to keep all this stuff in mind!

AAAhhh, Nicole, it's YOU! I didn't put two and two together until just now!! (I just saw the "Fun with ZZ" stonelilac entry and remembered that was your IM from long ago...)

I was wondering who this Nikki girl was that I haven't met yet, lol...how are you? Hope all is well! <3

Salaams Miriam! Yup, it's me. ;) Hehe. I know what you mean, it is really hard figuring out who everyone is on the blogs sometimes. I'm not doing a great job at keeping mine updated either. Oh well! It's fun everyonce in a while :)I hope you are doing well too!

Asalaamu Alaykum again, Nikki!

Ok I read something interesting on this topic, and I thought you might want to see it (but I first want to make it clear that I still believe that shaking hands should be avoided between genders as much as possible):

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=
IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=
1119503546332

Allahu 'alim

(I really wish I would take that last comment back)
Oh goooosh. Ok this will be my last comment on here, inshaAllaah!
So I found out that shaking hands with the opposite gender isn't allowed in any of the four madhab, and the people who say it is okay -like in the link I sent in my last comment- are just using Arabic language without the knowledge of shariah.
I don't really follow a specific madhab, but after this I think I will because they make things like this so much more clear, for those of us who are not scholars!

Sorry for the confusion.
Hope all is well,
<3 Miriam