How should we greet scholars and leaders?
Question

                Is it okay to kiss the hands of Muslim world leaders? Or to bow before them in respect? And what is the correct way to greet them. We think that it is the embrace and handshake for the men.
Praise be to Allah.
    Firstly: 

    The correct way to greet scholars is to greet them with 
    salaam and shake their hand. Many ahaadeeth have been narrated concerning 
    the virtue of these actions. It is also permissible to kiss their heads or 
    hands sometimes, but that should not be taken as a habit or custom, 
    especially if it is done instead of shaking hands. 

    With regard to embracing, that is permissible when someone 
    comes from a journey or after a long absence, or to express one's deep love 
    for the sake of Allaah and so on. 

    Muslim (54) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased 
    with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah  (peace and blessings of Allaah 
    be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you will not enter 
    Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one 
    another. Shall I not tell you something which, if you do it, you will love 
    one another? Spread the greeting of salaam amongst yourselves.” 

    And it was narrated that Qataadah said: I said to Anas: Did 
    the companions of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon 
    him) shake hands with one another? He said: Yes. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 
    5908. 

    And it was narrated that Anas said: When the companions of 
    the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) met they would 
    shake hands with one another, and if they came from a journey they would 
    embrace one another. 

    Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Awsat (1/37); classed 
    as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 2647. 

    It was narrated from ‘Awn ibn Abi Juhayfah that his father 
    said: When Ja’far came after he had migrated to Abyssinia, the Prophet  
    (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) embraced him and kissed him 
    between the eyes. 

    Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer (2/108); there 
    are many corroborating reports which were mentioned by al-Haafiz ibn Hajar 
    in al-Talkhees al-Habeer, 4/96/ it was classed as saheeh by Shaykh 
    al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 2657. 

    It was narrated that Usaamah ibn Shareek said: We stood up 
    for the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and kissed 
    his hand. 

    Narrated by Abu Bakr ibn al-Muqqari in Juz’ Taqbeel al-Yad, 
    p. 58. Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said: Its isnaad is qawiy. Fath al-Baari, 
    11/56 

    Shaykh Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani said: 

    I say: This indicates that the Sahaabah differentiated 
    between whether a person was present or travelling in the manner in which 
    they greeted him. In the first case (when a person was a resident) they 
    shook hands, and in the second case (when a person had come from travelling) 
    they embraced him. Hence I used to avoid embracing when not travelling. In 
    particular, in the first volume of al-Silsilah (no. 160) I narrated a 
    hadeeth in which the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon 
    him) forbade bowing, embracing and kissing. Then when I prepared that volume 
    for reprinting, I re-examined this hadeeth and noticed that the word 
    embracing is not mentioned in the corroborating reports on the basis of 
    which I had classed the hadeeth as qawiy, so I took it out, as will be seen 
    in the new edition in sha Allaah which will be published shortly, praise be 
    to Allaah. 

    When I realized that it was weak, I felt comfortable about 
    taking it out, praise be to Allaah. In particular I saw that Ibn al-Teehaan 
    al-Ansaari embraced the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon 
    him), according to the hadeeth that speaks of the Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) coming out to the house of Ibn al-Teehaan 
    (may Allaah be pleased with him), which is narrated in al-Shamaa’il 
    al-Muhammadiyyah (no. 113, p. 79 – Mukhtasar al-Shamaa’il). But 
    here it indicates that this is permissible sometimes, not that it is to be 
    done always, as if it were a Sunnah, and as is the case with shaking hands, 
    so attention should be paid to that. 

    I noted that Imam al-Baghawi spoke about the differentiation 
    mentioned above, and I think it will be very useful to quote him here. He 
    (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Sharh al-Sunnah (12/293), 
    after mentioning the hadeeth of Ja’far and others which may appear to be 
    contradictions: 

    With regard to the kind of embracing and kissing that is 
    makrooh, it is that which is done by way of flattery and veneration when a 
    person is not travelling. The kind that is permitted is that which is done 
    when bidding farewell and when a person returns from a journey, and when 
    meeting someone after not seeing him for a long time and when there is 
    intense love for the sake of Allaah. What is to be kissed is not the mouth 
    but rather the hand, head and forehead. 

    It is makrooh to do that when one is not travelling as far as 
    I can see, because one meets people frequently and not everyone deserves 
    that. If a man does that to some people and not to others, those whom he 
    ignores will be upset by that and will think that he is falling short and 
    neglecting their rights. The best greeting is the handshake. End quote. 

    It should be noted that some of the imams, such as Abu 
    Haneefah and his companion Muhammad, are of the view that embracing is 
    makrooh; al-Tahhaawi narrated this from them, which is opposite to the view 
    of Abu Yoosuf. 

    Imam Maalik also regarded it as makrooh. In al-Adaab 
    al-Shar’iyyah (2/278) it says: 

    Maalik regarded it as makrooh to embrace one who comes from a 
    journey and said it is a bid’ah (innovation). He explained the fact that the 
    Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did that to Ja’far 
    when he came as being a unique case. Sufyaan said to him: You cannot regard 
    it as a unique case without evidence and Maalik fell silent. Al-Qaadi said: 
    The fact that he fell silent indicates that he accepted what Sufyaan said 
    and agreed with him. This is the correct view, so long as there is no 
    evidence that this is a unique case. 

    We have referred above to the view of Imam al-Baghawi who 
    said that there should be no kissing on the mouth. Shaykh Ibn Muflih 
    explained the reason for that in al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah (2/275) where 
    he said: 

    It is makrooh to kiss on the mouth, because it is rarely done 
    out of respect. 

    And it seems to me that there is another reason, which is 
    that it is not narrated that the salaf did that; if it were good they would 
    have done it before us. How well the poet spoke when he said: 

    All goodness is in following those who came before and all 
    evil is in the innovations of those who came later. 

    Al-Silsilah al-Saheeh, vol. 6, 
    section 1 (305-307). 

    And the Shaykh also said: 

    With regard to kissing the hand, there are many ahaadeeth and 
    reports concerning that, which when taken together indicate that this is 
    proven from the Messenger of Allaah  (peace and blessings of Allaah be 
    upon him). We think that it is permissible to kiss the hand of the scholar 
    if the following conditions are met: 

    1.That it does not become a 
    custom to such an extent that the scholar habitually stretches out his hand 
    to his students and they habitually seek blessing by kissing his hand, 
    because although the hand of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah 
    be upon him) was kissed, that happened rarely, and such matters cannot be 
    taken as a Sunnah to be done regularly, as is well known from the basic 
    principles of fiqh.

    2.That should not make the 
    scholar feel arrogant towards others or admire himself, as happens among 
    many shaykhs nowadays.

    3.That should not lead to 
    abandoning any well known Sunnah, such as shaking hands, which is prescribed 
    because of the words and actions of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of 
    Allaah be upon him) and is a shar’i means of the sins of those who shake 
    hands being erased, as is narrated in more than one hadeeth. It is not 
    permissible to supercede it or ignore it for another habit which, at best, 
    is permissible.

    Al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 1/302. 

    Secondly: 

    With regard to bowing, that is not permissible when meeting 
    anyone, whether he is a scholar or not. 

    Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: 

    With regard to bowing when meeting, it is forbidden as it is 
    narrated in al-Tirmidhi that they asked the Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) about a man who meets his brother and bows 
    to him. He said: “No, because it is not permissible to bow or prostrate to 
    anyone except Allaah, may He be glorified. That may have been done by way of 
    greeting under a law other than ours, as in the story of Yoosuf – “…and 
    they fell down before him prostrate. And he said: “O my father! This is the 
    interpretation of my dream aforetime!”  [Yoosuf 12:100].  

    But in our sharee’ah it is not permissible to prostrate to 
    anyone except Allaah. Indeed it is forbidden to stand as the Persians used 
    to stand for one another – so what about bowing and prostrating? And a 
    slight bow (as opposed to the full bow as in prayer) is also included in 
    this prohibition. 

    Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 1/377 

    And he said: 

    With regard to lowering one's head before the senior shaykhs 
    or kissing the ground etc, these are matters concerning which there is no 
    dispute among the imams that they are haraam. Indeed, simply bowing to 
    anyone other than Allaah is forbidden. In al-Musnad and elsewhere it 
    is narrated that when Mu’aadh ibn Jabal (may Allaah be pleased with him) 
    came back from Syria he prostrated to the Prophet  (peace and blessings 
    of Allaah be upon him) and he said: “What is this, O Mu’aadh?” he said: “O 
    Messenger of Allaah, I saw them in Syria prostrating to their bishops and 
    patriarchs, and they narrated that from their Prophets.” He said, “They are 
    lying, O Mu’aadh. If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone else I 
    would have told the women to prostrate to their husbands because of the 
    greatness of their rights over them. O Mu’aadh, do you think that if you 
    pass by my grave you will prostrate?” He said, “No.” He said: “Do not do 
    that.” 

    In conclusion, standing, sitting, bowing and prostrating are 
    all due to the One God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Whatever 
    is a right only for Allaah, no one else can have a share in it, such as 
    swearing by anyone other than Allaah etc. 

    Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 27/92, 93. 

    The scholars of the Standing Committee said:  

    It is not permissible to bow when greeting or to take off 
    one's shoes for someone. 

    And they said: 

    It is not permissible to bow in greeting to a Muslim or to a 
    kaafir, not with the upper part of the body or with the head, because bowing 
    is an act of worship and worship can only be done for Allaah alone. 

    Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq 
    ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Qa’ood. 

    Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 
    1/233, 234 

    And Allaah knows best.