Ruling concerning wearing hijaab in the presence of the son-in-law

Question: Some women wear hijaab in front of their son-in-laws and they refuse to greet them by shaking their hands. Is this allowed for them or not?

Response: The son-in-law is a mahram for the woman due to marriage. It is allowed for him to see of her what he can see of his mother, sister, daughter and other mahram women. Covering her face, hair, forearms and so forth from her son-in-law is a type of extremism in the religion. Refusing to shake his hand when meeting him is also a kind of extremism. That may lead to hard feelings and cutting off of relations between them. Therefore, she should not be extreme in this matter, unless she has some suspicion about him or she does not like the way he looks at her. In that case, what she is doing is acceptable.

And with Allaah lies all success and may Allaah send prayers and salutations upon our Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) and his family and his companions.

The Permanent Committee for Islaamic Research and Fataawa
Fataawa al-Mar.ah