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What is the ruling on a mother kissing her son or daughter, or another's child, on the mouth in front of people?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Kissing a young child out of mercy and compassion is recommended. Prophetic traditions have affirmed this, such as the Prophet's (peace be upon him) kissing of Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn, and his saying: "Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy." The 기본 rule is the permissibility of kissing a young child on any part of their body unless it is awrah (private parts). It is reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) sucked the tongue or lips of Al-Hasan. A condition for the permissibility of kissing is that it must not be with desire. If the child has reached an age where they might be desired, then kissing them with desire is forbidden. Kissing an adult on the mouth is specific to spouses. There is no difference in permissibility between kissing in front of people or away from them, unless it leads to suspicion, in which case one must refrain from it to ward off accusation.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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