Tirmidhi

Explanation:
1:
O believers! When believing women come to you (having migrated from Mecca), then examine them. Allah already knows their faith, but if you ascertain that they are truly believing women, then do not return them to the disbelievers. They are not lawful for the disbelievers, nor are the disbelievers lawful for them (al-Mumtahanah: 10). The meaning of examining them is to determine whether they have come as disbelievers, or out of anger with their husbands, or having fallen in love with a Muslim. And even when it is established (that they are believers), according to the clause of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, these women cannot be returned, because a Muslim woman is forbidden for a disbelieving man (even though men may be returned).

2:
This indicates that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to take the pledge (bay‘ah) from women verbally. In some narrations, it is mentioned that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) placed his hand upon their hands and took the pledge, but most of these are mursal (narrations with a missing link). It is also possible that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) placed a barrier (such as a thick cloth, etc.) between his hand and theirs, as is mentioned in some narrations (this is not in the version of al-Albani, and it is weak due to Abu Nasr al-Asadi, who is unknown).

Hadith Commentary:

In the hadith of Umm Atiyyah radi Allahu anha, it is mentioned that she extended her hand from outside the house and we (the women) from inside the house; even from this, the permissibility of shaking hands (musafahah) is not established.

Similarly, in another narration, it is mentioned that a woman withdrew her hand; from this too, the permissibility of shaking hands is not established. And Abu Dawud has narrated in his Marasil from Sha’bi that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam placed a sheet over his hand and said, “I do not shake hands with women.” After seeing these hadiths, any spiritual guide (murshid) who shakes hands with women when accepting them as disciples (murid) is an innovator (mubtadi’) and in opposition to the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Likewise, any murshid who allows non-mahram female disciples to come to him in a state of immodesty—such as with their head or chest uncovered—is not a true murshid, but rather a misguider, a brother of Satan.

(Wahidi)

Most of those who have become professional spiritual guides (pir/murshid) are in this very state: they consider themselves exempt from the Shari’ah rulings regarding women, such as the commands of veiling (hijab), and see no fault in mixing freely with them without hijab. Regarding such spiritual guides, Mawlana Rumi has said:

“Kaar-e-Shaytan mi kunad naamash wali
Gar wali een ast la’nat bar wali”

“That is, how many people who do the work of Satan are called saints (wali); if such people are saints, then may the curse of Allah be upon such saints.”

Ameen

Hadith Commentary:
When the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was concluded, one of its conditions was that if any Muslim came from Mecca to Medina, the Muslims would be obliged to return him to the disbelievers. Under this condition, the Muslims did return some Muslims to the disbelievers upon their demand. During this period, when Umm Kulthum bint Utbah radi Allahu anha migrated to Medina, the disbelievers demanded her return as well. However, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not accept this demand of the disbelievers as valid, because according to the wording of the condition, women were exempted from this stipulation. However, the Muslims were obliged to investigate the women who migrated to them: whether they were truly Muslims, whether they had left their homeland solely for the sake of Islam, and whether any worldly or personal desire was not the cause of their migration. Was it not that they had quarreled with their husbands, become weary of domestic disputes, or migrated merely for travel or any other purpose?

When the women succeeded in this inquiry, then under no circumstances were they to be returned to the disbelievers. Thus, it is explicitly mentioned in the hadith that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam himself would question these emigrant women.

Hadith Commentary:
Since there was no mention of women in the conditions of the treaty, when the issue of women arose, a command was revealed in the Noble Qur’an itself that women should not be handed over to the polytheists. This does not entail a violation of the treaty, provided that you are certain that these women have left their homes solely for the sake of faith and Islam, with complete faith.