Ruling on shaking hands with a Jewish or Christian man after meetings

 

Recently i got a job and work amongst alot of jewish people. As i have to attend meetings with these people i often end up shaking hands of jewish men is this allowed?? Some jewish men know i am muslim and therfore at times dont shake my hand and at those times i am happy.. But is it allowed to shake their hands or not, to show respect?.

Praise be to Allaah.

The saheeh Sunnah indicates that it is not permissible to
initiate the greeting with the Jews and Christians, as Muslim narrated in
his Saheeh (2167) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)
that the Messenger of Allah (blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
““Do not initiate the greeting with the Jews or Christians.” 

The Sunnah indicates that we should respond to them when they
greet us, as al-Bukhaari (6257) and Muslim (2164) narrated from ‘Abdullah
ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When the Jews greet you,
one of them says ‘al-saam ‘alaykum (death be upon you).’ So say: ‘wa
‘alayk (and also upon you).” [NB: The Jews of Madinah played with the
words to insult the Muslims] 

The same may also be said about shaking hands: we should not
initiate shaking hands with a kaafir, but if he holds his hand out, we shake
his hand. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ibn
al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If this reason no longer
applies, and the kitaabi (i.e., Jew or Christian) says, Peace be upon you
and the mercy of Allah [i.e., it is a sincere greeting], then fairness
dictates that we should respond with a similar greeting.

End quote from Ahkaam Ahl adh-Dhimmah, 1/200 

In Saheeh al-Bukhaari it is narrated from Ibn ‘Umar
(may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: “When the Jews greet you, they say, ‘as-saam
‘alaykum (death be upon you),’ so say, ‘And also upon you.’” If he holds
his hand out to you, then reach out and shake his hand, otherwise do not
initiate it.” End quote. 

For the quotation in full, please see the answer to question
no. 43154. See also question
no. 59879. 

And Allah knows best.