❀ Boundaries of Looking at a Fiancée in Islam ❀
This fatwa is derived from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women,” which is based on the rulings of the scholars of the Ḥaramayn and translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
Is it permissible for a man to look at body parts other than the face and hands—such as the hair and chest—of the woman he intends to marry?
What appears to be correct to me (and Allah knows best) is that it is permissible, provided that the act of looking is not part of a pre-arranged, formal appointment.
This is supported by the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:
«وَإِذَا أُلْقِيَ فِي قَلْبِ أَحَدِكُمْ خِطْبَةُ امْرَأَةٍ فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَى مَا يَدْعُوهُ إِلَى نِكَاحِهَا»
“When any of you feels inclined in his heart to propose to a woman, then let him look at that which will encourage him to marry her.”
[Ḥasan – Sunan Abī Dāwūd, ḥadīth no. 2082]
However, if the meeting is pre-arranged, then in that case, it is only permissible to look at the face and hands—nothing beyond that.
(Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī رحمه الله)
This fatwa is derived from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women,” which is based on the rulings of the scholars of the Ḥaramayn and translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
❖ Question:
Is it permissible for a man to look at body parts other than the face and hands—such as the hair and chest—of the woman he intends to marry?
❖ Answer:
What appears to be correct to me (and Allah knows best) is that it is permissible, provided that the act of looking is not part of a pre-arranged, formal appointment.
This is supported by the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:
«وَإِذَا أُلْقِيَ فِي قَلْبِ أَحَدِكُمْ خِطْبَةُ امْرَأَةٍ فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَى مَا يَدْعُوهُ إِلَى نِكَاحِهَا»
“When any of you feels inclined in his heart to propose to a woman, then let him look at that which will encourage him to marry her.”
[Ḥasan – Sunan Abī Dāwūd, ḥadīth no. 2082]
However, if the meeting is pre-arranged, then in that case, it is only permissible to look at the face and hands—nothing beyond that.
(Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī رحمه الله)
