Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alaikum islam help line,

i am writing this mail to clear some doubs which i am having and i am confused abt my life.

2 years before i met a girl in a chatroom who is also a muslim, basically she is from india but presently residing in saudi arabia.

when i met her on chat we talked with each other, i found her totally innocent, a good girl with good morals the time when i met she was 17 years and i was 21 years, we used to talk for many hours. i got to know abt her nature i felt deeply attached to her even her we fall in love.

But we dint have any sought of vulgur chat we used to respect each other. i decided to marry this girl i kept this proposal in front of her and she agreed. she also loves me very much, and i am ready to go along with my parents and talk to her father for her hand.

what i wanted to know is have i commited any sin, we both have good intentions and we want to get married and setteled when she completes her graduation means when she will be at 22 years. can u guide me, as i want to show this mails reply to her also, looking for your reply.

Allah Hafiz. 

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Answer:

Is chatting a sin?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Islam does not prohibit talking to non-mehram members of the opposite sex, if one has a genuine need or necessity. Thus there is no harm in talking on the phone or writing on the internet, etc. with a non-mehram member of the opposite sex, if one has an absolute genuine need. But one must fear Allah and be absolutely careful to engage, talk, ask or reply in a business-like and professional manner, and not in some casual, personal or ‘soft’ tone, giving rise to any desires, etc.

Prohibition to engage in a conversation with a non-mehram member of the opposite sex has more to do with the content of the talk. It is absolutely prohibited in Islam for a non-mehram man and woman to talk or ‘chat’, where the topics involved are casual, vain or lewd in its essence.

Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 3118 Narrated byUmar ibn al-Khattab

The Prophet (saws) said, "Whenever a man is alone with a (non-mehram) woman, the Shaitaan is the third."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) warned that when a non-mehram man and woman are alone (either physically or in conversation through modern technology), the Shaitaan is the third amongst them! And the mission of the Shaitaan, the avowed enemy of man, is make him disobey his Lord and Creator!

Your Question: what i wanted to know is have i commited any sin,

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5: This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers but chaste women among the People of the Book revealed before your time, when ye give them their due dowers and desire chastity not lewdness nor secret intrigues. If anyone rejects faith fruitless is his work and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).

The casual chatting of two non-mehram members of the opposite sex would be considered developing a relationship, and such lewdness and secret intrigues are indeed a sin in the Sight of the Lord.

When a believer, who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day realizes he has committed a sin, he immediately puts a stop to his transgression and turns back to his Lord seeking sincere forgiveness; it is expected that he will find his Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54: (O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136: Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54: When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan