The Ruling on Correspondence Between Young Men and Young Women

Question : This is a questioner who says: What is the ruling in the Shari'ah, in your view, regarding correspondence between young men and young women, knowing that this correspondence is free from open sinfulness and romantic attachment? I ask the Honorable Shaykh to answer this question.

Answer : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. Correspondence between young men and young women is forbidden because it is a close means to lewdness and what is wrong. And Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: He did not say "do not commit zina," but rather He prohibited approaching zina. So whatever is a cause or a means to zina, even if it is zina of speech and the tongue, it is forbidden. It is not permissible for young men and young women to have correspondence between them. But whoever wants to marry a woman, let him propose to her family to take her in marriage, and then the marriage is completed in the manner prescribed by the Shari'ah.