Looking at the picture of the prospective bride
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A questioner says: If a man wants to propose to a woman, is it permissible for him to look at a picture of the prospective bride if it is difficult to see her directly?
Answer:
It is not permissible to take pictures or use them; this is a forbidden means. Only that which is necessitated by dire necessity is permissible regarding pictures, and this is not a case of dire necessity. He can ask women about her, and he can wait for her and look at her while she is unaware. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A questioner says: If a man wants to propose to a woman, is it permissible for him to look at a picture of the prospective bride if it is difficult to see her directly?
Answer:
It is not permissible to take pictures or use them; this is a forbidden means. Only that which is necessitated by dire necessity is permissible regarding pictures, and this is not a case of dire necessity. He can ask women about her, and he can wait for her and look at her while she is unaware. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب ما جاء في أم الولد — islamhouse.com (35:18)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.