The Ruling on Seclusion and Travel Between the Fiancés Before the Marriage Contract

Question:
May Allah reward you. What is known in these times as the engagement and the engagement ceremonies—some people believe that it has an effect in permitting a certain type of relationship or establishing some kind of commitment. Do you have any guidance on this, Honorable Shaykh?

Answer:
Yes. The relationship does not occur except after the contract. The relationship between the spouses, and this seclusion, is not permissible except after the contract, because once he contracts with her, she becomes his wife. As for before the contract, with merely the proposal and the agreement, she is a stranger to him. It is forbidden for him to be alone with her or to make lawful from her what he makes lawful from his wife.
It is forbidden for the husband regarding his wife in this state; because she is a stranger to him. What some ignorant people or those who imitate the disbelievers do, such as accompanying her after the proposal and before the contract, or her traveling with him so that he can see, in their claim, her character—this is all from Shaytan. This is not permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that no man is to be alone with a woman except that the third of them is Shaytan. She is not lawful for him, and she is a stranger to him. It is not permissible for him to be alone with her, nor to travel with her, because he is a stranger to her. Yes. May Allah bless you. And many harms have resulted from this. Indeed, if a man is alone with a woman, what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against will certainly result from this. Yes. May Allah bless you.