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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Your Questions Answered (volume 6) Q. 30: Love Letters Our children accept that boys and girls should not freely mingle; yet they assert that if keeping within the bounds of shari 'ah they wrote to each other and communicated their feelings, what is wrong with that??!! In other words love letters do not matter! Can you please look into the same and with your wealth of ahadith etc. can we give them some beneficial advice on this issue? A.

Before deciding whether there is anything wrong in love letters or not, let us ask them how these "feelings" began in the first place. Was it not because they had been looking at each other with lustful eyes? These youths must know that there is hijab of eyes as well as of the dress. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta 'ala says: "Say unto the believer men that they cast down their gaze and guard their private parts; that is purer for them. Verily Allah is well-Aware of what you do.

And say unto the believing women that they cast down their gaze and guard their private parts, and their display not their zinat…."(Qur'an, 24:30-31). The believer men must cast down their gaze and believer women must cast down their gaze. None is allowed to look at the opposite sex, unless he or she is within the prohibited degree (mahram). As the man is required to struggle for earning the livelihood, he is not told to hide his body (except to a certain extent).

Still he is obliged to cast down his gaze; and not to look at a Ghair Mahram woman. Woman can easily keep herself covered and hidden because her sphere of activity is her home; therefore, she was told to cover her entire body, as well as cast down her gaze and not to look at a Ghair Mahram man. There are many ahadith which say that:- "Glance is a poisoned arrow from the arrows of Shaitan".

"Beware of glance because it sows lust in the heart of the glancer, and enough is it for a mischief." Another hadith says that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) said: "Whoever fills his eyes looking at a women unlawfully, Allah will raise him on the day of resurrection with nails of fire driven in (his eyes), until judgement is given concerning the whole mankind; then he will be ordered to be driven into the Fire." Numerous Ahadith declare that the glance after the 1st glance is an arrow of Shaitan; and is Haram.

Our boys and girls should ponder on these verses and traditions, in order to realize that wearing hijab or scarf is not a licence to look freely at the opposite sex.