DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
Dubai's mufti – or Islamic legal scholar – has ruled that chat rooms and video calls constitute 'illicit privacy' which could lead to sedition or fornication.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Haddad told Al-Arabiya.net that chat rooms, besides being a waste of time, encourage immoral talk which often leads to action of the same nature.
"These rooms are the dens of wrong-doers, and they give the same gratification as 'illicit privacy.' Islam always warns Muslims against wasting their lives on useless diversions."
Haddad says using chat rooms for marriage purposes is "a widespread evil." According to Haddad, prospective grooms should propose directly to a girl's parents and meet her in the accepted family context.
"Plus, if she talks to him on the Internet, she would talk to others as well. This is not the kind of wife he should want," the Islamic scholar said.
Dubai-based newspaper Emirates Today published a fatwa by Haddad in which he rules that video calls constitute 'illicit privacy' as well, as they too could arouse sexual desire.
"It's a device that brings people closer, and this undoubtedly is a sexual stimulant. If a man and a woman use it while each of them is in a private place and the woman is wearing a revealing outfit, they would desire each other."
But Haddad said if the girl is dressed decently and the conversation is devoid of any sexual insinuations, it would be tantamount to watching TV. "Hence, it is not forbidden," he added.
Haddad counseled women not to speak in a sexy tone on the phone because this arouses men: "Imagine if it's a video!"
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). |
