Generator said:
You must admit that that does seem quite strange, physician - surely young people of the Islamic faith should be able to mingle freely (mingle, not become sexually active... I'm not going to get into that now) with members of the opposite sex before they commit to a marriage?
What is the reason for not allowing a young man or woman to 'date', if you don't mind the question?
I can admit that to a person of Non-Muslim faith ( or non-practicing Muslim) it would seem strange, but No! I dont find it strange at all!
Thats what we believe engagements are for, when u get engaged u can start 'dating' that person (of course this dating has its guidelines), and get to know each other, if u find that shes the right person for u and vice versa, then u can get married!
Mingling can mean/refer to, a few different things, so im not quite sure how i should go about answering that questions!
However, i can provide u with a hadith (saying of the Prophet peace be upon him) that indicates the impermissibility of a man and women being alone together without being accompanied by a male from the females family (by male family member here i mean father, grandfather, brother...etc).. (and by being alone, it doesnt only refer to male and female being alone in a room for example, but also refers to being (for example) at the movies with a guy who isnt family (refer above for what i mean when i say 'family')
`Umar quotes the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as saying:
“Not one of you should meet a woman alone unless she is accompanied by a relative Mahram” (Reported by Bukhari and Muslim).
In Islam a women whom ur not married to is considered "unlawful" (is that the word?) for u to "date" or the like!
and if u want to know why a male and female are not permitted to be in a room alone then read this hadith:
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is also quoted as saying:
“Whenever a man is alone with a woman, Satan is the third among them” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi)
And reading the folowing verses:
[size=+2]"[/size]Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And God is well acquainted with all that they do.
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[size=+2]"[/size]And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards God, that ye may attain Bliss.
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Surah 24 Verses 30 - 31
if lowering our gaze is what we as Muslims should do, then i hardly think Islam would permit dating, and indeed it doesnt (well duh! u already know that i guess)
I dont think ive answered the qestion to the sufficiency u may have liked/wanted, although I'd like to read into alot of this myself, theres still alot to learn about Islam, but neverthless, i think my response should give u a brief indication of why dating isnt permitted...
(oh and by the way, i actualy typed up a response about half an hour ago, but my finger slipped and it disappeared... meh!)
EDIT: hmm I guess Kulazzi and Tempco already beat me to it!