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Is it permissible for the suitor to see his fiancée before her family's approval of him? And is it permissible for him to see her more than once, and to what extent may he see of her?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is sunnah for a man, if he intends to marry and expects his proposal to be accepted, to look at the woman for what encourages him to marry her, without her permission or the permission of her guardians. He may repeat the gaze until the purpose is achieved, then he should stop. Jurists have differed regarding what parts of her body he is permitted to look at. Most of them have gone with the opinion of looking at the face and hands, and this is the most preponderant view, because the Lawgiver intended to prevent harm and remove ignorance from the suitor. This is achieved by looking at the face, which indicates beauty, and the hands, which indicate the body's fertility. For the gaze to be permissible, it is stipulated that he intends marriage and is determined to pursue it, and that he expects his proposal to be accepted.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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