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What is the ruling on looking at the shadow of unveiled women, when semen is emitted with desire, and what is the ruling on reading judgments between spouses with desire?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Looking at a shadow is not the same as looking at the reality itself. There is no evidence to prohibit looking at it unless it is accompanied by an unlawful lust. The ruling on looking is tied to temptation (fitnah) and lust. Anything that leads to such is prohibited. Ibn Abidin stated that looking is prohibited out of fear of temptation and lust. Some scholars have stipulated that looking at an image of awrah (private parts) is prohibited, just as looking at the awrah itself is prohibited. If looking is intended to cause ejaculation, then it falls under the ruling of masturbation. As for reciting legal rulings between spouses with lust, there is no harm in it as long as it is between spouses, unless it leads to a religiously forbidden act.

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

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