Unrelated men, women can’t have online chat: Scholar

May 30, 2014

Riyadh, May 30: Chatting between unrelated males and females on social networking sites is forbidden in Islamic law, said Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, a member of the committee of senior scholars.

Al-Mutlaq said that having one-on-one chatting sessions is a form of “khulwa,” the Islamic term for free mixing, which he said is a gateway to sin. Al-Mutlaq’s statements came in response to a question asked on a Qur’an radio station.

He said some of these chats may get very personal, leading to inappropriate topics of conversation. Al-Mutlaq alluded to a Prophetic saying that asserts that “a man and a woman cannot unite without having Satan in their midst” to drive home his point. He urged both men and women to avoid the pitfalls of sin, which violate religious codes of conduct.

During the radio session, he cited incidents where women had virtually spoken to men on the Web to give advice on certain issues, only to have the men become attached to them. Some of these situations, he said, turned ugly.

Al-Mutlaq’s advice evoked several varied responses on Twitter.

Most of the sheikh’s followers on Twitter are women who debated the content of his “fatwa” (edict).

Many agreed with Al-Mutlaq, saying his point of view is similar to that of the late Sheikh Abdullah ibn Jibreen, who forbade Muslims from chatting with strangers on the premise that such exchanges would lead to temptation, and ultimately, sin.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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