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Fatwa CenterNo Specification in the Sharee’ah about Closeness of Distance between a Man and a Woman
Question
assalamualaikum, i want to ask about surah al isra : 32 "Do not go near adultery. It is truly a shameful deed and an evil way."The word "near" is to what extent it is forbidden to approach non-mahram men or women? because when we talk about "near" there will certainly be many meanings. When can a situation be said to be "near adultery" and no, thank you
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Regarding the mentioned verse, the scholars of Tafseer (interpretation of the Quran) have stated that it contains a prohibition of getting near to Zina (fornication or adultery) as a warning to avoid all means that could lead to Zina, such as (forbidden) looking, being alone with a non-Mahram woman, and the like, because Satan takes advantage of that and leads the person to Zina. Allah Says (what means): {O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of Satan; whoever follows the footsteps of Satan, he only enjoins indecency and evil acts.} [Quran 24:21]
'Umar 
narrated that the Prophet said: “There is absolutely no man who stays in seclusion with a woman except that the devil is their third companion.” [Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi]
Supposedly that the meaning of the question is the closeness of distance between a man and a woman, then if that is the case, we do not know a specific distance from the Sharee’ah between a man and a woman that can be ruled if it exists that they are both distant from each other and that what is less than it is the closeness that is forbidden. However, what is Islamically required is the distance that prevents temptation without burdening oneself. It has been proven in the Sunnah that women used to pray in the mosque behind men without a barrier and the Prophet explained that the best of these rows [i.e., of women] is the last row because it is further away from the men and the worst is the first row because it is close to them [i.e., to the men].
The women used to walk in the middle of the road, so the Prophet forbade them from that and ordered them to walk on the sides of the road so that they would not mix with men.
Allah knows best.
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