The Office of the Supreme Leader

Eying Prospective Wife

question| Is a man intending to marry a woman allowed to see the woman he wishes to marry without her usual cover (ḥijāb)—which she is otherwise supposed to wear in the presence of non-maḥram men—in order to verify her physical features?
answer| If there are no potential obstacles that would prevent the man from marrying the woman, if he is otherwise prepared to marry the woman should he like her physical appearance, and if he believes that seeing her without the usual Islamic cover would help him make a better decision in this relation, he is allowed to see her without her Islamic cover, but he must avoid eying her lustfully, and if a single look is sufficient, he is prohibited from taking a second look.
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