Aslamu alykum can i add girls on facebook as friends because they were my classmates? if i only add them as a friend and never chat with them is this allowed? question 2 can i see my cousin sisters? i live in a joint family. question 3 when i was in 10 class i had seen something wrong. now people ask me that have you seen this ever. i reply in affirmative. people : you have also seen this and you are stoping us saying it Haram now what can i do? jazakAllah khairun

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

A man adding women to his Facebook account or other social networking websites could lead to having conversations with them and conversation with them could lead to being tempted by them and so he could lose faith because of it. It is obligatory to block the means that lead to religious violations. The means are not deemed forbidden in and of themselves but it is a concern that they could lead the person to commit what is prohibited.

The obligation of blocking the means that lead to religious violations has been emphasized in the Quran and the Sunnah. Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {And do not insult those they invoke other than Allaah, lest they insult Allaah in enmity without knowledge.} [Quran 6:108] Allaah prohibited insulting the idols of the infidels lest they answer in kind.

Moreover, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade Muslims from making statues for pious people who pass away or building mosques over their graves for fear that this would lead to some people worshipping them.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 127913 and 254359.

As for the second question, it is impermissible for a Muslim man to gaze at a non-Mahram woman, whether she is a relative or not; please refer to Fatwa 19023. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, stressed the danger of laxness in adhering to the Islamic conduct of manners and morals governing male-female interactions within one’s family more than within the broader community. It was related on the authority of ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Aamir that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “"Beware of entering upon women.” A man from the Ansaar said, “O Messenger of Allaah, what about the in-laws of the wife (i.e. the brothers of her husband or his nephews etc.)?” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: “The in-laws of the wife are death.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Living within an extended family in one house is not an excuse for committing religious violations and neglecting the Islamic manners of conduct governing male-female interactions.

As for the third question, it is impermissible for a Muslim to disclose his sins and misdeeds to anyone. It is incumbent on the Muslim to conceal his evil deeds. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Every one of my followers will be forgiven except those who expose (openly) their wrongdoings.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Someone may make use of double meanings (Tawriyah), which is deliberate ambiguity or equivocation (i.e. saying something which has more than one meaning and intending a meaning different from what the listener is likely to understand), when the need arises. If you are asked about the sins you have committed, you may answer in the negative while intending that you have not committed them after repentance. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 90618.

It is quite odd that some people would argue that a certain action is not impermissible because someone has done it; the permissibility of actions is determined by the Sharee‘ah, and it is not people’s actions that determine the Sharee‘ah. Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {And in anything over which you disagree – its ruling is [to be referred] to Allaah. [Say], “That is Allaah, my Lord; upon Him I have relied, and to Him I turn back.”} [Quran 42:10]

The ignorance of such people renders it is even necessary to resort to Tawriyah instead of telling them the truth.

Allaah Knows best.