Can a man and a woman talk in private on the Internet to get to know each other for the sake of marriage? Is it the same as Khalwah?

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.

Basically, a relationship between a man and woman should be controlled by the Sharee’ah. In other words, it is forbidden for a man/woman to have a relationship outside marriage. A Muslim man/woman should not speak or write to the opposite sex as long as there is no need. In case of need to such a relationship, they (man and woman) should be governed by the Sharee’ah limitations and teachings, morals and good behavior so that they avoid any form of temptation.

In this vein, the Prophet warned us against the temptation by women saying: "I am not leaving behind a more harmful trial (cause of mischief) for men than women" [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Satan entices one to commit sins. So, a Muslim has to be careful of him.

Allah Says (what means): {O you who have believed, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan - indeed, he enjoins immorality and wrongdoing.} [Quran 24: 21]

So, whoever wants to marry has to seek information about the one whom he/she is going to marry, about his/her morals, family and especially about his/her adherence to religion. Here, we state that one cannot obtain such information and knowledge by Internet or anything like that (letter – phone, etc.).

Therefore, woman's/man's talking on the Interest is not allowed since he/she is a non-Mahram and this leads to temptation and makes people have doubts about your intentions. So, the best and safest way is to speak with her guardians about your interest, or you may send one of your female relatives to learn if she accepts you as her future husband.

We ask Allah to save us from committing misdeeds and to help us avoid devilish wiles.

Allah knows best.