May Allah The Almighty reward you immensely for your hard work and efforts. I have a doubt regarding an issue, and so I need an answer to it, I want to know that is it haram for me to chat with a brother from time to time if he helps me and advices me in religion. This brother lives in my neighborhood, he is a practicing Muslim MashaAllah hes married and also has a child. While Im not married and so when ever a marriage proposal comes for me and I feel that there is something about the proposing brother which I did not understand like for example his aqeedah, or his madhab, or either he is following the Quran and the Sunnah in the right way, or is he indulged in biddah, or if a proposal comes for me from a brother who belongs to a certain sect or group I just log on to my computer and tell this brother about the proposals and ask for his advises as MashaAllah he has good knowledge of deen and hes from Ahle sunnah wal jammah and also because I have no one in my family to advice me with what is right and what is wrong as none of them is practicing SubhanAllah, so chatting with him at times really helps, specially when it comes to proposals. It has been quite some time since Im chatting with him, almost a year and I have never experienced anything bad from his behavior, its not that I chat with him daily or so, but do talk with him when required, like once in three months, or depends on with how much gap a proposal has come to me, but I dont know why all of a sudden this doubt has come in my mind that whether I am doing right by discussing all of this with him or not? I\'m confused what shall I do?
Alhamdu-li-llah wa as-Salatu wa as-Salamu 'ala Rasool-il-llah,
If there is a knowledgeable person in a neighborhood, and he is known to be so, amongst the Muslims, then Muslims, males and females may ask him and seek his counsel.
It is expected, though, that the questions, most of the time, will be asked at the masjid after a lecture or any other function. If it is difficult to do that, I still don't find a need to chat when such questions can be sent via e-mail. You should limit the interactions with foreign men to the needed ones, and whenever the need can be fulfilled with a less direct interaction, then the more direct or personal one is to be avoided.
Finally, your concern is sufficient to make you more conservative in this regard. The Prophet ï² said,
” دَعْ مَا يُرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لاَ يُرِيبُكَ؛ قَالَ الْخَيْرُ طُمَأْنِينَةٌ وَالشَّرُّ رِيبَةٌ ”
صحيح ابن حبان
Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt; Goodness is a source of serenity and wickedness is a source of suspicion.” [Reported by Ibn Hibbaan]
Allah knows best.