Can we have a girlfriend in Islam?

Question 30943 :
Aslm…Can we have a girlfriend??
Is it acceptable in Islam?? I love a girl and I want to marry her but my parents don’t know if I love that girl. For this one of my friends is passing my message to my girlfriend!        Is it HALAL?? Ma’asslm.
Answer:
Bismilahir-Rahmanir-Raheem.
Islam teaches us that a male and female can build up a good relationship founded on marriage. All those stories of media and movies are not helpful in making a person comply with the teachings of Islam. As far as male and female interaction is concerned, Islam dictates strict rules: It forbids all forms of ‘dating’ and isolating oneself from a member of the opposite sex, as well as indiscriminate mingling and mixing.              Islam strictly prohibits adultery and blocks all doors that may lead to it. In this context, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, considered hungry and lustful looks at a person of the opposite sex as “the Zina of the eye,” according to his saying,            “The eyes also commit Zina, and their Zina is the lustful look.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari) Actually, when Islam prohibits something, it closes all the avenues of approach to it.    This is achieved by prohibiting every step and every means leading to the Haram (unlawful). Accordingly, whatever excites passions, opens ways for illicit sexual relations between a man and a woman, and promotes indecency and obscenity, is Haram.” Allah says in the Quran chapter 24-Light (An-Nr), verse 21: “ O ye who believe! Follow not Satan`s footsteps: if any will follow the footsteps of Satan, he will (but) command what is indecent and wrong. “ Also in chapter 2-The Cow (Al-Baqarah), verse 208: “O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy. Muslims should have good relations with all people, males as well as females, at school, at work, in your neighborhood, etc. You should be kind and courteous to everyone. However, it is not allowed in Islam to take a non-mahram person or persons of the opposite gender as a very close friend. Such friendship often leads to haram. In the Qur’an, Allah mentioned that good men and women are those who marry, do not have fornicating relationships, and do not have “paramours” or Akhdan see An-Nisaa’: 25, Al-Ma’idah: 5). Akhdan are “sweethearts” or for a man a “mistress” and for a woman a “lover”. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have stated that “whenever two strangers of the opposite gender are alone with each other, Satan becomes the third one between them.” (At-Tirmidhi)” So it is not allowed for a Muslim boy to have a girlfriend or for a Muslim girl to have a boyfriend. Howsoever pure your intentions may be, the danger is that it will lead you to sin. Or at least you will be alone with each other and spend more time together. Thus, you should be friendly with your classmates, boys and girls both; but do not take a girl as your intimate friend.        Of course, homosexuality is also forbidden in Islam. So do not take a boy either as your intimate friend in the “gay sense” of the word.
If your friend, not your girlfriend, is interested in Islam, by all means, help her to become Muslim. Give her the Islamic books and ask her to attend Islamic meetings and lectures. Let her accept Islam by her own will. Do not force her or put any pressure on her to become Muslim. May Allah bless you and keep you on the right path. Shedding more light on this, the eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hanooti, a member of the North American Fiqh Council, states:
A friendship with the opposite sex is not of Islam. It used to be of the Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era) style of life. A friendship between the two sexes can never be safe or sex-free. I agree that in some exceptional cases, it could be innocent. However, a law is usually amended for social regulations. There is no law to be customized for a certain person or a few people. The Qur’an and Sunnah guidance for the sexes dealing with each other has a major issue for which Islam has set principles and rules to govern. It is the desire and lust. The Qur’an prohibits anything that motivates one’s heart in a seductive way towards the other. The Qur’an tells a woman when she speaks to a man to speak in a way that doesn’t show any interest in him lest he should feel seduced to build up an unhealthy relationship. If there is a possibility that any kind of action could lead by some percentage to catastrophe, no one will ever take that risk. I can say what you call friendship could have some percentage of leading into haram. How would you go to that risk if a doctor says to you an operation on a certain organ could lead you to death?     You would say I don’t want to risk my life, but I will take the pain. Wassalam and Allah know best. Source: /www.islamicity.org/qa/