Would it Be Permissible For Me to Continue Learning Arabic With a Female Teacher After Having Developed Feelings For Her?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I’m a male, and I’m taking online classes to learn the Arabic language with a female teacher around my age. I don’t take the classes in seclusion, I take them on a computer near my family members. I try to keep my gaze lowered, and I simply ask questions and focus on the lesson. I want to ask if this is okay. What are some things that I should avoid talking about?

I’ll be honest, I have developed feelings for her, but I don’t talk about that with her, I just focus on the lessons and keep my gaze lowered. Is it wrong for me to continue the lessons if I am not in seclusion with her and I simply try to focus on the lessons only? I want to keep learning with her because she’s taught me a lot. Please let me know, I am confused.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

It will not be permissible for you to continue learning from her, having now developed feelings for her, despite taking precautions, lowering your gaze, and family members sitting nearby. See the link below for the conditions to learn from the opposite gender.

You may respectfully discontinue and pay her for the teaching and find an alternative teacher wherein you can engage face to face, which should help you in your language learning effectively. SeekersGuidance has a two-track Arabic learning curriculum, and it is all free.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Related Answers

• Is It Permissible for a Man To Learn Qur’an From a Woman? – SeekersGuidance
• What Is the Etiquette to Follow for a Woman Towards a Male Teacher? (Habib Umar) – SeekersGuidance
• I Like a Girl: Controlling One’s Interactions & Feelings – SeekersGuidance
• Gender Interaction Archives – SeekersGuidance
• A Reader On Gender Interaction – SeekersGuidance

Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course from the Arabic Language Curriculum (seekersguidance.org)

Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.