Zeinab  Al-`Alawani, Instructor of Fiqh and Islamic Studies, Graduate school of Islamic and Social Sciences, states the following: “It is unfortunate that some of Muslim youth are taking this issue leniently these days. Chatting involves a lot of other relevant subjects: the exchange of emotions through text messages, imagining the other person while chatting, talking to non-mahram and sometimes exchange of pictures, getting to know each other, etc.. Each of these has it’s own rules that regulate it. If the chat is for a valid need, such as getting to know each other in an engagement period, then it explainable. But to chat with an opposite gender for no reason is, in my view, forbidden and has to be avoided. You should not forget that the process does not involve talking only; the chatting partners develop thoughts of each other, express their emotions, and the adab of talking to non-mahram are usually disregarded. So I am personally of the view that we have to block this avenue that might lead to undesirable consequences.”