Communicating before Marriage

I wanted to ask a scholar’s point of view in terms of proper Islamic etiquette in regards to marriage. Is it proper to talk to someone through e-mail in regards to marriage?

I’ve been asked by a sister if I could give my e-mail address to a brother who is looking for someone to marry. He has not seen me, nor do I know who he is. Now, she says maybe I should discuss through e-mail and then we could meet publicly at a conference or a masjid. And if we seem to look okay and our interaction through e-mail was good we could move forward..Wallahu ta’ala Alam.

But my response was…I don’t think I should get involved i.e. talk through e-mail if he hasn’t seen me or if parents aren’t involved. Is that okay? Does it make sense to do that?

What you have done is actually correct and more proper. I believe that the parents have to be involved early in the process.

Emailing can lead to undesired consequences. But it can happen after he officially approaches your parents just so you get to know each other well.

And Allah knows best

Sh. Riad Ouarzazi