The Quest of a Curious Muslim — Page 66
WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY ABOUT PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS? 66 Can men and women be just friends? In many cases, the answer is no. Sometimes that is a good thing, when both people see friendship as a step to mutually-satisfying love, sex, and/or commitment. At other times, men and women cannot be just friends because only one friend desires something more. Those mismatched desires between men and women lead to unequal friend-zone situations, where one person’s needs are completely satisfied at the other’s expense. Those unfortunate instances and the frustrations around them are the friendship problems we hear so much about. 42 The fact of the matter is that research clearly indicates that such friendships are extremely dangerous and can easily turn to adultery. The Islamic position is quite clear, as the Quran notes: و َ ﻻ َ ﺗ َ ﻘ ۡ ﺮ َ ﺑ ُ ﻮ ا ا ﻟ ﺰ ّ ِ ىن ٰ ٓ ا ِ ﻧ 7 ﻪ ٗ اك َ ن َ ﻓ َ ﺎ ﺣ ِ ﺸ َ ﺔ ً ؕ و َ ﺳ َ ﺎ ٓ ء َ ﺳ َ ﺒ ِ ﻴ ۡ ﻼ ً ﴿ ٣٣ ﴾ That is, “And come not near unto adultery; surely, it is a foul thing and an evil way” (17:33). There is no doubt that a certain number of individuals can