Looking at Mahram without desire

Question Summary

Is it permissible for a man to look at a Non-Mahram woman, aside from her awra, if done without desire?

Question Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It is permissible for a person to look at the non-awra parts of the opposite gender if there is no desire or reasonable fear of falling into desire. [Ala’ al-Din Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya]

Though the above is permissible, it is still best not to look except when necessary, or there is a clear benefit in doing so. To lower one’s gaze when there is no need or foreseeable benefit is recommended. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and some texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.