Khamenei: Beware of watching non-Muslim women
In new web ruling, Iran's supreme leader warns of 'vile consequences' of looking at non-Muslim women
The question and answer session is the most recent in a series of online religious rulings made by the Islamic Republic's highest religious and political authority.
The questions sent in by readers cover a wide range of topics, and illustrate the intervention of the Iranian government in the everyday affairs of its citizens.
"Is it permissible to look at the body parts — excluding the two private areas — that a non-Muslim woman used to show? And in this regard is there a difference between seeing in the flesh or in movies?" a reader asked Khamenei.
"There is no objection to unintentional looking at the non-Muslim woman's body regarding the amount they are used to uncover," Khamenei said. He added: "Of course, It is even haram (forbidden) to intentionally look at that in case it is sexually exciting, is associated with fear of falling victim to that which is haram or leads to vile consequences."
Sexual intercourse with a Christian woman?
Another reader asked Khamenei whether he could hold sexual intercourse with a Christian woman who was still married: "I am a young man living in a foreign country. Sometime ago I contracted a temporary marriage with a Christian girl, but after a while I came to know that she was (already) married. What about my relationship with her?"
"…She is permanently forbidden for you no matter whether she finishes divorce matters in the court of law after that or not," Khamenei told the reader.
Another reader told Khamenei: "I heard that it is allowed to eat meat which has been slaughtered by a Jew, is it correct?"
"The meat of the animal slaughtered by a non-Muslim is not halal (permissible to eat) even though all other conditions required for Sharia (Islamic law) slaughtering are observed," the supreme leader said.
Khamenei also went on to rule against providing "children with musical instruments to be used in songs," and "singing/humming to oneself."
