Mixing of opposite sexes occurs when meeting relatives, friends, and colleagues during work, study, and other occasions. It usually entails various forms of courtesy, compliments, the exchange of expressions of emotion, and even gifts such as roses. This type of interaction is frequent on social media using emojis (e.g., like, love, kisses), and it could happen between close relatives like a man and his sister-in-law, a woman and her brother-in-law, or between cousins [of the opposite gender] under the pretext that these family members are like brothers and sisters. What is the Islamic ruling on these matters?
It is permissible to mix and converse with the opposite sex provided that all religious limits are observed, including immunity from falling into sin, such as prohibited touching, looking with lust, joking, flirting, and similar acts that are not permissible with non-mahrams. Moreover, there is no difference between a non-relative of the opposite sex and a man’s sister-in-law, a woman’s brother-in-law, or cousins of the opposite sex when it comes to the application of the rules non-mahrams (i.e., they are all the same).