Friendships With Opposite Genders
Salam. Since I’m not a scholar, I can’t explain what Sahih Bukhari 5096 hadith means and I’ll leave it for the knowledgeable scholars on this forum. However regarding friendship with opposite gender, there are a number of mainstream scholars who have said that friendship with opposite gender is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it. Most notably Sheikh Ali Gomaa who served as the Grand Mufti of Egypt from 2003-2013. In these following videos he explained his stance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS9x79JGzP4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puQcriReHPY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9vdB9NKZfI Dr Magdy Muhammad Muhammad Ashour, the academic advisor of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Secretary of Fatwa at Dar Al Ifta explains that friendship between the opposite sexes is not prohibited if they abide by these rules https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOEPgmX3Su0