Chatting between unrelated males and females on social networking sites is forbidden in Islamic law, said Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, a member of the committee of senior scholars.

Al-Mutlaq said that having one-on-one chatting sessions is a form of “khulwa,” the Islamic term for free mixing, which he said is a gateway to sin. Al-Mutlaq’s statements came in response to a question asked on a Qur’an radio station.

He said some of these chats may get very personal, leading to inappropriate topics of conversation. Al-Mutlaq alluded to a Prophetic saying that asserts that “a man and a woman cannot unite without having Satan in their midst” to drive home his point. He urged both men and women to avoid the pitfalls of sin, which violate religious codes of conduct.

During the radio session, he cited incidents where women had virtually spoken to men on the Web to give advice on certain issues, only to have the men become attached to them. Some of these situations, he said, turned ugly.

Al-Mutlaq’s advice evoked several varied responses on Twitter.

Most of the sheikh’s followers on Twitter are women who debated the content of his “fatwa” (edict).

Many agreed with Al-Mutlaq, saying his point of view is similar to that of the late Sheikh Abdullah ibn Jibreen, who forbade Muslims from chatting with strangers on the premise that such exchanges would lead to temptation, and ultimately, sin.