I kinda need some advice, especially from an Islamic perspective, and just wanna get this off my chest.
I go to a school where boys and girls are separated from Year 7 onwards, so there’s basically no interaction during school at all. The only way people really talk is outside school or through social media.
There’s this girl in my school I’ve had a lowkey crush on for a while, but recently it’s gotten way more intense. I remember her from primary, and I liked her back then too since up to Year 6 it was co-ed, but that was years ago. Somehow though, out of everyone, she’s the one I keep noticing.
She seems really religious, she wears a niqab even though we live in a Western country, which isn’t that common, especially at our age. But idk… there’s just something about her. She’s so cute, nice, smart, and genuinely sweet.
The other day I heard her talking for the first time in ages as she was walking past at home time, and her voice was so soft and gentle it actually caught me off guard. It wasn’t even anything big, but it just stuck with me for some reason.
Since then, I feel like I’ve been thinking about her way more than I should. Like it went from just a small crush to something a lot deeper without me even realising. Now she’s just on my mind all the time, and I don’t really know what to do about it. It’s kinda messing with my head, not gonna lie.
The thing is, you know how our school is + cultural/religious boundaries. It’s not like I can just go up and talk to her. Even outside of school it feels complicated. I know she has Instagram, but I genuinely doubt she’d accept a random follow request from a guy, especially considering how private she seems.
So now I’m just stuck. I don’t wanna be weird or cross any lines, especially since I respect her and her values a lot and want to stay within what’s halal. But at the same time I can’t really switch these feelings off either, and it’s getting kinda frustrating.
So I guess I’m asking,what would be the right thing to do in this situation according to Islam? How should I handle feelings like this without crossing any boundaries?