Is it hurtful if no marriage results after getting to know each other?

It need not be. Whoever arranges the meeting wisely and with common sense, for example over a shared meal with the family, protects both sides from hurt.

The worry is understandable. If a young woman is introduced to a man and no marriage follows, she may feel slighted. Whether it comes to that depends mainly on how the meeting is arranged.

It can be arranged so that no pressure arises at all. Families who are friends invite one another. The Holy Qur’an expressly permits friends too to eat at one table with the family, as the first verse above shows, naturally in the spirit of Islamic decency. Over such a meal two people get to know each other quite naturally, without it feeling like an examination.

If things are done this way, no one needs to feel hurt. If no marriage comes about, it was simply a friendly gathering of two families. Hurt only arises when people go about it without tact and without common sense. Then it can wound both sides, the young man just as much as the young woman.

Some parents do not want such a meeting for their daughter at all. That is their right. In that case the young man should respect their wish and let this match go. That too is part of the right word and the decency that Islam teaches.