How Can I Become Acquainted to the Woman I am Proposing to?
Question:
When I go to propose to a young woman, how may I speak to her, in order to know her beliefs, her piety, her character and her manners? And is it permissable for me to sit with her?
Answer:
It is permissable for the suitor to look at the woman to whom he is proposing, but without being alone with her, because the Sunnah has been authentically reported from the Prophet (sallallaahu alahi wasalam) to that effect. He may ask her and her guardian about what is important to him regarding matters related to marriage.
Shaykh `Abdul-`Azeez Bin Baz
Fatawa Islamiyyah, Darussalam, volume 5, page 209