[ARTICLE] The tricks that the eyes play

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[ARTICLE] The tricks that the eyes play
assing

07/10/01 at 00:40:57

This is a very interesting pamphlet that I recently read, which I decided to translate perhaps Allah may benefit some by it;

Alhaamdulillah, amma bad,
Know that not restricting ones glances lead to the greatest of fitnah, how many practicing youths relapsed {on their deen} because of it, and how many people fell into zina and lewdness because of it, and we seek Allah's' refuge from this.
The eye is the mirror of the heart, so if the abd {servant} lowers his gaze, the heart will lower its wants and desires, and if his gaze is uncontrolled, then his wants and desires will be uncontrolled,and because the gaze is a reason to fall into lusting by ones heart, the Legislator commanded us to lower our gaze and to fear His punishment, Allah says."Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.). That is purer for them. Verily, Allāh is All-Aware of what they do.And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts" {An Nur:31-32}

The glance and it dangers

Imam ibn Qayyim said: Allah commanded the m'umineen to lower their gaze, guard their private parts and to know that Allah is witnessing and is aware of all their actions "Allāh knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal." {Al Ghafir:19}, and since it is that the beginning {of that} is from looking, He made the lowering of ones gaze take precedance over guarding ones' private parts, because for every "play" its beginning is the look, then a "plan", then a "move", then a "mistake", this is why it is said : whoever protects four he has guarded his deen; the look, the plan, the talk and the steps. Then he futher went on to say: the glance is the basis of all affliction that befalls mankind, because a look gives birth to a thought, and a thought gives birth to an idea, and an idea gives birth to desires, and desires leads to wants, which strenghtens and becomes resolved and definite, and it is going to happen and no one can prevent it from taking place, this is why it is said patience upon lower the gaze is much easier than having patience with the pain that comes after it.

Hadeeth and other narration related to the fitnah of the gaze

The messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) said "i have not left any fitnah after me more harmful to the men than women" (Al Bukhari and Muslim)
The messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) said "Allah made you all inheritors of the earth {khalifah}, and He is watching what you are going to do on it, so beware (itaqa - from the word taqwa) of the dunya and beware of women, because the first fitnah of the children of Israel was with the women" (Muslim)
Jaabir ibn Abdullah said "i asked the messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) about the unintentional (unexpected) look, he commanded me to turn my face away" (Muslim)
The messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) told Ali {radiallahu anhu} "O Ali do not follow up the look by a second look, because the first one is for you, and not the next" (Abu Dawud and At Tirmidhee-saheeh) *{not to understand the hadeeth like some brothers when you remind them of the hadeeth they relpy "i am still on my first look", wallahu must'an}
The messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) also said "the two eyes commit fornication, and the fornication of the eyes is the look"(Al Bukhari and Muslim)
The salaf used to go to great extremes to lower their gaze out of fear of falling into fitnah and it negative effects. Al Rabi ibn Khatheem used to lower his gaze to such an extent that one time some women passed by him, so he put his head towards his chest until they thought he was blind, whereby they said "we seek refuge in Allah from blindness!" Ibn Abbas {radiallahu anhu} said "the shayton occupies three places in a man; his eyesight, his heart and his private parts, and as for the woman her three places are; her eyesight, her heart and her buttocks. And he said (Ibn Abbas) explaining the verse "Allāh knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal." {Al Ghafir:19}, it means that a man would be amongst other people and a women happens to pass by, thus he pretends that he is lowering his gaze, however, when he sees that they are not paying attention {to him} he glances at her, and when he fears that they are going to catch him, he lowers his gaze, and Allah indeed is already aware of what is in his heart, {that} he really wanted to see her awrah. Maroof said "lower your gaze even if it a female goat". Hasaan ibn Abi Sinaan went out to E'id one day, so when he came back, his wife said to him "how many beautiful women you saw?", he replied "by Allah, since I left you and came back, I have not glanced except at my big toe!".

Ruling on looking at women

Al Hafidh abu Bakr ibn Habeb Al A'miree said "indeed that which the ummah is united upon, and the scholars from the salaf {past} and the khalaf {those after them} unanimously agree upon its prohibition is that of men and women who are ajnabi {strangers, non-mahram, etc} looking at each other, and there is no {family} relation between them, such as through breast-feeding and so forth, therefore, looking at them and being alone with them is haram according to all muslims" (The ruling on looking at haram things), and when Al Fadl ibn Abbas looked at a women the messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) turned his face in the other direction. (Abu Dawud), thus ibn Qayyim said "this is a prevention and objection to that type of action, and if it was permissible to do this {look at women} the messenger would have tacitly approved of it" {Rawdatu' l Muhhibeen}

Blocking to avenues to looking

The messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) closed every means that will lead to a person to intentionally look at women, truly wanting hearts to be free, souls to be pure and the muslim community to be upright upon fear of Allah and taqwa of Him, and because of this;
1- he (salallah alayhi wasalam) prohibited the women when they pray that they should raise their heads before men, so it would not be a cause for them to see the mens' awrah.
2- he (salallah alayhi wasalam) prohibited the women from "perfuming up" when they go to the masjid, because their scent and diplaying their beautifications and shape attracts men attention and calls them {to her}
3- he (salallah alayhi wasalam) prohibited women desiribing {in detail} other women to their husbands, thus as a means of preventing fitnah and corruption.
4- he (salallah alayhi wasalam) prohibited "hanging out" in the streets, and he did not do that except to as a hindrance to watching at which that is unlawful to watch at, thus when the sahabahs told him they had no other place to gather he said "give the streets it rights" and they asked what are its rights, he said "lower your gaze, do not offend of hurt {anyone}, and return the salams" (Al Bukhari and Muslim)
5- Allah prohibited the women from stamping their feet when walking, so that men would not look at them and their adornments and their beauty {which in our times = high heels, clogs, Kenneth Cole,etc........... you know the deal}, as Allah says "And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment." {An Nur: 31}

The punishments for looking at that which is prohibited

Know that looking at that which is prohibited produces regret, exhaustion and terrible pain, because a person sees what he cannot have, nor is patient about it, and this can be the worse type of punishment.
1- The heart becomes corrupted, because that look does to the heart what an arrow does to the target; if it does not kill, it will injure, it is like sparks of a fire flying on fry grass, if it does not burn everything at least it burn some.
2- Forgetting knowledge: for there was once a worshipper who memorized the Quran and forgot because of looking at a christian girl.
3- Being heedless of Allah and the next life, because whenever a heart becomes preoccupied by haram things then this gives birth to negligence to Allah's' remembrance and doing good deeds.

Benefits of lowering the gaze

Lowering the gaze has a number of benefits, ibn Qayyim mentioned thirteen of them:
1- Freedom of the heart from the pain of al-hasrah {i.e. like longing or wishing you had something that you cannot obtain or is already passed}, for indeed the one who does not control his gaze will always be in a state of hasrah. {kinda' reminds me when i used to listen to rap (but no longer alhamdulillah) what those guys from Pharcyde were singing when describing their "hasrah" in their song "she keeps on passing me by"}
2- It produces a light and a brightness that is apparent in the eyes, face and on the limbs, just as not restricting the gaze produces darkness on the eyes, face and on the limbs.
3- It produces sharp-sightedness in a person, because this is from the nur {light} and its' fruits, Al Kirmaanee said "whoever nurtures his external by following the sunnah and his internal by always being aware that Allah is over him, lowers his gaze from the haram, restrains himself from the haram and eats from the halal, will not make mistakes in his sharp-sightedness.
4- It open up the doors of knowledge for a person, and makes it easy for him to attain it, and all this is because of the light in the heart, because when the heart is enlightened the reality of things become appearant, and whoever does not guard his vision his heart will become soiled and darkened. As imam As Shaafi'ee said in his famous poem "I complained to Wakee about my poor memory, so he directed my to leave of ma'asee {sins}, and he said to me that this knowledge is a nur, and Allah does not give His nur to an A'asee {sinner}"
5- It produces bravery and firmness in the heart, some shuyuhk {plural of shaikh} said "people seek rank and honor from the rulers, and it is only found in Allah's' obedience"
6- It saves the heart from being a prisoner to its desires, because a true prisoner is the prisoner is of his wants and desires, and whenever a person is a prisoner of his want and desires then it is easy for his enemy to take control of him.
7- It makes the heart happy, contented, and open, which is much more pleasurable than the feeling one gets when one throws that glance, because the pleasure of modesty far exceeds the pleasure of sins.
8- It closes the door of the hellfire for the servant, because the gaze is from the doors of desires which leads one to fall into unlawful deeds, and whenever a person does not restrain their glances their destruction is closer.
9- It increases and strengthens ones intellect, because a person who does not lower his gaze and stare at everything, only does this because of little intelligence and heedlessness as to the consequences of this action.
10- It frees the heart from the drunkenness of desires and the slumber of heedlessness, because not controlling ones' glances leads to lack of concern for Allah and the next life, and falling prey to the drug of "infatuation"
11- It produces love of Allah, Al Hasaan ibn Al Mujaahid said "lowering the gaze from what Allah has prohibited nurtures love of Him"
12- It brings forth wisdom, Abu Al Husayn Al Warraaq said "whoever lowers their gaze from the prohibited things, Allah makes them inherit {because of that} a wisdom manifested on their tongues which guides those who hear them".
13- It empties the heart {from other things} which would enable the heart to focus on its own good and concern itself on what would save it on the day of judgment.

Strive against you self for a moment

Ibn Al Jawzee said "O brother! try to understand my advice to you, indeed your sight is a blessing from Allah upon you, so do not disobey Him by what He has blessed you with, use him {the sight} to lower ones gaze against the haram, you will be successful, and beware that your punishment can be having that blessing removed, and the jihad of all times is in lower the gaze, and if you do this you will achieve a great reward and you will be safe a long evil".

Repentance and looking

Abu Bakr Al Marwazee said "I asked Abu Abdullah {imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal}: i repented and said; even if you whip me on the back, i will not go back to sining, except he can' t stop looking at women?" Imam Ahmad replied "what kind of repentance is this!!!?". Al Jareer said: i asked the messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) about the sudden glance, he said "turn your face" (Muslim and Abu Dawud)
Reason why people don't lower their gazes

There are many reason for not lowering the gaze which are to numerous to count, but from the most important ones;
1- Following ones' desires and obeying shaitan.
2- Ignorance about the consequences of not lowering the gaze that it leads to zina. As Ibn Qayyim mention in his book "Al Jawaab Al Kaafi", of the story of the the man from Al Andulus (Spain) who used to called the adhan for 40 years until one day he saw a christian girl and fell in love with her, but the father will refused to marry his daughter to the man until he renounced islam, and he did so, and on his way to call the adhan he fell from the minerat and died in that state of kufr.
3- Watching TV , videos, pictures, magazines etc, that are tempting in which the women "tataburuj"
4- Not being married, because as the hadeeth Narrated 'Abdullah says: we were with the Prophet while we were young and had no wealth whatever. So Allah's Apostle said, "O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e. his private parts from committing illegal sexual intercourse etc.), and whoever is not able to marry, should fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power." (Al Bukhari and Muslim)
6- Frequenting place in which men and women often mix, like malls, market places , etc.
7- That decietful feeling of feeling "beautiful or nice" when one looks at oneself, which stems from heedlessness towards Allah and lack of glorifying Him in ones' heart, because is one really fear Allah he will feel happy about his sins.
8- The "tabaruj" {add this word to your arabic vocabulary} of women in the streets and in the stores, and some of them intentionally showing their beauty, which invites the weak one to look at them.
9- Some women encouraging this type of behaviour by purposely looking at men.
10- Having to interact with alot of women, wether it is school, work or whatever it may be.

Ways in which one can lower their gaze

There are many ways to lower the gaze, and amongst them;
1- Taqwa of Allah and fearing His punishment.
2- Avoiding all the causes we mention that leeds to looking at what Allah has prohibited.
3- Knowing that not lowering the gaze can lead to "hasaraat".
4- Knowing that the zina of the eyes is in looking, that is repulsive enough in itself
5- Not entertaining thoughts and whispers before it becomes a resolved state of mind, then an action, so whoever lowers his gaze from the first look, is safe from many types of "pain" which one cannot concieve, because if he does not lower his gaze he is not safe from something being planted in his heart which will be very difficult to take out.
6- being truly thankful to Allah for the blessing which He bestowed on you that you cannot count, and the eye sight is one of them.
7- Fasting, it is the strongest cure after marriage to lower the gaze.
8- Remembering the ugly side of women, as ibn Masood {radiallahu anhu} said "If one of you sees a women and is impressed by her, then think about the negative things about her"
9- Having a good time with what Allah has made halal for you, as the hadeeth of Jabir that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) saw a woman, and so he came to his wife, Zainab, and had sexual intercourse with her. He then went to his Companions and told them: "The woman advances and retires in the shape of a devil, so when one of you sees a woman, he should come to his wife, for that will repel what he feels in his heart." Imam Nawawi {who never married by the way} said the hadeeth means that a woman reminds {one} of fitnah, desires and pleasures, because Allah made it in the soul of men that they are inlcined toward women and enjoy looking at them, there they {women} should not be between men except out of necessity, and likewise men should lower their gaze from them and pay absolutely no attention to them" {Imam Al Nawawi's explaination of saheeh muslim}
10- making dua to Allah seeknig His assistance in being saved from this fitnah, for indeed the messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) used to say "O Allah, I seek refuge in you from the evil from what I hearing, from the evil from whay I see, from the evil of what i say and from the evil of my heart" {Abu Dawud, authenticed by Al Albani}
11- fear from an evil ending and reget at the time of death.
12- Having good muslim friends and leaving of the sinful ones, because a person is upon the deen of his friend, so watch who you take as friends.

And our final dua is "Alhamdulillahi rabbil aalmeen" and may the peace and blessing of Allah be upon Muhammad, his family and his companions.
Re: The tricks that the eyes play
Arsalan

11/01/00 at 22:23:30

Excellent post Br. Assing!!!

Jazak Allahu khairan.

Wassalam.

Re: The tricks that the eyes play
assing

11/03/00 at 17:53:31

Shukran, it is good to see that you benefited from the post, however, When i first read this pamphlet, eventhough i really liked it, I was a bit hesitant to transalate it because I said to myself {which is actually from the shayton} "you know what you be doing when you you ride the train, go to school and so forth", but these whisperings from the shayton should not stop us from trying implementing what is in the article nor advising each other about it, as an arab poet said {to the meaning of} "if is it because a person has sins they cannot remind others, then who is it will remind the people after the messenger (salallah alayhi wasalam) ?". btw, for a board that in which the people {especially the sisters-no offence intended} talk about every thing from falling in love to how to pronounce the "ayn" properly, there are silent about this issue, i don't know if its a "thats right, but what can we do " type if silence" or what?

NS
Re: The tricks that the eyes play
destined786

11/04/00 at 00:14:37

Assalaamu Alaykum,

Brother Assing do you know the author or the source of this post??

Just out of curiousity

Re: The tricks that the eyes play
assing

11/04/00 at 13:02:04

Actually this was put togther from a nos. of books {mainly from ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyahs'} by a dawah organisation that in Saudi Arabia (Dar Al watan} that produces many short, benefial pamphlets {but its in all in arabic though}.

NS
Re: The tricks that the eyes play
Amatullah

11/19/00 at 06:54:09

mashaillah , this is so beautiful, i've just printed it out to put up in school, Jazakallah Khair,

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