How to Lower our Gaze
Sunday, 25 December 2011
Written by Islamstory
If I were not a Muslim, I would have
contacted AIDS!" proclaimed my friend. "The verses in Sura An-Nur
about lowering our gazes don't affect me anymore", expressed another
youth, talking about the intense temptations felt by today's youth. Difficulty
in lowering the gaze by both the young and old is readily perceived on the
street, weddings, parties and even in the Masjids. What has gone wrong with our
Ummah? We Muslims, called by Allah, our Creator, as the best Ummah, Model
Community, custodians of Truth and the Upholders of Morality behaving in this
way? Why are we adopting the attitudes and routes of the Kuffar? How can we
rectify ourselves? What follows are a series of practical, though graphic
advice which can work for us and set us free from Satan's stronghold, insha
Allah. Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, by way of warning and as a reminder said/:
"I have not left a fitnah (trial, calamity or cause for calamity) after me
more than (the fitnah) with women for men" /(Bukhari and Muslim). Also was
related by our Prophet : /"The world is sweet and verdant, and Allah
having put you in it in your turn watches how you act; so fear the world and
fear women, for the first trial of the Bani israel had to do with women"/
(Muslim) Being optimistic, a ray of hope was also wisely provided during
Prophet's Last Sermon on way to avoid the above pitfall: /"If the Ummah
hold on to the Quran and the Sunnah, it will not go astray"./ // When
Allah created us humans will all the desires and urges, He also revealed to us
sufficient and complete guidance to contain them through proper channels. All
we need to do is seek this guidance, contemplate on it and implement it.
/"This day I have perfected you deen for you, completed my favors upon you
and chosen Islam as your deen"/ (5:3) Realize the fact that the great
Sahabas were humans beings too. Biologically they were no different from us,
they too had desires and temptations of the human species, and yet they
controlled them in the best of ways. We can too, insha Allah. To posses sensual
passions is Human, to control them is Muslim. When confronted with a luring
situation, like passing by a non-mahram on the street, office, or a school,
Satan is constantly tempting us to glare at her with evil thoughts. Satan is
probably excitingly saying with a big smile `Yes', `Yes', `Yes', when we steer
into the bait he is setting. During these situations immediately and
consciously realize that when we give a second or following glances, we are
obeying Satan/. "O you who believe, follow not the footsteps of the devil..."/(24:21).
By immediately averting our gazes and disobeying Satan, we are giving him a one
two punch in the face which leaves him frustrated, accursed and defeated. Satan
rebelled and was expelled by Allah, so lets all rebel against Satan and expel
him from our hearts. Satan intents to fight a war against the believers, so
lets gather our forces behind Quran and Sunnah and defeat him. Remember that
even if no human eye is watching us, the ever watchful Allah is constantly
monitoring the innermost regions of our heart. Our eyes, limbs, tongue and
private parts will all be witnesses for or against us on the Day of Judgement
and not an atoms worth of our deeds will remain unexamined. Psychologically our
minds are conditioned to associate our thoughts of stealing clothes from a
store to being in handcuffs and hauled into a police van. Likewise, we should
condition our minds to bring the verses of Surah Nur in front of our eyes
during any tempting situation and imagine that during that particular instance Allah
(SWT) is speaking to us directly: /"Say to the believing men that they
should lower their gaze and guard their modesty, that will make for greater
purity for them...Say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze
and guard their modesty...O you believers! Turn you all together towards Allah
that you may attain success"/(24:30,31). What a beautiful guidance and
what a sublime reward for implementing it. With practice, the above
associations and the remembrance of Allah during tempting situations will
prevent us from getting stuck by devilish arrows. Successful controlling our
gazed also depends upon our avoidance of sinful situations. Al Islamic idiom
(Usul Al-Fiqh) says: "Anything that leads to haram is haram in
itself". Therefore cutting any unlawful situation in their bud is what we
should strive for. Performance of a pious deed is rewarded and avoidance of a
sinful deed is also rewarded, Al-Hamdulillah. One of the biggest culprits which
encourage us to disobey the ayahs in Surah Nur, are the movies. In the name of
entertainment, to please our peers and children and as an excuse to do
something together as a family, we astonishingly allow the development of
un-Islamic scenes and dialogues in front of our eyes. Can we ever imagine
(Na'udubillah) any Sahaba renting the latest hit from Blockbuster videos, or
listening to music with luring lyrics at high volume? Likewise, we watch news
on TV and stare at the anchorwomen, female gymnasts, and female swimmers who
are scantly dressed. Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was once
approached by a women with a proposal for marriage. He took a single glance at
her and turned his face way. Jabir bin Abdullah reported: /"I asked
Allah's messenger about the sudden glance on the face of a non-Mahram. He
commanded me that I should turn away my eyes"/ (Muslim). Thus we are not
suppose to stare at the faces of non-Mahrams of opposite gender, be they our
fellow students, elders, saleswomen or the one of TV. Pious ladies of the
Prophet's household were even ordered to do purdah in front of a Blind Sahaba.
Upon the curious question as to why purdah when the blind Sahaba can't see
them, Prophet wisely replies: "But you could see him" (Ahmed,
Trimidhi, Abu Dawood) Each one of us may have become culprit of not obey the
ayahs in Surah Nur. It is not too late to realize these short comings and work
at rectifying ourselves. Above all, we should always ask forgiveness of Allah
(SWT). Indeed blessed are those Muslims who are able to check their gazes, thus
conserving their precious time and energy, and working in the cause of Allah to
reclaim our positions as the superpowers of the world. Let's contemplate on the
above humble advises and constantly make the following supplication: "O
Allah help us in controlling our sensual desires until we get married, and
after our marriage, let our desires be only towards our spouses...aameen
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