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Protect your eyes to keep them on the prize

Protect your eyes to keep them on the prize
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June 09, 2023
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Allah gave us ears, eyes, and hearts

In Surat an-Nahl, Allah Almighty says:

َاللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّن بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۙ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

God brought you out of your mothers’ wombs, not knowing anything; and He gave you the hearing, and the eyesight, and the brains; that you may give thanks. [16:78]

In Surat al-Muminoon, He says:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنشَأَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ

It is He who created for you your ears, and your eyes, and the hearts. But little gratitude you show [23:78]

In Surat as-Sajdah, He says:

ثُمَّ سَوَّاهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِهِ ۖ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ

Then He proportioned him, and breathed into him of His Spirit. Then He created for you your ears, and your eyes, and the hearts. But little gratitude you show [32:9]

In all these ayahs, Allah Almighty is drawing our attention to the huge favour that He has given to all of us, in bringing us from nothing into being – from nonexistence into existence. Then He talks about eyes, ears, and hearts. Scholars of tafsir have commented on these ayahs, that Allah Almighty created ears first, so that we could hear the revelation. Then He created eyes for us to see His creations all around us. Look at yourself, look at the world, look at the universe. For those who want to reflect, there are so many signs shouting at us that Allah is the One, and the Creator. And finally, He created for us hearts, in order to comprehend his rights over us and live by them.

Lower your gaze

Then in Surat an-Noor, Allah Allighty – the creator of sight – says:

 قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَزْكَىٰ لَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ …. وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

Tell the believing men that they must lower their gaze, and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Allah is all aware of what they do. And tell the believing women that they must restrain their gaze, and guard their privates. [24:30-31]

The Creator of our eyes is commanding us to lower our gaze. Here, He’s referring to looking at haram. This is reiterated in the hadith too, when the Companions asked the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) about a ‘sudden look’ – i.e. at something haram.

عن جرير بن عبد الله البَجَلي رضي الله عنه قال‏:‏ سألت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن نظر الفجأة فقال‏:‏‏ “‏اصرف بصرك‏”‏ ‏‏(‏رواه مسلم‏‏)‏

Jarir bin ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) about a sudden gaze, and he said, “Divert your gaze.” [Muslim]

Buraydah ibn al-Hasib also narrated that on another occasion,

عن عبد الله بن بريدة ، عن أبيه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعلي: “يا علي، لا تتبع النظرة النظرة، فإن لك الأولى وليس لك الآخرة” (أبو داود)

The Prophet (peace be on him) said to Ali: “Do not follow one glance with another; you may be allowed the first but not the second.” [Abu Dawoud]

Seek forgiveness even for accidental looks

Unintentionally catching sight of things we are not supposed to see are common – especially when the weather is so hot. You might accidentally come across some nakedness and exposed awrahs. The Prophet (peace be on him) was telling us that the first look will be forgiven because it was unintentional, But the second look will be haram.

In every country, we see this practice of people wearing no clothes in hot weather. I remember once when I was very young, we asked one of our great teachers what we should do during the hot days, where you were seeing nakedness everywhere you looked. He said, ‘lower your gaze and do istighfar’. We responded that we would be doing istighfar all day in that case, and he confirmed that yes, we should!

Protect your heart from impurity

There is a weak narration that says looking at haram is an arrow from Shaytan. Even though it’s a weak hadith, the meaning is still valid. What we see penetrates our heart, so we need to protect our hearts by protecting eyes. We need this fence to protect us from the haram, and this is what Allah and His messenger were teaching us in these ayahs and hadiths.

The Companions once asked the Prophet (peace be on him) about sitting at the side of the road.

َعَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ اَلْخُدْرِيِّ, رضي الله عنه قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”إِيَّاكُمْ وَالْجُلُوسَ بِالطُّرُقَاتِ.” قَالُوا: “يَا رَسُولَ اَللَّهِ! مَا لَنَا بُدٌّ مِنْ مَجَالِسِنَا; نَتَحَدَّثُ فِيهَا.” قَالَ “فَأَمَّا إِذَا أَبَيْتُمْ, فَأَعْطُوا اَلطَّرِيقَ حَقَّهُ.”‏ قَالُوا: “وَمَا حَقُّهُ?” قَالَ: “

١-اَلْبَصَرِ,

٢-وَكَفُّ اَلْأَذَى,

٣-وَرَدُّ اَلسَّلَامِ,

٤-وَالْأَمْرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ,

٥-وَالنَّهْيُ عَنْ اَلْمُنْكَرِ.‏ } مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ .

Abu Said al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said:

“Avoid sitting by the road side.”

The people then said, “O Allah‘s Messenger, we cannot do without those meeting places in which we converse.”

So he said, “Well, if you insist (on that) give the road its due rights.”

They asked, ‘What are the road’s due rights?’ He replied,
1-“Lowering your gaze,
2-Abstaining from anything offensive,
3-Returning greetings,
4-Enjoining the right (Ma’ruf)
5-And forbidding from evil deeds (Munkar).” [Agreed upon]

His number one rule was to lower your gaze. He understood that this is one of the threats to purity of heart. Don’t underestimate looking at haram. This might be on street, or it might be on your phone. You can even see these things from your bed these days, you don’t even need to go outside. You need to protect yourself and your children from impurity. This is why Allah Almighty commands us all, young and old, to lower our gaze.

The halal is your protection from the haram

The Prophet (peace be upon him) encouraged young people to marry young to protect them from seeking haram means to fulfil their desires.

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «يَا مَعْشَرَ الشَّبَابِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْكُمُ الْبَاءَةَ فَلْيَتَزَوَّجْ فَإِنَّهُ أَغَضُّ لِلْبَصَرِ وَأَحْصَنُ لِلْفَرْجِ وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَعَلَيْهِ بِالصَّوْمِ فَإِنَّهُ لَهُ وِجَاءٌ»
مُتَّفق عَلَيْهِ

‘Abdallah bin Mas’ud reported God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) as saying,

“Young man, those of you who can support a wife should marry, for it keeps you from looking at strange women and preserves you from immorality; but those who cannot should devote themselves to fasting, for it is a means of suppressing sexual desire.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

Lowering your gaze is a way to show gratitude to Allah

Taking it back to the first ayah we looked at, from Surat an-Nahl, Allah Almighty also says He gave us these faculties ‘that you might show gratitude.’ The famous scholar al-Qushayri commented that one way to be grateful to Allah Almighty is to only see and hear what is halal. Show gratitude by using the faculties Allah Almighty has given you only in ways that please Him.

He mentioned His grace upon them by creating these organs for them, and asking them to be thankful for them. And their gratitude for it should be in using them in obedience to Him, so the gratitude for the hearing that he does not hear except with God and for God, and the gratitude of the sight that he does not look except with God for God, and the gratitude of the heart that he does not bear witness to other than God, and that he loves nothing but God through him.

Shaykh Haytham Tamim 9th June 2023

Transcribed by Hana Khan

Locking the Six Doors of Your Heart
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Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.

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