The Great Virtue of Lowering the Gaze

[Consider]

The Great Virtue of Lowering the Gaze

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Allah, the Exalted said,


"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that will make for greater purity for them. Indeed Allah is well acquainted with all that they do." [an-Nur (24):30]


So Allah made purification and spiritual growth to be the outcome of lowering the gaze and guarding the private parts. It is for this reason that lowering ones gaze from (seeing) the prohibited things necessarily leads to three benefits that carry tremendous value and are of great significance.




The First: Experiencing the Delight and Sweetness of Faith


This delight and sweetness is far greater and more desirable that which might have been attained from the object that one lowered his gaze from for the sake of Allah. Indeed, "whosoever leaves something for the sake of Allah then Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, will replace it with something better than it."[1]


The soul is a temptress and loves to look at beautiful forms and the eye is the guide of the heart. The heart commissions its guide to go and look to see what is there and when the eye informs it of a beautiful image it shudders out of love and desire for it. Frequently such inter-relations tire and wear down both the heart and the eye as is said:


When you sent your eye as a guide
For your heart one day, the object of sight fatigued you
For you saw one over whom you had no power
Neither a portion or in totality, instead you had to be patient.



Therefore when the sight is prevented from looking and investigating the heart finds relief from having to go through the arduous task of (vainly) seeking and desiring.


Whosoever lets his sight roam free will find that he is in a perpetual state of loss and anguish for sight gives birth to love (mahabbah) the starting point of which is the heart being devoted and dependant upon that which it beholds. This then intensifies to become fervent longing (sabubah) whereby the heart becomes totally dependant and devoted to the (object of its desire). Then this further intensifies and becomes infatuation (gharamah) which clings to the heart like the one seeking repayment of a debt clings firmly to the one who has to pay the debt. Then this intensifies and becomes passionate love (ishk) and this is a love that transgresses all bounds. Then this further intensifies and becomes crazed passion (shaghafa) and this is a love that encompasses every tiny part of the heart. Then this intensifies and becomes worshipful love (tatayyuma). Tatayyum means worship and it is said: tayyama Allah i.e. he worshipped Allah.


Hence the heart begins to worship that which is not correct for it to worship and the reason behind all of this was an illegal glance. The heart is now bound in chains whereas before it used to be the master, it is now imprisoned whereas before it was free. It has been oppressed by the eye and it complains to it upon which the eye replies: I am your guide and messenger and it was you who sent me in the first place!


All that has been mentioned applies to the heart that has relinquished the love of Allah and being sincere to Him for indeed the heart must have an object of love that it devotes itself to. Therefore when the heart does not love Allah Alone and does not take Him as its God then it must worship something else.


Allah said concerning Yusuf as-Siddiq (AS),


"Thus (did We order) so that We might turn away from him all evil and indecent actions for he was one of Our sincere servants." [Yusuf (12): 24]


It was because the wife of al-Aziz was a polytheist that (the passionate love) entered her heart despite her being married. It was because Yusuf (AS) was sincere to Allah that he was saved from it despite his being a young man, unmarried and a servant.






The Second: The Illumination of the Heart, Clear Perception and Penetrating Insight


Ibn Shuja al-Kirmani said, "whosoever builds his outward form upon following the Sunnah, his internal form upon perpetual contemplation and awareness of Allah, he restrains his soul from following desires, he lowers his gaze from the forbidden things and he always eats the lawful things then his perception and insight shall never be wrong."


Allah mentioned the people of Lut and what they were afflicted with and then He went on to say,


"Indeed in this are signs for the Mutawassimin." [al-Hijr (15): 75]


The Mutwassimin are those who have clear perception and penetrating insight, those who are secure from looking at the unlawful and performing indecent acts.


Allah said after mentioning the verse concerning lowering the gaze,


"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth." [an-Nur (24): 35]


The reason behind this is that the reward is of the same type as the action. So whosoever lowers his gaze from the unlawful for the sake of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, He will replace it with something better than it of the same type. So just as the servant restrained the light of his eye from falling upon the unlawful, Allah blesses the light of his sight and heart thereby making him perceive what he would not have seen and understood had he not lowered his gaze.


This is a matter that the person can physically sense in himself for the heart is like a mirror and the base desires are like rust upon it. When the mirror is polished and cleaned of the rust then it will reflect the realities (haqaaiq) as they actually are. However if it remains rusty then it will not reflect properly and therefore its knowledge and speech will arise from conjecture and doubt.






The Third: The Heart Becoming Strong, Firm and Courageous


Allah will give it the might of aid for its strength just as He gave it the might of clear proofs for its light. Hence the heart shall combine both of these factors and as a result, Shaytan shall flee from it. It is mentioned in the narration, "whosoever opposes his base desires, the Shaytan shall flee in terror from his shade."[2]


This is why the one who follows his base desires shall find in himself the ignominy of the soul, its being weak, feeble and contemptible. Indeed Allah places nobility for the one who obeys Him and disgrace for the one who disobeys Him,


"So do not lose heart nor fall into despair; for you must gain mastery if you are true in faith." [Ali Imran (3): 139]


"If any do seek for nobility and power then to Allah belongs all nobility and power." [Faatir (35): 10]


Meaning that whosoever seeks after disobedience and sin then Allah, the Might and Magnificent, will humiliate the one who disobeys Him.


Some of the salaf said, "the people seek nobility and power at the door of the Kings and they will not find it except through the obedience of Allah."


This is because the one who obeys Allah has taken Allah as his friend and protector and Allah will never humiliate the one who takes his Lord as friend and patron. In the Du`a Qunoot their occurs, "the one who You take as a friend is not humiliated and the one who You take as an enemy is not ennobled."[3]








Notes:

[1] Reported by Ahmad [5/363], al-Marwazi in "Zawaid az-Zuhd" [no. 412], an-Nasa'i in "al-Kubra" as mentioned in "Tuhfah al-Ashra" [11/199] from one of the Companions that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, "indeed you will not leave anything for the sake of Allah except that Allah will replace it with something better than it." The isnad is saheeh.

[2] This is not established as a hadeeth of the Prophet .

[3] Reported by Abu Dawood [Eng. Trans. 1/374 no. 1420], an-Nasa'i [3/248], at-Tirmidhi[no. 464], ibn Majah [no. 1178], ad-Darimi [1/311], Ahmad [1/199], ibn Khuzaymah [2/151] from al Hasan from Ali (RA).

The hadith is sahih. The isnad has been criticised by many, however none of the criticisms hold. Refer to: "Nasb ar-Rayah"[2/125] and "Talkhis al-Habi" [1/247]

Taken from islamicawakening.com

[AbuMubarak]

Reviving our sense of Gheerah (Protectiveness)


Reviving our sense of Gheerah (Protectiveness)

Reviving our sense of Gheerah

By: Fatima Barakatullah

We live in societies in which most men and women have lost their sense of modesty, women are obsessed with their appearances and wear clothes to be seen by others and to attract the attention of other men even if they are married! They have lost their sense of shame. Marriage is often looked upon as old-fashioned and short term affairs and frivolous relationships are the custom, everyone waiting to attract a better partner and feeling totally justified to dump one partner for another at the drop of a hat. Feminism too has reached its peak and men and women are told to suppress their natural emotions. Men are not even embarrassed, when their wives are dressed up and attract the attention of other men, they don't mind if another man sees, chats, laughs and even dances with their womenfolk and if they do mind, they are told not to be so possessive.

In Islam, we have a concept of Gheerah. Gheerah is an Arabic word, which means protectiveness or jealousy. It is a good type of jealousy, like when a man feels jealous or protective over his wife or sisters and other-womenfolk and doesn't like other men to look at them. It is a natural inbuilt feeling Allah has given men and women. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) had the most Gheerah for his wives and all of the companions were known for their Gheerah. All Muslim men should have a collective sense of protectiveness for Muslim women as Allah says in the Qur'aan, the meaning of which is: "The Men are the protectors and maintainers of women…" (4:34)

An Example of Gheerah:

To further understand the quality of Gheerah, we can look at an incident that Asmaa' radi Allahu anha the daughter of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq radi Allahu anhu and sister of Aisha radi Allahu anha relates about herself. Abu Bakr was a wealthy merchant and he married his daughter Asmaa' to the great companion Az-Zubayr Ibn Al-`Awwam radi Allahu anhu, who was a very poor man but a man of great piety and one of the companions who were promised Paradise. Asmaa' relates:

"When Az-Zubayr married me, he had neither land nor wealth nor slave…", so Asmaa' had to work very hard kneading dough, going far off to get water. "And I used to carry on my head," she continues, "the date stones from the land of az-Zubair which Allah's Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam `alaihi wassalam had endowed him and it was a distance of two miles from Madeenah. One day, as I was carrying the date-stones upon my head, I happened to meet Allah's Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam `alaihi wassalam, along with a group of his Companions. He called me and told the camel to sit down so that he could make me ride behind him. I felt shy to go with men and I remembered az-Zubair and his Gheerah and he was a man having the most Gheerah . The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam `alaihi wassalam understood my shyness and left.I came to az-Zubair and said: "The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam `alaihi wassalam met me as I was carrying date-stones upon my head and there was with him a group of his Companions. He told the camel to kneel so that I could mount it, but I felt shy and I remembered your Gheerah." So Asmaa' declined the offer made by the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam `alaihi wassalam.Upon this az-Zubair said: "By Allah, the thought of you carrying date-stones upon your head is more severe a burden on me than you riding with him." (Bukhaari)

Look at the sense of dignity and modesty of Asmaa'! See how she felt shy in front of men? See how careful she was about her husband's feelings? She knew that her husband had a lot of Gheerah so she didn't want to upset him by accepting the Prophet's sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam `alaihi wassalam help even though the Prophet was the purest of men and even though it meant bringing hardship on herself!

And look at Az-Zubair radi Allahu anhu, even though he had a lot of Gheerah, he didn't want to inconvenience his wife. What a beautiful relationship they had!

Nurturing our sense of Gheerah:

Sometimes Muslim women don't understand, if their men folk want them to cover their faces or if they ask them to change something about the way they dress or speak in public, thinking that the men are being over-protective. But my dear sisters! If your husband asks you to cover your face – By Allah, be thankful! Be pride of the fact that your husband has a sense of Gheerah for you and that he values you and cares for your hereafter.

He knows what men can be like more than you do and so never try and suppress his Gheerah in these types of matters. And his concern for you should incite your own sense of honor!

Why should any man be able to see your beauty and think indecent thoughts about you? We must nurture our own and our men folk's sense of Gheerah by behaving and dressing modestly ourselves and paying attention to their valid opinions. We expect certain behaviour from them and they expect it of us. And besides, if our husband asks us to do something that it not haraam, we must do it.

And Brothers! How can you allow your wife or sister to walk around attracting the attentions and evil-thoughts of other men? How can you not mind, if she smiles as she talks to other men. Nobody has the right to enjoy her and her company but you and her Mahram men. You are not being overbearing, if you first encourage and then enforce the hijab on your womenfolk because YOU will be asked about it on the Day of Judgment and it is also a major sin upon YOU! It is upon the men to enforce these things in their homes and you cannot use the excuse that your wife didn't want to. Women need a firm, balanced, guiding hand from their men, so with wisdom you must enforce hijab in your home. You are a shepherd and are responsible for your flock!

Allah reminds us all in the Qur'aan, the meaning of which is: "O Believers! Protect yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones." ( 66:6)

There is a big difference between how Islam values and protects women and how cheaply women are treated outside of Islam! As Muslims we have to be careful that our Hayaa' (sense of modesty and shame) and Gheerah don't wear out in a society in which people have lost it.




A'isha, the wife of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him), reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying:

Kindness is not to be found in anything but that it adds to its beauty and it is not withdrawn from anything but it makes it defective.

narrated in Sahih Muslim, Book 3, Number 6274

[AbuMubarak]

B i s m i l l a a h i r R a h m a a n i r R a h e e m


Bismillaahi walhamdulillaahi wassalaatu wassalaamu 'Alaa rasoolillaahi

Assalaamu `Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuhu

Unveiling the Islamic Dress Code

(Part 3)

Khimaar and lowering of the gaze

by Ayub A. Hamid


This is the third part that clarifies the concept of Khimaar. Some readers have asked questions relative to the first two parts, Inshaa Allaah, those will be answered after the series is finished. In fact, some of the questions may automatically be answered by the subsequent installments.

The Second Major Reform


Although Muslims by now had been well trained in Islamic values of modesty, decency and avoiding any sexual interactions between non-spouses, some more refinement was needed to ensure optimal purity and to eliminate any opportunity that may put people into tempting or testing situations. The second major pronouncement in this regard came in the 6th year of Hijrah in soorah Noor:



"Tell the believing men that they should lower some of their gazes and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed Allaah is well aware of what they do.



And say to the believing women that they should lower some of their gazes and guard their private parts; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their head-coverings over their bosoms and not display their beauty and ornaments except to their husbands, their fathers[1], their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or feeble dependents having no need (of women), or children who did not have any exposure to what is hidden of women; and that they should not stamp their feet so that their hidden adornments are not known.



And O you Believers! Turn all together towards Allaah, so that you may be successful." (An-Noor 24:30-31)



The context of this verse is the following:



At the very outset, the soorah declares sexual activity between non-spouses (zinaa), a publicly indictable offence that must be prosecuted by the state even if it is by mutual consent of the parties or no party affected by the behaviour presses charges. It takes similar severe measures against accusations of bad conduct. Then, it gives instructions about the etiquette of visiting one's friends and relatives. In that context, it gives the instructions contained in the above-quoted verses. These verses are then followed by instruction for the unmarried people to get married; thus completing the comprehensive solution for eradication of zinaa and indecency in the society[2].



According to the context, these verses provide a code of conduct to be adopted by relatives and close family friends when they are visiting each other's residence and the dress code to be observed by women inside the house in their presence; as compared to the instructions given in soorah Ahzaab for dealing with outsiders and strangers, and dressing for outdoors.

Lowering the Gaze
Both Muslim men and women have been commanded to lower their gaze. It is general command to apply whenever and wherever males and females come across each other. But it is also made specific by the context indicating that when visiting each other's homes, lower your gaze.



Lowering the gaze does not mean that Muslims should always keep their head down and should not look up. Actually, the words used are "they should lower some of their looks", indicating that only certain type of looks are being talked about. It means that they should not look intently at someone of an opposite sex, stare, exchange lustful eye contact or look intentionally after an initial inadvertent look. People are not accountable for the first, inadvertent look, but the second look is sinful. The look becomes "second" as soon as the person makes it intentional instead of inadvertent, starts assessing the attractiveness of the subject or starts enjoying the look.



Following are some of the teachings in this respect:

"O Ali! Do not follow up with another look after the (inadvertent) first look. The first is forgiven but not the second." (Ahmad, Tirmidzee, Aboo Dawood).

The Prophet was asked about a sudden, unintentional glance. He said, "Move your glance away." (Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidzee, Aboo Dawood)

"The fornication of the eyes is the sight (to gaze at a person of opposite sex), the fornication of the tongue is the talk, and the heart (inner self) lusts and desires and the private parts testify all this or deny it." (Aboo Hurayrah, Bukhaari)

"Eyes fornicate and their fornication is the look, ears' fornication is listening, tongue's fornication is talking, hands' fornication is touching and feet's fornication is walking (for that purpose). The heart lusts and desires and the private parts either confirm it or deny it." (Muslim)

The Messenger SAAWS quoted Allaah SWT saying, "The look is one of the poisonous arrows of Iblees. Who removes it because of My fear, I will give him such a faith, the sweetness of which he will find in his heart." (Tabaraani from 'Abdullah bin Mas'ood)

"If a Muslim encounters a glimpse of the attractions of a woman but removes his glance, Allaah makes his subsequent 'Ibaadah such that he enjoys its sweetness." (Aboo Umaamah in Musnad Ahmad)

This Qur-aanic command of being careful with one's sight also applies to looking at the private parts of other people of one's own sex:

"No man should cast an eye on the private parts of a man and no woman should cast an eye on the private parts of a woman." (Reported by Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidzee and Aboo Dawood)

"Do not look at the thigh of a living person or dead." (Reported by 'Ali in Aboo Dawood and Ibn Maajah)



Guarding oneself from committing fornication of gaze is extremely important for the purity of heart and mind of people. In fact, almost all bad ideas, fantasies, affairs and relationships start with a look. Those who control their sight are rewarded by sweetness in their worship.



Although this command is for both sexes, the severest warnings are for men because the looking of men at women is far more serious than looking of women at men. Because of this difference in nature and the applicability of command, women are required to cover when stepping out, but men are not. While the men are not allowed a second look at all, women are allowed to look at men in normal affairs of life as long as the look remains pure and does not carry any intent of a sexual nature. They can also watch men's sport activities or skill demonstrations, as the Prophet facilitated the sight for 'Aaishah in watching a men's show on the occasion of an Eed. Relaxed rules for a woman looking at a man are not only needed for day to day matters but may also be needed for some special circumstances. An example of special circumstances was the situation of Faatimah bint Qais who did not have a place to spend her 'Iddah[3] and the Prophet suggested that she spend it at the house of Ibn Maktoom who was blind.


Protecting Private Parts
Protecting private parts not only implies protecting them from zinaa[4], but it also means protecting them from others' view and sight. This protection goes beyond the sex organs and extends to 'owrah or satar, as described in the beginning. The protection of the private parts in every sense of these words can never be overemphasized because it is a critical mean for the Islamic goal of purity of character and behaviour.



With satar covered, men can appear in front of others. Similarly, if satar is covered, a woman can appear in front of her mahrams, her female friends or relatives, those feeble dependent males who do not have any sexual inclinations, and children who do not have exposure to sexual matters. She can do so even if she is wearing her adornments, make up, fragrance and jewellery, as long as satar or 'owrah is appropriately covered except for hands, feet and head-face-neck.



Mahrams are the relatives who cannot marry a woman: Her fathers including grandfathers and uncles, fathers of the husband, her own or her husband's sons, her brothers, and her nephews (sons of sisters and brothers).

Hiding the Zeenah
The first two commands (lowering of gaze and protection of private parts) were common for all Muslims - males and females. The third command is especially for women requiring them to hide their zeenah from everyone except for the people mentioned in the previous section - her fathers including grandfathers and uncles, fathers of the husband, her own or her husband's sons, her brothers, and her nephews (sons of sisters and brothers), her female friends or relatives, those feeble dependent males who do not have any sexual inclinations, and children who do not have exposure to sexual matters. She must hide her zeenah from everyone else.



Zeenah includes natural physical beauty of a woman as well as all beautification aids and adornments used to increase her attractiveness such as hairstyle, make-up and jewellery. To hide it, they must wear Khimaar in such a way that it covers their chests as well as adornments. Because Khimaar does not cover the face, to avoid displaying their beautification (zeenah), she must not wear any facial makeup if there are any males at home who are not in the list of the people to whom zeenah can be shown.



Khimaar (also called dopatta) is a cloth to be worn or wrapped that must be big enough to cover head, neck and upper body and must not be sheer so that it can truly cover up or hide Zeenah. Obviously, hanging a piece of cloth or dopatta on one's shoulder does not fulfill this command nor does using a small scarf that just covers head and neck, leaving chest or bosom covered by shirt or blouse only. Similarly, using a cloth which is not thick enough to hide zeenah[5] will not be in compliance with this command.



It should not be construed that women are not allowed to use makeup at all. In fact, women are encouraged to use makeup and beautification within "reasonable"[6] limits to beautify themselves for enjoying themselves with their spouses in married life. That is why the verse does not order them to avoid zeenah, but commands them to hide it from others than those mentioned.



In addition to covering themselves with khimaar, they should walk and move around gracefully without stamping their feet lest they attract attention of people because of the sounds produced by such walking and by jingle or clink of jewellery.



In addition to khimaar, it must be remembered that, the rest of the clothes must also be thick and loose to hide the body and its figure properly:



"There will be women in the Fire who remain naked despite wearing clothes, are inclined towards men and attract men to themselves. They will not go to the Jannah and will not even smell its scent, though its scent will be experienced from great distances." Reported from Aboo Hurayrah by Tabaraani and Muattaa



If these precautions are carefully taken, women are absolved of the responsibility for any zeenah that cannot be covered such as:

a.. Jewellery like bangles and rings;
b.. Khimaar and clothes themselves; or,
c.. Zeenah that is accidentally exposed.

'Aaishah reported that when these verses were revealed, every believing woman found some thick cloth and started using it as their khimaar. The next morning every woman who came for Fajr Salaah to the masjid was covered with a khimaar[7].




--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Include grandfathers and uncles. The Prophet said, "A person's uncle is in place of father." Muslim

[2] For details on Islamic marriage please refer to the author's book "Muslim Youth, Sex and marriage".

[3] 'Iddah is the period a woman has to wait before she can re-marry after a divorce or death of her husband.

[4] Any sexual activity with a non-spouse.

[5] Dihyah Kalby reported that the Prophet gave him some fine cotton cloth and said, "Make yourself a shirt and give the rest to your wife to

make her khimaar, but tell her to join another cloth underneath so that it does not show the body." Reported by Aboo Dawood



'Aaishah saw a bride who was wearing khimaar made of thin and transparent kind of cloth. She told her, "Anyone who wears clothes like this, disbelieves soorah An-Noor."

[6] What are "reasonable" limits of beautification in Islam is a separate topic. As a general rule, no physical changes to the body are allowed

for beautification.

[7] Tafheemul Qur-aan, vol. 3, page 386, with reference from Ibn Katheer.

[Soulja]

I just read this yesterday actually, and I found it great advice.

Remember these words especially:

Whosoever lets his sight roam free will find that he is in a perpetual state of loss and anguish for sight gives birth to love (mahabbah) the starting point of which is the heart being devoted and dependant upon that which it beholds. This then intensifies to become fervent longing (sabubah) whereby the heart becomes totally dependant and devoted to the (object of its desire). Then this further intensifies and becomes infatuation (gharamah) which clings to the heart like the one seeking repayment of a debt clings firmly to the one who has to pay the debt. Then this intensifies and becomes passionate love (ishk) and this is a love that transgresses all bounds. Then this further intensifies and becomes crazed passion (shaghafa) and this is a love that encompasses every tiny part of the heart. Then this intensifies and becomes worshipful love (tatayyuma). Tatayyum means worship and it is said: tayyama Allah i.e. he worshipped Allah. ]