Lower the Gaze Prevent Fitnah - Abdullah Cheng -( Abdullah Cheng)
Dear brothers and sisters,
When speaking about the rulings of how Muslims should wear their clothes and cover themselves in Islam, we all know that the rulings for women are stricter than men. Both men and women are commanded to cover their body parts, but the women have to cover more areas than men.
However, many of us forget that there is a ruling that is stricter for men than women, and that is the lowering of the gaze. Both men and women are required to lower their gaze, but the men are required to lower their gaze more than women. This has been stated very clearly in Surah An-Nur. When it comes to interacting with the opposite gender, Allah first tells the men before telling the women:
قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا۟ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا۟ فُرُوجَهُمْ
Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. [24:30]
And then, the next verse moves on to tell the women:
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ
And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity [24:31]
And the verse continues with the ruling of covering themselves in front of the opposite gender:
وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا
Tell them to not reveal their adornments (hair, arms, legs) except what normally appears. [24:31]
But this is not what we are going to focus on today. Before even talking about the importance of covering, we need to first talk about not staring at the body, because this is an action that can lead to very serious consequences, and similarly, lowering the gaze can help avoid and prevent these serious consequences from happening in the first place. So before someone puts a blame on a woman not covering themselves properly, we need to first question whether the men are lowering their gaze or not in the first place.
This is not a one-sided issue either: the man should be responsible for lowering his gaze, and the woman should also be responsible for covering herself, and sometimes it can be the other way around too. Both men and women need to lower their gaze, and both men and women need to cover themselves, but the level of strictness is different for both because of how different men and women are by nature.
There was a story during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) when he was performing the Hajj. The Prophet was with his young cousin Al-Fadl ibn Abbas (RA), and Al-Fadl was a very handsome young man. A beautiful woman came to the Prophet ﷺ to ask a question. While they were talking, Al-Fadl was looking at her, she was looking at him. Then the Prophet ﷺ put his hand on the cheek of Al-Fadl and gently turned his face away. [Sahih Bukhari 6228]
This shows us that even the most pious people are tested with gender attraction and guarding the eyes. Some people might think that they are different than others because they think they have a stronger desire. But the reality is, everyone probably has a similar level of desire, it’s not about how strong the desire is, but how strong we can become to control the desire. The stronger the desire is, the more reward we can get and the higher our status will be if we are able to control it.
There’s another narration about the Prophet (ﷺ) who saw a group of Sahaba who were sitting in front of the houses on the street, so he told them to avoid meeting on the pathways where people walk by. The Sahaba told him that they are meeting there to discuss about some matters. So the Prophet (ﷺ) said that if you really have to sit in the streets, then give the street its own rights: 1) lower the gaze, 2) return the Salam, and 3) hold a good conversation. [Sahih Muslim 2161]
We might think that a glance is just a small action that no one notices, but it is one of those actions that can potentially lead to extreme consequences. One of the goals of Shaytaan is to weaken and break family ties, and making someone stare at the opposite gender is one of the smartest ways to achieve that. Because once a person starts staring without controlling themselves, they feel less sensitive and less needy for marriage and become discouraged from marrying, and it also discourages people who are already married to be less attracted to their partners, which would eventually lead to disputes.
What Islam teaches us is the importance of preventing a disaster from happening rather than curing an ongoing disease. All the major sins have traces we can follow, and when we track back to the causes, they are usually small actions that people don’t event notice. So if we can make sure to avoid these actions in the first place, then it will not only help us protect our heart, it would also help us prevent facing a greater Fitnah.
May Allah protect our hearts from all forms of evil, may Allah protect and strengthen the bonds of our families, may Allah grant us the coolness of the eyes within our families and future generations.
Dear
When speaking about the rulings of how Muslims should wear their clothes and cover themselves in Islam, we all know that the rulings for women are stricter than men. Both men and women are commanded to cover their body parts, but the women have to cover more areas than men.
However, many of us forget that there is a ruling that is stricter for men than women, and that is the lowering of the gaze. Both men and women are required to lower their gaze, but the men are required to lower their gaze more than women. This has been stated very clearly in Surah An-Nur. When it comes to interacting with the opposite gender, Allah first tells the men before telling the women:
قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا۟ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا۟ فُرُوجَهُمْ
Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. [24:30]
And then, the next verse moves on to tell the women:
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ
And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity [24:31]
And the verse continues with the ruling of covering themselves in front of the opposite gender:
وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا
Tell them to not reveal their adornments (hair, arms, legs) except what normally appears. [24:31]
But this is not what we are going to focus on today. Before even talking about the importance of covering, we need to first talk about not staring at the body, because this is an action that can lead to very serious consequences, and similarly, lowering the gaze can help avoid and prevent these serious consequences from happening in the first place. So before someone puts a blame on a woman not covering themselves properly, we need to first question whether the men are lowering their gaze or not in the first place.
This is not a one-sided issue either: the man should be responsible for lowering his gaze, and the woman should also be responsible for covering herself, and sometimes it can be the other way around too. Both men and women need to lower their gaze, and both men and women need to cover themselves, but the level of strictness is different for both because of how different men and women are by nature.
There was a story during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) when he was performing the Hajj. The Prophet was with his young cousin Al-Fadl ibn Abbas (RA), and Al-Fadl was a very handsome young man. A beautiful woman came to the Prophet ﷺ to ask a question. While they were talking, Al-Fadl was looking at her, she was looking at him. Then the Prophet ﷺ put his hand on the cheek of Al-Fadl and gently turned his face away. [Sahih Bukhari 6228]
This shows us that even the most pious people are tested with gender attraction and guarding the eyes. Some people might think that they are different than others because they think they have a stronger desire. But the reality is, everyone probably has a similar level of desire, it’s not about how strong the desire is, but how strong we can become to control the desire. The stronger the desire is, the more reward we can get and the higher our status will be if we are able to control it.
There’s another narration about the Prophet (ﷺ) who saw a group of Sahaba who were sitting in front of the houses on the street, so he told them to avoid meeting on the pathways where people walk by. The Sahaba told him that they are meeting there to discuss about some matters. So the Prophet (ﷺ) said that if you really have to sit in the streets, then give the street its own rights: 1) lower the gaze, 2) return the Salam, and 3) hold a good conversation. [Sahih Muslim 2161]
We might think that a glance is just a small action that no one notices, but it is one of those actions that can potentially lead to extreme consequences. One of the goals of Shaytaan is to weaken and break family ties, and making someone stare at the opposite gender is one of the smartest ways to achieve that. Because once a person starts staring without controlling themselves, they feel less sensitive and less needy for marriage and become discouraged from marrying, and it also discourages people who are already married to be less attracted to their partners, which would eventually lead to disputes.
What Islam teaches us is the importance of preventing a disaster from happening rather than curing an ongoing disease. All the major sins have traces we can follow, and when we track back to the causes, they are usually small actions that people don’t event notice. So if we can make sure to avoid these actions in the first place, then it will not only help us protect our heart, it would also help us prevent facing a greater Fitnah.
May Allah protect our hearts from all forms of evil, may Allah protect and strengthen the bonds of our families, may Allah grant us the coolness of the eyes within our families and future generations.
Dear