 A Nurses Proposal
"There was a companion of ours in Glasgow who became ill and was
hospitalized. He was admitted for three days and on the fourth day the
attendant nurse said, "Marry me". He [the brother in Glasgow] asked,
"Why? I am a Muslim, you and I cannot become companions." She said,
"I'll become Muslim". "What's the reason?" it was asked. She said, "In
all my time that I have served in hospitals, except you, I have never
seen a man lower his gaze in front of a woman." "In my life you are the
first person who lowers his gaze when seeing a woman." "I come, and you
close your eyes. Such great modesty can be taught by none other than a
true religion." The protection of one's gaze entered Islam in her. She
testified to the Oneness of Allah and became a Muslim. They both got
married. By now, the same woman was and is the means of bringing so many
other girls / women into Islam."
By Moulana Tariq Jamil
************ ********* **
It goes without saying that every Muslim should spare no pains in
lowering his/her gaze and preserving his/her modesty. This should occur
in compliance with the Divine command given in Surah An-Nur: "Tell the
believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them.
Lo! Allah is Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to
lower their gaze and be modest." (An-Nur: 30-31)
In a hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported
as having said: "And the eyes commit zina (adultery). Their zina is
gazing." He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded Ali(radhiyallahu
anhu) and said: "Ali! Do not look once after another, for the first look
is for you (since it happens accidentally) while the second is against
you."
************ ********* ********* **
How To Lower Our Gaze
"A big curtain is not my intention, but a big iman and befitting Islamic
manners is "
by Sabeel Ahmed
"If I were not a Muslim, I would have contracted AIDS" proclaimed my
friend. "The ayats in Sura Nur about lowering our gazes doesn't affect
me anymore," expressed another youth, talking about the intense
temptations felt by today's young. Difficulty in lowering the gaze by
both the young and old is readily perceived on the street, weddings,
parties and even in the mosques.
What has gone wrong? How can Muslims, called by Allah, our Creator the
model community, the custodians of Truth and the upholders of morality
behave this way? Why are we adopting the attitudes and routes of the
kuffar? How can we rectify ourselves? What follows is a series of
practical, though graphic advises which can work for us and set us free
from Satan's stronghold, Insha`Allah.
Prophet Muhamad (peace and blessings be upon him), by way of warning and
as a reminder said, "There is nothing left after I go more dangerous to
men than the temptations of women." Being optimistic, a ray of hope was
also wisely provided during the prophet's Last Sermon "If the Ummah
holds on to the Qur`an and Sunnah, it will never go astray."
When Allah created humans with all our desires and urges, he also
revealed to us sufficient and complete guidance to properly channel
these desires, both in the midst of Dar-ul-Kufr or Dar-ul-Islam. All we
need to do is seek it, contemplate on it and pursue it. "This day I have
perfected your deen for you, completed my favors upon you and chosen
Islam as your deen." (Maida 4)
We should realize that the fact the great sahabas were human beings
also. Biologically there were no different from us. They had desires and
temptations but yet, they controlled themselves in the best of ways. We
can do the same, Insha`Allah. To possess sensual passions is human, to
control them is Muslim.
When confronted with an alluring situation like passing by a non-mahram
on the street, office or school, Satan is constantly tempting us to
glare at her/him 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 and leaving him frustrated and
accursed.
Satan rebelled and was expelled by Allah, so let's all rebel against
Satan and expel him from our hearts. Satan intends to fight a war
against Muslims, so let's gather our forces behind the Qur`an and the
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 hearts. Our eyes, limbs, tongue and private parts will be
witnesses on the Judgment Day and not an atom's worth of deed will
remain unexamined.
Our minds are conditioned to associate 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 situations and imagine that Allah is
speaking to us directly "Say to the believing, men 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) If the
Qur`an contained only these two ayats, it would be enough to convince me
that it is the book of Allah.
With practice, these associations and the remembrance of Allah during
tempting situations will prevent us from getting stuck by devilish
arrows. Successfully controlling our gazes also deadens our avoidance of
sinful situations. An Islamic idiom says, "Anything that leads to haram
is haram in itself." To do a pious deed is a reward; to avoid a sin is a
reward too.
One of the biggest culprits in this class is movies. In the name of
entertainment, to please our peers and children and an excuse to do
something together as a family, we astonishingly allow un-Islamic
pictures and dialogues in front of our eyes and ears. Can we ever
imagine (aozubillah) any sahaba renting the latest hit from Blockbuster
Videos, or listening to music with alluring lyrics at high volume?
Likewise we watch news on TV and stare at the anchor women, adorned in
heavy make-up, scanty clothing and seductive smile. Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blesings be upon him), was once approached by a woman with a
proposal for marriage. He took a single glance at her face and turned
his face away. Jabir bin Abdullah(radhiyalla hu anhu) 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 supposed to stare at faces of non-mahrams, be they are our fellow
students, our elders, saleswomen or someone on TV.
Pious ladies of the prophet's household were ordered to observe purdah
(separation) in front of a blind sahabah. Asking the curious questions
as to why cover/separate when the blind sahabah could not see them, the
prophet (pbuh) wisely answered, "But you could see him."
In our wedding ceremonies and parties and even in many Islamic
fundraising dinners, there is heavy free-mixing between brothers and
sisters. Often the chairs of males and females are arranged facing each
other, knowing that about 90 percent of our sisters do no wear hijab. It
is often noticeable to see males and females peeking glances at each
other from the opposite ends of the hall. A big curtain is not my
intention, but a big iman and befitting Islamic manners is.
It comes in a hadith ,that: "A woman who applies perfumes and goes to a
gathering is like an adulteress". Compare this with our sisters who clad
themselves with expensive perfume, one kilogram of makeup, and then come
to mixed gatherings. Will this not attract the attention of males? Let's
be real. We have lowered our moral guards so low that a humble word of
truth often seems so awfully strange.
Let us contemplate the above humble advices and constantly make the
supplication, "O Allah help us control our sensual desires until we get
married, and even after we marry, let our desires be only towards our
spouses."
[While writing this article, MR. SABEEL AHMED (E-mail: islam662@cssn. net <mailto:islam662@cssn. net> or Islam_662@hotmail. com <mailto:Islam_662@hotmail. com> ) is at the final stage of his medical
programme in Ross University, New York. He is the Co-chairman of the
Da'wa Committee and Board of Director at the Muslim Community Center
Masjid (the largest masjid in the Illinois state). He is also a member
of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) where he is actively
involved in the 'toll free da'wa hotline' 1-800-662-islam, having first
hand experience in handling calls by non-Muslim. He was a student of
Shaykh Ahmed Deedat and his main field of interest is in comparative
religion.]
Courtesy: AL-ISLAAH PUBLICATIONS
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