The Great Virtue of Lowering the Gaze
By Imaam ibn al-Qayyim
Taken from ‘al-Muntaqaa min Ighaathatul Lufhaan fee Masaayid ash-Shaytaan’ [pp.’s 102-105] of ibn al-Qayyim, summarised by Alee Hasan
Allaah,
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 Allaah is well
acquainted with all that they do.”
[an-Nur (24):30]
So
Allaah made purification and spiritual growth to be the outcome of lowering
the gaze and guarding the private parts. It is for this reason that lowrering
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
Allaah. Indeed, “whosoever leaves
something for the sake of Allaah then Allaah, 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 (sabaabah)
whereby the heart becomes totally dependant and devoted to the (object of its
desire). Then this further intensifies and becomes infatuation (gharaamah)
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
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 Allaah i.e. he
worshipped Allaah.
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
Allaah 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 Allaah
Alone and does not take Him as its God then it must worship something else.
Allaah
said concerning Yusuf as-Siddeeq (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-Azeez was a polytheist that (the passionate love)
entered her heart despite her being married. It was because Yusuf (AS) was
sincere to Allaah that he was saved from it despite his being a young man,
unamarried and a servant.
The
Second:
the illumination of the heart, clear perception and penetrating insight.
Ibn
Shujaa` al-Kirmaanee said, “whosoever builds his outward form upon following
the Sunnah, his internal form upon perpetual contemplation and awareness of
Allaah, 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.”
Allaah
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 Mutawassimeen.”
[al-Hijr (15): 75]
The
Mutwassimeen are those who have
clear perception and penetrating insight, those who are secure from looking at
the unlawful and performing indecent acts.
Allaah
said after mentioning the verse concerning lowering the gaze,
“Allaah
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 Allaah, 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, Allaah 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 (haqaa`iq)
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.
Allaah
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, Shaytaan shall flee from it. It is mentioned in the
narration, “whosoever opposes his
base desires, the Shaytaan 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 Allaah places
nobilty 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.” [Aali
Imraan(3): 139]
“If
any do seek for nobilty and power then to Allaah belongs all nobility and
power.”
[Faatir(35): 10]
Meaning
that whosoever seeks after disobedience and sin then Allaah, the Might and
Magnificent, will humiliate the one who disobeys Him.
Some
of the salaf said, “the people seek nobilty and power at the door of the
Kings and they will not find it except through the obedience of Allaah.”
This
is because the one who who obeys Allaah has taken Allaah as his friend and
protector and Allaah will never humiliate the one who takes his Lord as friend
and patron. In the Du`aa Qunut
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}
FOOTNOTES
{1}
Reported by Ahmad [5/363], al-Marwazee in ‘Zawaa`id az-Zuhd’ [no. 412],
an-Nasaa`ee in ‘al-Kubraa’ as mentioned in ‘Tuhfah al-Ashraaf’
[11/199] from one of the Companions that the Messenger of Allaah (SAW) said, “indeed
you will not leave anything for the sake of Allaah except that Allaah will
replace it with something better than it.” The isnaad is saheeh.
{2}
This is not established as a hadeeth of the Prophet (SAW)
{3}
Reported by Abu Daawood [Eng. Trans. 1/374 no. 1420], an-Nasaa`ee [3/248], at-Tirmidhee
[no. 464], ibn Maajah [no. 1178], ad-Daarimee [1/311], Ahmad [1/199], ibn
Khuzaymah [2/151] from al-Hasan from Alee (RA).
The
hadeeth is saheeh.
The
isnaad has been critcised by many, however none of the critcisms hold. Refer
to: ‘Nasb ar-Raayah’ [2/125] and ‘Talkhees al-Habeer’ [1/247]
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