Aqeel Mahmood – Lowering The Gaze
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
1 of the scholars of the past,
he said that one day
we run an expedition
and
with us
was a soldier
who was a young man,
and he had memorized the whole of the
Quran.
And there was no one
from amongst this group
who we thought was better than this young
man.
He had memorized the Quran. He would fast
during the day, and he would pray during
the nights.
They said there was no one from amongst
us who we thought was better than this
individual. There was no one who understood fiqh
and the fiqh of the religion more than
him. And there was no one who understood
the laws of inheritance better than him in
this group of ours.
They said that we were on this expedition,
and while we were on this expedition
we came across this fort.
And this young man
who we loved so much,
it was like as if he was our
own son.
This young man he went close to the
fort
to relieve himself,
and when he looked up
he saw a woman a woman from the
Romans,
a Christian woman.
And when he saw her he was amazed
by her,
and so he started to talk to this
woman.
And he said to her how can I
get to you? I want to be with
you.
And she said you won't be able to
enter the fort and be with me unless
you become a Christian.
And some of the people who were in
this expedition, they said we had no idea
this was taking place except after it was
done and after he went into the fort.
This man,
he went into the fort by accepting Christianity,
and he ended up with that woman.
And the people who were in this expedition,
this group,
they said
that when this happened they were shocked. They
couldn't believe what had happened.
It was like as if they lost their
own son.
And they carried on on this expedition
but you know their their minds weren't all
there.
You know they were shocked over this incident.
They couldn't get over it.
1 of their own had just left Islam
for a woman.
On the way back from the expedition they
happened to pass by the same fort
and when they looked up
they saw the same man
looking down on them
and they called out to him.
They said, yeah fullah I know so and
so.
What happened to your Islam?
What happened to your salah?
What happened to your Quran?
What happened to your fasts?
What happened to your knowledge?
What happened to you?
And he looked down on them
and he said
I have forgotten all of it.
I don't remember any of it.
None of my Quran,
none of my knowledge,
but I only remember
one portion of the Quran.
Just one of 1 or 2 ayahs.
And they said what are those ayahs that
you remember?
And he said
He said that
non muslims, those who disbelieve,
they wish that they were with the muslims.
They wish that they were part of the
muslim Ummah.
Leave them be. Let them enjoy themselves. Let
them eat and let them drink until
until they they how to account for what
they did.
And then they'll come to realize
the sins that they committed.
From the lessons we can learn
from this story brothers and sisters and from
this incident
is the importance
of lowering the gaze.
We live in a society
where
sexuality is prominent.
Wherever we look
we're bombarded
with
billboards
and magazines
and websites
where
shamelessness
is, you know, widespread.
It's not even shameless and it's not even
something which is, you know, people feel ashamed
about anymore.
It's something common. It's something normal.
And we're surrounded by this.
This society that we live
in should be
an incentive for us
to strive with regards to this aspect of
our faith.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
he talks about the importance of lowering the
gaze,
and he says tell the believing men.
Tell the believing men to lower their gaze
and to protect their private parts.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says the same
thing with regards to the believing women,
to lower their gaze.
Lowering the gaze brothers and sisters is something
which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has commanded in
the Quran.
For a person
to refrain from looking
at those people who aren't a Mahram to
him. At women who aren't related to him.
And in this day and age,
in this society that we live in, and
especially in this season, in the summer months,
it's something which we have to be careful
of even more.
A person needs to refrain
from looking at things which will increase his
desire.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala himself has ordered this
in the Quran. The messenger of Allah alaihis
salatu was salam was once asked by a
companion
about the sudden gaze.
When a person just looks at something suddenly,
and then he averts his gaze straight away.
The messenger of Allah was
asked about this and he commanded the companions
and he commanded them to avert their gaze
after they make the initial gaze.
If a person looks at something which is
haram to him, let him turn his gaze
away straight away and he won't be able
to account for that first case.
On the condition that he looks away straight
away.
We look at the dangers of low of
not lowering the gaze and the benefits of
lowering the gaze
as Muslims, as believers.
One of the benefits of lowering the gaze
brothers and sisters
is that you're obeying the orders of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And the person who doesn't lower his gaze
and who doesn't try his utmost
to lower his gaze,
he's disobeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He's disobeying the commandments of Allah Azzawajal.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says, All you
who believe,
obey Allah and obey the messenger.
And when a person doesn't obey Allah Azza
wa Jal and doesn't obey his messenger alayhisratawasalam,
then his deeds won't be of any value.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says obey Allah and
obey his messenger.
And don't
make your deeds worthless.
When a person disobeys Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
he runs the risk of making his deeds
end up worthless. Of no benefit to him
whatsoever.
Another harm
of not lowering the gaze brothers and sisters
is that it can lead one to adultery.
It can lead one to having illegal relationships
with people of the opposite gender.
The messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa sallam,
he would say that the eyes commit zina.
The eyes commit adultery.
How can the eyes commit adultery?
Because of what the eyes look at.
Because of what the eyes look at. The
messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa sallam, he
would talk about the eyesight
and he would say that the eyesight,
He would say it's an arrow from the
poisonous arrows of Iblis.
And he said whoever refrains and stops himself
from looking at something that isn't halal for
him, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will replace
that with a sweetness
in his heart that he'll have until the
day of judgment.
When a person obeys Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When a person lowers his gaze, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala will put that halawatul iman in
his heart, that sweetness of iman inside his
heart.
From the dangers of not lowering the gaze
brothers and sisters,
is that he starts to belittle
this sin that he's committing,
and he thinks it's not a big deal.
He thinks there's nothing wrong with this sin.
One of the companions,
he said that the believer when he commits
a sin,
it's like
a huge mountain about to crumble on top
of him.
That's how he sees the sin. Even if
he commits a small sin,
in his eyes it's the biggest thing that
he can do.
It's a serious thing.
And he said the hypocrite or the sinner,
when he commits a sin,
it's like a a fly in front of
him that he just swats away.
It's not a big deal. It's something minor.
It's not having an effect on him or
on his heart.
They did this experiment
where they boiled water.
This experiment
in which they boiled water and they took
a frog.
They took this frog and they put the
frog in the boiling water, and the frog
jumped out straight away because the water was
hot.
Then
they put the frog
in lukewarm water, water which wasn't boiling hot,
and they slowly increased the temperature of the
water
until the water became boiling and the frog
never leaped out. The frog stayed in the
water and the frog died.
When a person sees something haram blatantly in
front of his eyes
and it's something big and it's a major
sin and it's a major haram,
he averts his gaze
and he stays away from it.
But when he doesn't
stop himself from committing small sins,
then those small sins are going to mount
up.
They're going to mount up and on the
day of judgement they'll be like mountains and
they'll be against him
when he's in front of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
A person when he commits small sins, he
doesn't realize the impact it's having on his
heart
because they're small, they're tiny.
But this is one of the traps of
the shaitan,
where he makes you think it's not a
big deal.
And before you know it your heart has
become black with sins,
and it's having an effect on you even
though you don't realize.
Another danger brothers and sisters
of not lowering the gaze
is that
it opens the door to the shaitan
and the shaitan
starts to let you
or
encourages you to do other sins which you
never used to commit.
So one day a sin is something which
you never used to do.
A particular sin which you knew it was
haram and it was something which you would
never have even imagined to do.
But because you committed other sins,
it led to more sins, and those sins
led to other sins.
And before you know it, you're committing sins
which you never have which you would never
have even imagined that you would have committed
in your life.
A person when he commits a sin, it
can lead to other sins.
And most of the time it does lead
to other sins.
So a person needs to stop himself from
committing that first sin so that it doesn't
lead him to commit other sins.
When a person
belittles
the sins
that he's doing,
it also stops him
from
striving
to obey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah azzawajal,
he talks about the day of judgment
and he talks about how the individual will
see
his sins on the day of judgment.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says whomsoever
will do an atom's weight of good in
this world.
Something tiny, something small.
The scholars say
an atom's weight means the tiniest thing.
For example when the sun shines through the
window and you see specks of dust in
the air,
something as small as that,
if a person does an atom's weight of
good, something as tiny as that, something which
doesn't even have any weight in our eyes,
if a person does a deed
which he may think is something tiny, something
maybe even insignificant,
on the day of judgment he'll see the
good deeds that he did
on his scale of good deeds.
And when a person commits sins,
he'll see those sins even if they were
small.
And whoever committed atoms weight of evil,
they will see them on the day of
judgement.
A person will see everything he did on
the day of judgment. He'll be able to
see all the things that he did, all
the things that he said.
So a person needs to refrain.
A person needs to be careful when it
comes to committing sins even if he thinks
that they're minor, even if he thinks that
there's sins which aren't a big deal.
Another problem,
when a person doesn't lower his gaze
and looks at things which he shouldn't be
looking at,
looking at things which are haram for him
to look at,
is that it causes a strain
on his marital relationship.
It causes problems and conflicts between him and
his spouse.
The spouse sees his or her spouse looking
at something which is haram.
How do you think it makes that person
feel?
It makes that person feel worthless.
It makes that person feel as if he
or she isn't worth anything.
And when a person looks at things which
are haram and he's not married,
then when he looks at those things he
expects
things to be that way when he gets
married.
And then when he gets married and things
aren't the way he expected,
then it causes strains on the relationship
because he had other ideas.
He had other perceptions,
other things, other thoughts of how
marriage was going to be, how married life
was going to be, how his relationship with
his spouse, or how her relationship
with her spouse was going to be.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he
protects us
from the fitna and the evil of
society.
We were talking about the importance of lowering
the gaze and how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has ordered us in the Quran to lower
our gaze. This is an order from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so because an order
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, anybody who looks
at something
anybody who looks at something which isn't halal
for him,
then he's going to be committing a sin.
And a person needs to do whatever is
possible.
He needs to do whatever he physically can
do to try to avoid looking at those
things which are haram for him.
Whatever he can do to lower his gaze.
And we talked about the harms that this
can cause
with regards to his Islam and with regards
to his iman,
and it can lead to other types of
sins.
And I want to talk about
ways in which a person
can
lower his gaze or ways in which it
will make a person easier
to lower his gaze.
What steps can a person go to? What
steps can a person take so that he
can,
lower his gaze in an easier way?
It'll be easy for him in the society
that we live in. It's difficult for a
person to always lower his gaze. It's difficult
not to look at things which are haram
for him. So what things can a person
do
so that
it's made easier for him to do this
thing which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has asked
of him and ordered him to do?
The first thing that a person can do,
brothers and sisters,
is to realize and know in his heart
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is watching wherever
and whatever you're doing. Wherever you may be,
whatever you're doing, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
a witness and he sees everything that you're
doing.
No matter
where you are
and no matter who is with you,
even if you're on your own,
in a house
where there's nobody else except you
and you're on your laptop or you're on
your mobile phones
and nobody else is there,
nobody else can see you, you should know
in the bottom of your heart that whatever
you do is never going to escape Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can see everything.
And if a person has this in his
heart
and he's aware and he's conscious of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, and he knows that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is watching him wherever he
is, whatever he's doing, in whatever state he
may be in, then this will help him
to lower his gaze and not look at
things which are haram for him.
Another thing that a person can do to
help him lower his gaze, brothers and sisters,
is to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that
he helps you lower your gaze.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the
When my slave asks you about me,
then verily I am close.
I respond to the one who supplicates to
me so long as he continues to make
dua, so long as he makes dua to
me and supplicates to me.
So a person should supplicate to Allah azza
wa jal. One of the greatest weapons of
the believer is dua,
is supplication.
You can make supplication
anytime,
any place, anywhere,
whatever state you may be in. If you
feel like you're going to fall into haram,
supplicate to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at that
very moment. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
protect you from evil, to protect you from
harm.
Make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa salam,
he said that dua is worship.
Supplication is worship.
Because you're asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as
opposed to asking the creation of Allah
Another way in which a person can help
himself lower his gaze
is by striving
and making the effort and doing whatever a
person can to lower his gaze and then
being patient on that.
It's not going to be easy. No one
said it was going to be easy,
But a person
tries as much as he can.
You know he has this
striving of the soul, this jihadun nafs.
He tries as hard as he can.
He struggles with his soul.
He makes this effort for Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And if a person makes the effort for
Allah Azzawajal,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make that path
easier for him.
He just has to make the effort.
You know when a person does an exam,
the one who's marking the exam doesn't look
at how hard the person tried, how much
effort the person made, how many nights he
revised for. He looks at the overall result.
He looks at the overall mark. If a
person failed, he failed. Doesn't matter how how
hard he tried.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he looks at
how hard we try.
He looks at our effort.
He looks at how hard we're going to
try and how much effort we go to
to please him.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says,
he said those
who strive in our way,
those who strive for me, I'm going to
make their path easier for them.
I will guide them to my path.
I'll make it easier for them. All a
person has to do is to make the
effort. All he has to do is to
try.
The messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa sallam,
he said whoever looks
to be
chased,
whoever looks to not get involved
in adultery or fornication
or the or or zina,
the zina of the eyes or the zina
of the private parts.
Whoever refrains himself from this, then Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala will make him chaste.
And whoever seeks to be independent with regards
to his means and his risk and his
income,
doesn't rely on other people, then Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala will make him independent of means.
And whoever
strives
to be patient,
then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make him
from the patient.
A person just has to make that effort.
He has to strive for these things.
And when a person strives for these things,
when he does whatever he's able to do,
then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make the
path easier for him.
Another way in which a person can make
it easier for himself to lower his gaze
is by
avoiding
using your mobile phones and other social, you
know, media devices
for haram purposes.
When a person wastes his time
on Whatsapp and on Facebook and on other
things,
He's going to end up watching things or
seeing things or looking at things which are
haram
because he's got time to spare.
And so he goes on his phone and
he just starts flicking through things and he
sees things which are haram.
And he may go into something, he may
click on something, he may go onto a
page which he shouldn't be going on.
So whenever a person uses these devices,
he uses them with the intention that he's
going to worship Allah sub subhanahu wa ta'ala
through them.
By worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
through remembrance of the through remembrance of him,
through doing daily adkar,
or by reading Quran
using his mobile phone, or by listening to
lectures.
So when he uses these devices, he he's
using them for good.
He's not using them to disobey Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
And when he has things on his phone
which are reminding him of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala,
apps such as the Quran or daily adkar
or talks and so on and so forth,
then it helps him refrain from doing haram
things with those devices, with his mobile phone,
with his tablet, with his laptops.
So a person needs to make sure that
whenever he has these devices in his hand
that he's using them for good or he's
doing something beneficial with them. He's doing something
productive with them, and he's not wasting his
time with them.
Another way in which a person can make
it easier for himself to lower his gaze
is by knowing and understanding
that this very earth that we're on right
now,
on the day of judgement
is going to be a witness against
us. It's going to speak out.
It's going to speak to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala about everything that took place on it
and everything that we did on it. Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says
On that day, on the day of judgment,
it will report back
to its lord about what took place on
it,
About its news.
Everything that took place on the earth,
the earth will tell Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because your lord or Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa
sallam, your lord has commanded the earth to
speak. Which means the earth wants to speak.
It wants to speak out. It wants to
tell Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
what's happening on it. The burdens on the
earth.
He wants to tell the earth He wants
to tell Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what's taking
place on it, but is waiting for permission
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so that it
can speak. This very earth which we are
living on.
Another way in which a person can help
himself lower his gaze
is by marriage,
is by getting married. The messenger of Allah
alaihis salatu wa sallam, he said whoever can
afford it, then let him get married.
Because it's more effective in lowering the gaze
and in guarding one's chastity.
Another way of
helping yourself lower the gaze if you're not
able to get married is to fast.
Because when a person fasts it weakens the
desires.
It makes a person weaker. He doesn't have
the energy to look at those things or
to think of those things.
And with Ramadan around the corner, it's the
best time,
the most appropriate time to fast.
To train our bodies once again to prepare
ourselves for the month of Ramadan.
And finally brothers and sisters,
increasing
in worship generally
and specifically
with regards to the salah.
With regards
to the prayer. The obligatory prayers, perfecting the
obligatory prayers, and also increasing in optional prayers.
Because when a person prays to Allah,
when he performs salah,
it stops him from committing sins and from
committing evil deeds. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
verily the prayer prevents one from sins and
from evil deeds.
So when a person prays,
it stops him. It's like a barrier between
him and sins
which accumulate
against him,
and there'll be a testament against him on
the day of judgement. We ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
that we are able to lower our gaze
and we're able to go about
using these means and methods
to help us lower our gaze.
So it's Fufa, demonstrating your rose,
stretching the roses from the perfection of the
prayer. So make sure your rose is straight.
Just a few announcements.
Task Force GLM has partnered partnered with various
bread factories in Idlib, Syria with the aim
to bake enough bread to provide up to
12,000,000 Syrian refugees with bread free of charge,
Insha'Allah.
We ask all our brothers and sisters to
donate generously towards this noble project. Please remember,
for every person that receives bread from the
factory, you will Insha'Allah be rewarded immensely.
And as announced in previous weeks, every Friday
after Jum'at, we will be holding a snack
stall outside both brothers and sisters entrances.
All proceeds will go towards the bread project.
Please visit the stores on your way out
and make a purchase.
Sisters at Greenlane Masjid, in association with Task
Force GLM and Human Appeal,
are holding a sisters' charity dinner, raising money
to feed the Syrian people on Saturday, 6th
June, from 4 PM to 8 PM.
There'll be performances,
stalls, auctions,
and a 3 course meal, and much more.
Tickets are £15
in
from the stall outside or alternatively from the
reception during office hours.
Sisters are also taking donations of brand new
or once worn wedding clothes for the event.
Tonight's Urdu lecture will take place after Salatul
Maghrib, insha Allah.
Also Saturday the Saturday lecture after Maghrib is
entitled the battle of the trench and will
be delivered by Abu Abdullah Yoonas, inshaAllah.
Our food bank service urgently requires food donations.
We are currently running low on cooking oil,
milk,
rice, drinks, and ladies and men toiletries.
Please leave your donations during office hours at
the Masjid reception through door c.
If you are struggling to find work, need
help with completing your CV, or need interview
skills, we are now offering a service for
you. GLMCC
job club is running every Monday with morning
sessions for sisters and afternoon sessions for brothers.
For more information, please come to the reception
through door c, Insha'Allah.
The volunteers at Green Lane Masjid are the
backbone of this masjid.
Volunteers run everything
that we deliver here in the masjid,
including our new services.
We're now recruiting for more volunteers to help
us expand even further for the benefit of
the entire community.
If you would like to join the team,
then please come to the reception
at through Dorsey.
Greenland Masjid will be holding a Tarbiyyah camp
here in the Masjid from Saturday 30th
to Sunday 31st May, insha'Allah.
This will be an opportunity for you to
benefit from excellent instructor instructors,
interesting workshops, as well as fun filled recreational
activities.
The camp is for brothers only and is
free of charge.
Registration is required and can be done through
our website or in the reception Insha'Allah.
Young Ummah, the GLM youth service,
is always looking for ways to improve the
standard of our youth development. Alhamdulillah,
we are now looking to establish a professionally
run Islamic scouts group for various ages.
If you're interested in a place in the
group for your child, then register your interest
by attending the scouts meeting taking place here
in the Masjid tomorrow at 6:30 PM, Insha'Allah.
The entrance will be through door f.
Lastly,
we apologize for the inconvenience caused by the
building work in the Masjid.
We are trying our best to improve the
site for your comfort, access, and your worship.
Please have patience with us. Once again, please
donate generously on your way out, which is
zakumAllahu khayr.