LifeStyle #19 – Lowering the gaze

Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah he Salalah alayhi salam will be shortly Saudi or silly embryo lock that's Amelia Santi of our poly Subhanak alive Elena Ilana lantana in Naka and Ali maki My dear respected brothers and sisters in STEM everyone. Welcome back to our lifestyle as believers as Muslims to revive some of those forgotten manners forgotten concepts that are very essential for our lives as believers as Muslims. Today inshallah we're going to discuss lowering the gaze for in Arabic labu baesler loved the buzzer as a lifestyle in sha Allah for the believers. Before we move further in the light Allah remember we

are broadcasting from my page while Ibrahim as well as live Dean in Pakistan, and also connect Institute global and Kinect Institute Karachi Facebook pages, as well as the video will be uploaded on the AWARE Academy YouTube channel so hopefully, you can check them out. I like all these pages and subscribe to the AWARE Academy YouTube channel insha Allah while lowering the gaze is defined as restraining Your stare, restraining your gaze from looking at that which may lead to sinful activities. So many people have the misconceptions. Now one of the misconceptions is that lowering the gaze means that you don't look at the hara, which is of course the common understanding of

lowering the gaze, or restraining your your stare, but actually lowering the gaze is broader than that. It's restraining your gaze from looking at anything that may lead to harm activities, which we will explain inshallah. So number one, it can be actually a means of protecting the individual from falling into harm, or Zina activities, that's the most common meaning of lowering the gaze is that when you look at a woman, if you are a man, or when you are, when you look at a man, if you are a woman, and anything attracted your attention in the sexual sense, then lowering the gaze becomes obligatory duty. Now, I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't look at each other when we converse, or

when we talk in seminar rooms, or any educational setting or in the masjid, or perhaps you knock on the door of someone and a man open for you, if you are a lady or the vice versa. Of course, we maintain trying to not to stare in the eyes for a longer period of time. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't communicate, we shouldn't talk we shouldn't look at each other so long as there is no any thoughts that may lead to haram activity. So that's the first meaning is that lowering the gaze means to restrain from looking at people's beauties from looking at people's our, the areas in which a non Muslim should not look at when when you converse with. So this is the first meaning. The

second one is also not to look at people houses.

Not to look at people inside people's homes, where they have those valuables that are not belong to you behind closed doors. So you're invited to visit a person and you sit in their home that you're super, you know, curious about what they have. And what does this drawer have? What the fridge have? And what's behind the the bedrooms? What did he say? What did he have and so on and you wanted to know and you wanted to walk around, that's actually something disliked the when it comes to Islam, the Islamic teaching, that's why I'm most proud of ourselves operand. Do not ever enter any homes unless a permission is given to you. And when the command from the owners

comes to for you to go back. You must go back you must abide by these, you know, commands. So you can just go people's home and feel it's yours and walk around them and look into their stuff, excuse me into their stuff without their permission.

So it did take me a while a Imam convinced me I said lowering the gaze includes not looking at the outlaw of the people, but also not looking at any other haram.

Haram objects or haram pictures or harm imagery, and that including from refraining from

Also looking at people's homes or the privacy of people homes, Pamela, also includes not to look at people's wealth, not to look at people's wives, people's children, sometimes foreign law, we invite each other family wise, we invite each other at home. And then you get to see the husband of that friend of yours. And then you go home, you say How I wish my husband behaves like this. You see, the danger of looking at people's privacy is that you start looking at what you have with with a despondent heart.

With a dissatisfied heart. You don't like what you have already on your hand. That's the danger of staring at that which Allah does not make it halal for us, Powell. Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran, do not look with your eyes

ambitiously at what We have bestowed on certain classes of other people. And those people sometimes are these believers, why Allah has given the non muslims so much and he did not give us so Allah is saying, don't look at ambitiously meaning you wanted to have what they have. Because Allah provided for them, but did not necessarily provide the same for you. So don't look nor grieve over them. Do not let your heart you know aches for what you don't have, and lower your wings. For the believers meaning be kind to the believers Be courteous to the believers, this is a command given to Allah subhanaw taala not to look at the people who Allah has given blessings over you Subhan Allah.

Another thing you know, the other night I mentioned in no time, in particular, he said that the benefits of lowering the gates like let us look at the psyche of offloading is that when you lower the gaze, what happens in your brain, what happens in your attitude as a whole so say it says number one, when you lower the gaze, it prevents you from the poisonous arrow of the eyes. The Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam said work the stair, the stair looking at that which is haram at a beautiful girl or a handsome boy, looking at them. That's there is an arrow from the arrows off shaitan and Shelton as we said is not your best friend shaitan is not there to entertain you. In

that journey of life of yours. Shaitan is there to drag your legs, drag your feet into haram activities. And one of the tricks one of the most popular common tricks that shaitan is using is to stare at the opposite gender to stare at the Haram and to enjoy the harm that can happen in real life when you meet real life people but it also can happen on the internet through the media pornography and whatnot. So be absolutely vigilant because it destroy your heart from within the stare the lust to stare destroy the hearts may Allah protect the solely on Ronnie. So number one benefit is it prevents you from falling into Zina. Number two it creates a heart that is devoted and

focused on Allah subhanaw taala. So when you look at what Allah Subhana Allah has bestowed upon you, instead when you look at your wife, when you look at your children, when you look at your salary when you look at your home, and not necessarily look at everyone else's position, then it will create that a devotion in your heart towards Allah subhanaw taala

it will not distract you from what you already have. It will not distract you from your vision in life your mission in this dunya you wanted to work you wanted to earn you wanted to provide for your family you want also focus on on your mother without being busy with what other people have. Number three.

It creates.

Sorry, it number three and actually that was supposed to be number one. It is an obedience to almost Fanta lording the gaze is an obedience to Allah subhanaw taala and obedience is one of the meanings of Islam. Islam means to submit to the word of Allah subhanaw taala to surrender to His commands and to his orders and to obey Him whether you like it or not, that's that's one of the meaning of Islam. Allah says in the Quran, called Nina Yahoo domain are bizarre to him. Why I follow falooda home tell to the believing men to lower the gaze. As a result the private parts will be protected and tell to the believing woman to lower their gaze. As as a result their private parts will be protected they

will remain chaste. That's how Allah subhanaw taala described lowering the gaze and linked it to protection of private thoughts in the Quran. So when you do so, it is an obedience to Allah subhanaw taala number four it

brings peace into your heart and into your mind. Why is that? So again, when you don't have those images in your mind, you're not bombarded. You know by these flashbacks. I deal with many people who are addicted to this imagery. And when they do so online, my brothers and sisters instead when you say Allahu Akbar, many of them have reported to me that when they say Allah Akbar, these see these sexual images in their brains, because the brain is now overstimulated by those haram imagery. And as such, they become very disturbed, and there is no peace of mind anymore. They are always wanting to go and visit these they are craving these sites, they are craving, you know, cheating, while

Albula on their spouses and the like. So may Allah Subhana Allah protect us also, it brings peace of mind, peace in the hearts, when we lower the gaze. What else there are many, many other things in Java, it actually, it makes you distinguish between truth and falsehood. This is a big one. One lie, this is a big one. When you watch these movies, and you see us, you know, romantic scene athma and deja in love with each other. I love you, I love you, too. I love you three and all these romantic, you know, verbal words that are scripted by a clever writer, to work on your emotions to work on your brains to work on your addictive behavior. And you're watching these the visuals will have a

great impact, negative or positive, by the way, but we're talking about the negative parts of it, it will have a great impact on you. As such, you will believe that actually what's happening behind the screens is actually a truth. So you will mix the truth with the falsehood, you will you will mix the truth, the true stories, that actually you are living with the imaginary story in the film, or in the media that you're watching. Whether this media or Netflix or the internet, youtube or even pornography, you will have a twist of understanding of what's right, what's wrong, what's true and what's false. So by lowering the gaze by restraining and controlling your gaze by looking at that

which is halal, you have no chance to mix the truth with the false falsehood. Number. I don't know how many number though, I hope that you're taking notes, but another point, the benefits, it creates steadfastness, fastness in your heart, and in your mind, it immediately will be said about willpower. This is one of the training camps, or one of the training tips that you can use it my brothers and sisters in Islam to create is the karma steadfastness in your life. If you did not watch the episode of Insta karma, go back to the previous episodes in sha Allah Allah to watch, but lowering the gaze can also block shaitan from your way.

What is the one workshop down from your way shaitan will have no chance to come and you know disturb you with any thoughts of that nature because you are already you have made a peace with yourself. You have made a conscious decision with yourself that you will never ever look at that which is haram. And finally, between the eyes and the hearts there is a connection. Which means if you do not control your eyes, your heart to be infected. And if your heart is infected my brothers and sisters in Islam, the Prophet Muhammad Salah is indeed in the human body that is a piece of flesh, that if it is sound, everything else will remain sound and pure. And if it is corrupted, everything else

will turn corrupted. And that is the heart so between the eyes and the heart there is a connection what you stare at you store here and what you store here impact here in fact the heart may Allah grant us the right understanding my brothers and sisters in slam lowering the gaze is one of the most challenging, you know thing that anyone can achieve. But is it impossible? No by Allah it is doable by practice by pursuing more knowledge about the danger of letting your eyes stare at anything here and there. Halal haram doesn't matter. You don't have principles you don't have values. By practice, everything and anything is possible. May Allah grant us a pure heart. May Allah

subhanaw taala help us to look at that which is pleasing to Him. Amin, Amin, amin, but remember love do buzzer or lowering the gaze is one of our lifestyle as believers I hope you can adopt it as a means of learning. Don't forget to like all the pages that I mentioned earlier while Ibrahim page connect Institute, global and Karachi as well as live Dean and also the YouTube

The YouTube channel that is broadcasting this event and that is the AWARE Academy. We'll see you tomorrow in sha Allah with another lifestyle for the believers to follow and practice disciple all higher and as Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi over again