The Great Virtue of Lowering the Gaze
~Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah

Allah, the Exalted said,

"Say to thebelieving men that they should lower their gaze and guard their privateparts; that will make for greater purity for them. Indeed Allah is wellacquainted with all that they do." [an-Nur (24):30]

So Allahmade purification and spiritual growth to be the outcome of loweringthe gaze and guarding the private parts. It is for this reason thatlowering ones gaze from (seeing) the prohibited things necessarilyleads to three benefits that carry tremendous value and are of greatsignificance.

The First: Experiencing the Delight and Sweetness of Faith

This delightand sweetness is far greater and more desirable that which might havebeen attained from the object that one lowered his gaze from for thesake of Allah. Indeed, "whosoever leaves something for the sakeof Allah then Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, will replace it withsomething better than it."[1]

The soul isa temptress and loves to look at beautiful forms and the eye is theguide of the heart. The heart commissions its guide to go and look tosee what is there and when the eye informs it of a beautiful image itshudders out of love and desire for it. Frequently such inter-relationstire 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.

Thereforewhen the sight is prevented from looking and investigating the heartfinds relief from having to go through the arduous task of (vainly)seeking and desiring.

Whosoeverlets his sight roam free will find that he is in a perpetual state ofloss and anguish for sight gives birth to love (mahabbah) the startingpoint of which is the heart being devoted and dependant upon that whichit beholds. This then intensifies to become fervent longing (sabubah)whereby the heart becomes totally dependant and devoted to the (objectof its desire). Then this further intensifies and becomes infatuation(gharamah) which clings to the heart like the one seeking repayment ofa debt clings firmly to the one who has to pay the debt. Then thisintensifies and becomes passionate love (ishk) and this is a love thattransgresses all bounds. Then this further intensifies and becomescrazed passion (shaghafa) and this is a love that encompasses everytiny part of the heart. Then this intensifies and becomes worshipfullove (tatayyuma). Tatayyum means worship and it is said: tayyama Allahi.e. he worshipped Allah.

Hence theheart begins to worship that which is not correct for it to worship andthe reason behind all of this was an illegal glance. The heart is nowbound in chains whereas before it used to be the master, it is nowimprisoned whereas before it was free. It has been oppressed by the eyeand it complains to it upon which the eye replies: I am your guide andmessenger and it was you who sent me in the first place!

All that hasbeen mentioned applies to the heart that has relinquished the love ofAllah and being sincere to Him for indeed the heart must have an objectof love that it devotes itself to. Therefore when the heart does notlove Allah Alone and does not take Him as its God then it must worshipsomething else.

Allah said concerning Yusuf as-Siddiq (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 wasbecause the wife of al-Aziz was a polytheist that (the passionate love)entered her heart despite her being married. It was because Yusuf (AS)was sincere to Allah that he was saved from it despite his being ayoung man, unmarried and a servant.

The Second: The Illumination of the Heart, Clear Perception and Penetrating Insight

Ibn Shuja al-Kirmani said, "whosoeverbuilds his outward form upon following the Sunnah, his internal formupon perpetual contemplation and awareness of Allah, he restrains hissoul from following desires, he lowers his gaze from the forbiddenthings and he always eats the lawful things then his perception andinsight shall never be wrong."

Allah 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 Mutawassimin." [al-Hijr (15): 75]

TheMutwassimin are those who have clear perception and penetratinginsight, those who are secure from looking at the unlawful andperforming indecent acts.

Allah said after mentioning the verse concerning lowering the gaze,

"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth." [an-Nur (24): 35]

The reasonbehind this is that the reward is of the same type as the action. Sowhosoever lowers his gaze from the unlawful for the sake of Allah, theMighty and Magnificent, He will replace it with something better thanit of the same type. So just as the servant restrained the light of hiseye from falling upon the unlawful, Allah blesses the light of hissight and heart thereby making him perceive what he would not have seenand understood had he not lowered his gaze.

This is amatter that the person can physically sense in himself for the heart islike a mirror and the base desires are like rust upon it. When themirror is polished and cleaned of the rust then it will reflect therealities (haqaaiq) as they actually are. However if it remains rustythen it will not reflect properly and therefore its knowledge andspeech will arise from conjecture and doubt.

The Third: The Heart Becoming Strong, Firm and Courageous

Allah willgive it the might of aid for its strength just as He gave it the mightof clear proofs for its light. Hence the heart shall combine both ofthese factors and as a result, Shaytan shall flee from it. It ismentioned in the narration, "whosoever opposes his base desires, the Shaytan shall flee in terror from his shade."[2]

This is whythe one who follows his base desires shall find in himself the ignominyof the soul, its being weak, feeble and contemptible. Indeed Allahplaces nobility for the one who obeys Him and disgrace for the one whodisobeys Him,

"So do not lose heart nor fall into despair; for you must gain mastery if you are true in faith." [Ali Imran (3): 139]

"If any do seek for nobility and power then to Allah belongs all nobility and power." [Faatir (35): 10]

Meaning thatwhosoever seeks after disobedience and sin then Allah, the Might andMagnificent, will humiliate the one who disobeys Him.

Some of the salaf said, "the people seek nobility and power at the door of the Kings and they will not find it except through the obedience of Allah."

This isbecause the one who obeys Allah has taken Allah as his friend andprotector and Allah will never humiliate the one who takes his Lord asfriend and patron. In the Du`a Qunoot 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]



Notes:
[1] Reportedby Ahmad [5/363], al-Marwazi in "Zawaid az-Zuhd" [no. 412], an-Nasa'iin "al-Kubra" as mentioned in "Tuhfah al-Ashra" [11/199] from one ofthe Companions that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, "indeed you will not leave anything for the sake of Allah except that Allah will replace it with something better than it." The isnad is saheeh.
[2] This is not established as a hadeeth of the Prophet .
[3] Reportedby Abu Dawood [Eng. Trans. 1/374 no. 1420], an-Nasa'i [3/248],at-Tirmidhi[no. 464], ibn Majah [no. 1178], ad-Darimi [1/311], Ahmad[1/199], ibn Khuzaymah [2/151] from al Hasan from Ali (RA).
The hadithis sahih. The isnad has been criticised by many, however none of thecriticisms hold. Refer to: "Nasb ar-Rayah"[2/125] and "Talkhis al-Habi"[1/247]