notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
Respected teacher, I would like to know what we should do to guard our eyes against sin. Is keeping watch over our eyes connected to the purity or impurity of the heart? I would be grateful if you could suggest a spiritual practice, a remembrance, or a supplication for this. Please remember me in your prayers.
Guarding the eyes against sin depends on the purity of the heart, because the actions of our limbs reflect what is within us. The eye is the heart’s spy and the intellect’s emissary; it must be shielded from whatever is unworthy of our faith and unacceptable to the heart and mind. A hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (AS) describes turning one’s gaze away from forbidden things as a great gain, while the Commander of the Faithful (AS) teaches that humility before God is the way to seek His help in doing so.
The heart influences the limbs and organs; in truth, their actions reveal what lies within a person. If we take the heart as an image of a person’s inner self, then the actions of the limbs and organs are the outward manifestation of that inner self.
A person’s self and true nature are shaped by both their outer and inner selves—by their limbs and faculties, their organs and their heart. In other words, the outer affects the inner, and the inner affects the outer.
Intentions and inward aims arise from the heart and set the limbs and organs in motion to carry them out. In turn, through their actions, the limbs and organs influence a person’s inner self and heart, shaping new intentions and aims. All of this, in its entirety, forms a person’s character.
Let us bear in mind that the human self is distinct from the heart, spirit and body. These are, in truth, the means and foundations of the human self.
A hadith transmitted from Imam al-Sadiq (AS) is among the most beautiful teachings on restraining the gaze:
قال الصادق ع ما اغتنم أحد بمثل ما اغتنم بغض البصر لأن البصر لا یغض عن محارم الله تعالى إلا و قد سبق إلى قلبه مشاهده العظمه و الجلال سئل أمیر المؤمنین ع بما ذا یستعان على غض البصر فقال ع بالخمود تحت سلطان المطلع على سرک و العین جاسوس القلب و برید العقل فغض بصرک عما لا یلیق بدینک و یکرهه قلبک و ینکره عقلک قال النبی ص غضوا أبصارکم تروا العجائب قال الله تعالى قل للمؤمنین یغضوا من أبصارهم و یحفظوا فروجهم و قال عیسى ابن مریم ع للحواریین إیاکم و النظر إلى المحذورات فإنها بذر الشهوات و نبات الفسق قال یحیى ع الموت أحب إلی من نظره بغیر واجب و قال عبد الله بن مسعود لرجل نظر إلى امرأه قد عادها فی مرضها لو ذهبت عیناک لکان خیرا لک من عیاده مریضک و لا تتوفر عین نصیبها من نظر إلى محذور إلا و قد انعقد عقده على قلبه من المنیه و لا تنحل بإحدى الحالتین إما ببکاء الحسره و الندامه بتوبه صادقه و إما بأخذ نصیبه مما تمنى و نظر إلیه فآخذ الحظ من غیر توبه مصیره إلى النار و أما التائب الباکی بالحسره و الندامه عن ذلک فمأواه الجنه و منقلبه الرضوان
Misbah al-Shari‘a, p. 9
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: “No one gains a greater benefit than the benefit gained by lowering the gaze. For the eye turns away from what God Most High has forbidden only after the heart has witnessed His majesty and glory.”
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked, “What can help a person succeed in lowering the gaze?” He replied, “Humbling yourself and finding repose beneath the authority of the One who knows your innermost secrets.”
The eye is the heart’s spy and the mind’s messenger. So lower your gaze from whatever is unworthy of your religion, disliked by your heart or rejected by your reason.
The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: “Lower your gaze, and you will see wonders.” God Most High has said: “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their private parts.” Jesus son of Mary (AS) said to his disciples: “Beware of looking at what is forbidden, for such a look is the seed of desire and the growth of sin.”
John (AS) said: “Death is dearer to me than a look that is not necessary.” ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (may God be pleased with him) said to a man who had visited a sick woman and looked at her: “It would have been better for you to lose your eyes than to visit this sick woman.”
Whenever the eye takes pleasure in looking at something forbidden, a knot of worldly longing and carnal desire is tied in the heart. That knot can be undone only in one of two ways: through sincere repentance, accompanied by tears of regret and complete remorse; or by attaining what one longed for and satisfying one’s desire.
In the latter case, if the person does not then repent and feel deep remorse, their return will be to the Fire, to severe affliction and painful punishment. But in the former case—repentance, remorse, regret and tears—their return will be to Paradise and the good pleasure of God Most High.
Misbah al-Shari‘a / translated by Mostafavi, text, p. 173