Adab(manners) of the EYES! & Adab of the EARS!

Adab of the EYES! 

As we all know, the adab of fasting doesn’t just involve thirst and hunger, but also involves fasting with all the parts of the body. Those include the heart, the tongue (hence avoiding Al-Ghiba), the eyes, ears, hands and feet.

Allah (swt) says in the Quran:

قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ ذَلِكَ أَزْكَى لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ

وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَاء بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَائِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَاء بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَائِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّ أَوِ التَّابِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُوْلِي الْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاء وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ 

“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss.”

(Quran:Surah 24: verse 30 and 31)

The eye is an opening to the heart and a door to the spirit. Ali ibn Abi Talib once asked the Prophet (saw) about the gaze. He (saw) replied: ‘Lower your gaze’Hence whoever does not lower his gaze will be afflicted by 4 calamities.

1. The disposing of the heart in every direction, and its tearing apart in every field. As a consequence, it has no stability and enjoys no inner peace. Neither is it able to mobilize all its power. It is wounded and weakened and quite rightly complains of the misdeeds of the eyes, its gazes and glances.

2. Punishments of the soul and training it with the loss what is saw and did not get. the soul, because of the act of the eye, is in constant distress, anxiety and turmoil.

3. With the release of forbidden glances, the sweetnesses of worship and obedience is lost. Thus, say goodbye to the light of faith if the eye is not disciplined and made to fast from the unlawful sights. The souls will neither taste faith not find conviction except through the control of the eye.

4. Because of the great sin incurred by its violation of honour and privacy, the eyes would be rewarded with great sin. No one ever fell into filth and perversion except after his eyes had gone astray. Surely there is no movement and no power except with Allah the most High, the most Magnificent.

5 Benefits of Lowering the gaze:

1. Obedience to Allah (swt) command to lower the gaze and hence a blessing and honour in this world and the akhirra inshaAllah.

2. Peace of the heart, its nourishment as well as its realization of its full potential, comfort, happiness and ease.

3. Avoidance of calamaties and safety from trials and misdeeds.

4. Allah opens for His servants the doors of Ilm, understanding, success and uprightness; a fitting reward for piety.

5. Allah will instil a sense of discernment in the heart of the learned and His perfect light in the souls of the truthful; again a reward for those who lowered their gaze.

So the eyes are expected to fast in obedience to the Ever living, the Selfsubsisting. There are people whose stomach fasts from food and dirnk but their eyes graze shrubbery of forbidden sights. Such people do not know the real essence of fasting. So, let our eyes fast from the unlawful things in the same way that we abstein from food and drink inshaAllah. Let our hearts be healthy and our spirits relax. Truly by controlling our every action, and controlling every part of our body in accordance with the correct islamic adab we will be of those who will have taqwā….insha’Allah

                                           

Adab of the EARS!

The ear is responsible before Allah for what it hears. The righteous people are those who listen carefully to what is said and follow it.
The ears fast from listening to obscenities, music and lewd material. To the righteous there is an illustrious fast from hearing things that may anger Allah (SWT) both in and outside of Ramadhan.
There are those amongst us, that fill their ears with forbidden sounds and sinful words and forbid their ears from the Noble Quran, the noble, distinct and divine audition. Listening to the Quran bears the fruit of faith, guidance, light and prosperity; filling the heart with wisdom, tranquility, intimacy and contentment. It is a source of protection from dangerous, deviant, and sinful thoughts. So the power of the ears lies in rememberance, beneficial knowledge, good advice, profound manners,and good speech.

Advice from the Qurān and Sunnāh on the fasting of the ears

And follow not (O man i.e., say not, or do not or witness not, etc.) that of which you have no knowledge (e.g. ones saying: “I have seen,” while in fact he has not seen, or “I have heard,” while he has not heard). Verily! The hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of each of those you will be questioned (by Allah).

(Surah Al-Isra: Verse 36)

And surely, We have created many of the jinns and mankind for Hell. They have hearts wherewith they understand not, they have eyes wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth). They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.

(Surah Al-Araf: Verse 179)

Or do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are only like cattle; nay, they are even farther astray from the Path. (i.e. even worst than cattle).

(Surah Al-Furqan: Verse 44)

And when they (who call themselves Christians) listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger (Muhammad SAW), you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognised. They say: “Our Lord! We believe; so write us down among the witnesses. (Surah Al-Maeda: Verse 83)

And whenever there comes down a Soorah (chapter from the Quran), some of them (hypocrites) say: “Which of you has had his faith increased by it?” As for those who believe, it has increased their faith, and they rejoice. But as for those in whose hearts is a disease (of doubt, disbelief and hypocrisy), it will add suspicion and doubt to their suspicion, disbelief and doubt, and they die while they are disbelievers.

(Surah At- Taubah: Verse 124-125)

And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden).

(Surah Al- Mu’minoon: Verse 3)

And when they hear AlLaghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk), they withdraw from it and say: “To us our deeds, and to you your deeds. Peace be to you. We seek not the ignorant.”

(Surah Al-Qasas: Verse 55)