Lower Your Gaze - An Amazing Story

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

This is an amazing story of how one young Sahabi (may Allah be pleased with him) felt when he committed a sin unintentionally. Brothers and sisters, let's be honest with ourselves- how often do we actually lower our gaze? Whether it's on the streets, internet, books, magazines, etc. Do we really fear Allah, our Lord in public and in private? Or are we among the hypocrites that lower their gazes when at the Masjid or Islamic gatherings, but not from non-mahrams on the streets or when we're alone browsing through the internet, magazines, etc. Do we realize the fact that Allah hears all that we say and sees all that we do, and that He knows our intentions and what is in our hearts.

"Allah knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the hearts conceal." (Qur'an 40: 19)

We should also ask ourselves- how often do we sin and once we recognize sins we've committed, whether they're major or minor sins...how does recognizing our sins affect us? Do we stop upon recognition and feel remorse and turn to Allah seeking forgiveness, or are we too busy and heedless to even recognize the sin let alone repent to Allah. And some of us pay so little attention to sins, that we don't even think they're worth thinking about because we assume they're so 'insignificant'. May Allah give us all the ability to recognize our sins, turn to Him in sincere repentance and may He forgive us, Ameen!

This is taken from the lecture 'The Forbidden Love' by Sheikh Kamal El-Mekki.