Mind is the Culprit!
The enemy (Satan) is weakening the forces of the servants of Allah through sexual immorality.
Why have we allowed ourselves to be drawn into sexual sin?
The mind is the most powerful sex organ in our bodies and the eyes serve as a catalyst to turn on the mind. This is obviously true for men, and for women as well - although in a different way and to a lesser degree. So whether we are male or female, we need to find out what to do about sex in the head before it becomes sex in the bed with someone other than your spouse.
For a man, the ON switch for sex is the mind. It is as if a sexual stimulator runs from the eyes to the mind to male sexual organs. The eyes see it, the mind thinks it, and the body is ready to go.
Prophet (Pbuh) said:” The glance is a poisoned arrow of Satan. Whoever lowers his gaze for Allah, He will bestow upon him a refreshing sweetness which he will find in his heart on the day he meets Him.”
Sex became one of the major ploys of the Satan (devil) to lead us into sexual immorality, which in turn, and much to the Satan’s delight, would bring us under the wrath of Allah. The enemy (Satan) is weakening the forces of the servants of Allah through sexual immorality. Look at the immorality, the fornication, the abortions, the adultery, and the divorces. The question is why? Why have we allowed ourselves to be deceived, drawn into sexual sin?
It is because we have moved away from the path of Allah and put ourselves on the gratification of our flesh (desires). We have been tantalised by the world’s perfume, so distracted that we do not have time even to pray (salat). We find time to watch the world go by- on the television, on the Internet, in the movies, in novels etc.
What is the major problem among men today? It’s pornography. The prevention and cure for this problem is set out clearly by Allah. Pornography enlists two very powerful parts of the body, neither of which we usually think of as sexual organs- the eyes and the mind. And what does pornography incite through these vehicles? Masturbation. Imitation. Adultery. Fornication. Incest. Bestiality. Homosexuality. Lesbianism. Group sex.. Have you been caught in any of these vices, either mentally or physically? Or has someone you know who has been into it? Is there hope from this? Yes! Allah is the only hope.
Fornication covers every kind of sexual activity forbidden by Allah. They are conceived in the mind, and then born in the flesh. The eyes activate the flesh. Seeing produces desire and desire, if unchecked, results in acting out desire.
The mind is a major sex organ in our bodies – even for women. What happens when women read the lusty novels, magazines, watch the trashy soaps on TV, and let their eyes linger on the guys? The same thing as with men: their thoughts lead to desire. It is just that men focus more quickly and are stimulated more easily because of how they are physically engineered.
But what if a person merely looks, whether at ads in the newspaper or at the neighbour next door or at pornographic pictures of some nameless person? Surely that cannot be a sin, can it? No one has done anything. If this is your question, you aren’t alone. Many have asked the same thing. Can a man or woman” look and imagine” and not have their thoughts register on the Richter scale of immorality.
Is it all right to look at sexually explicit images, to gaze on someone and imagine sex- as long as you don’t physically participate in it?
The Prophet (Pbuh) has said: “To look covetously or with an evil desire, is adultery of eyes.” The Prophet (Pbuh) is not warning us about a thought that invades one’s mind uninvited. He is referring to something that happens as an instant action, where you see briefly and then let it go. Rather, let us know that the Prophet (Pbuh) is talking about a deliberate, continuous looking, a purposeful imagining to the point where you take the person to bed mentally. The Prophet makes it clear that to continue looking at someone with the purpose of taking him or her in your mind is considered adultery (fornication) of the eyes. Adultery, as you have seen, is sin, transgression of Allah’s divine law and to look at a woman and lust after her is adultery. It does not matter that it is all in your mind, that in reality this is a one-participant event physically and mentally; it still is judged as sin, as committing adultery in your heart.
Allah warns us about the importance of guarding our eyes and our minds. Sex begins in the head; it’s a matter of the mind. If it is mental sex, involving only your eyes and mind, it offends Allah, and you have to bring it to a halt or ultimately you will face hell. If it’s physical-using your hands and body-the same is true. You are breaking the divine law of Allah in respect to your sexuality.
The Prophet said:” Allah will give shade to seven persons under His Throne on the Judgment Day on which there will be no shade except the shade of His Throne. One of them is who refrains from satisfying the sexual desire of a beautiful woman coming from a respectable family when she calls him and he says: ‘I fear the Lord of the universe’. In this connection, the story of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) and Zulaikha is a brilliant example. He refrained from satisfying the carnal desire of Zulaikha, the wife of the King of Egypt.
Do you wonder why Allah recommends us to keep our thought pure? It is because what we think is imprinted on the brain. And when it is accompanied by a picture, it leaves an even more powerful impression.
Inner purity can be lost, perhaps more often than outer purity. When inner purity is lost, it could be cleansed by sincere repentance. It is done by realising one’s faults, by painful regret accompanied by tears (tears wash the dirt from the heart), by intending never to repeat this fault again, by asking the forgiveness of Allah, and by praying that He prevents us from committing such a sin again.
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Reflections
Acts of Righteousness
We all are busy, right? But it is worth it to spare some time for a cause that would bring a smile on somebody's face!
By Md. Ziyaullah Khan
As I pass by the broad white cement road of the so- called elite area, with huge shopping malls, all I can see is a rampant change in life style which seems to be the part and parcel of our youth community. It also reflects theirs notions ideologies, mindsets that they preach and practice. The cell phone in their hand, huge bikes, their outfits which resembles somewhere to the western lifestyles has much to prove the same. You go and ask any of these cluster of people as to what they intend in life to be, the answers could be “making money by hook or crook” and activities like helping the poor, serving the society is not their business.
I was just having a telephonic conversation with my friend Dr Anwar, when his statement struck me and I sat down writing this article. He asked me vehemently, “ Ziya, had you ever been to the orphanage situated near our place, see the innocent children there, what makes them to be there?” Why people like Dr Anwar are rare these days? Why does not the younger generation spare some time for activities that will make lives better for somebody else? This reminds me of sister Ayesha, a revert to Islam- a software engineer, hailing from a near-by suburb, allocates her time in such places where children live without their parents, to whom destiny has something else to give in life. She spares her time from her busy life and renders all her love and affection to these children dwelling in the orphanage. She says, “You know Ziya bhai, I do refresh myself when I am with them and sometimes it works to rid me off from my stress and fatigue which surrounds me at work place”. The hard money of hers is usually invested by this young lady in giving back the lost smiles to the children when she manages with gifts and chocolates. I remember another sister called Cara, now Ameena, based at Delhi as a lawyer who left her lucrative job and now has devoted herself in serving the Prisoner’s Reform Project. And her words often echo in my ears when she says, “ though its harsh working out here as my previous job in air conditioned rooms was very comfortable, but this one gives me satisfaction and moreover I shall be rewarded in Akhirah for the same Inshallah”. Indeed for these kind of people, our beloved Prophet has said: “Allah becomes their hands with which they grasp, and becomes their eyes with which they see, and becomes their ears with which they hear and becomes their feet with which they walk”.
The act of righteousness has to go a long way, but unfortunately it is the zest of handful of people.Life turns beautiful when we come out of our shell and replicate the acts of righteousness and indeed inspiration could be drawn from the people like Dr Anwar ,Sister Ameena or Ayesha from whom I learn a lot and this learning goes a long way.
(The writer can be reached at
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