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Is Looking At Non-Mahrams Prohibited Even Without Lust?
There is a hadith that tells to avert the gaze someone looks at the face of a woman accidentally
Jarir b. ‘Abdullah reported:
I asked Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) about the sudden glance (that is cast) on the face (of a non-Mahram). He commanded me that I should turn away my eyes.
Source: Sahih Muslim 2159a
This hadith doesn’t talk about intentionally staring at a woman, but only about sudden glance, and the Prophet orders him to avert his gaze. Does this hadith indicate that looking at non mahram women even without any lust is absolutely prohibited, and it’s not allowed to make eye contacts with non-mahram women while talking to them? As the Prophet (PBUH) commanded him to avert his gaze even when the glance is sudden?
Please give me the answer in English, as I don’t speak Urdu. & if you link me any Urdu video without English subtitles, then please explain the contents of the video in English.
In addition to that, there are some other ahadith as well which talks about glancing at non-mahram women.
Narrated Abdullah bin Abbas:
Al-Fadl (his brother) was riding behind Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and a woman from the tribe of Khath’am came and Al-Fadl started looking at her and she started looking at him. The Prophet (ﷺ) turned Al-Fadl’s face to the other side. The woman said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! The obligation of Hajj enjoined by Allah on His devotees has become due on my father and he is old and weak, and he cannot sit firm on the Mount; may I perform Hajj on his behalf?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “Yes, you may.” That happened during the Hajj-al-Wida (of the Prophet (ﷺ) ).
Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 1513
Narrated Ibn Buraidah:
from his father (from the Prophet (ﷺ)) who said: “O ‘Ali! Do not follow a look with a look, the first is for you, but the next is not for you.”
Source:
- Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2777, Grade: Da’if (Darussalam)
- Sunan Abi Dawud 2149, Grade: Hasan (Al-Albani)
- Musnad Ahmad 1373, Grade: Hasan because of corroborating evidence and its isnad is da’eef (Darussalam)
This last hadith is not classified sahih, in one collection it’s classified as Hasan while in the other collections it’s classified as Daif. But the other two hadiths are classified as sahih. The hadith of Al-Fadl where the Prophet (PBUH) turned his face around can be explained as lustful gaze as he was intensely looking at her. But the first hadith (which is from Jarir b. Abdullah) talks about sudden glance that is casted, & the Prophet tells him to turn his eyes away. Does this hadith imply that looking at non-mahram women even without lust is prohibited, and one should avoid eye contact when he is talking to a non-mahram woman?
And again, Please give the answer in English, as Urdu isn’t my native language. & if you link any Urdu video of Ustadh Ghamidi without subtitles, then please explain the contents of the video in English.
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10 Replies
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Is Looking At Non-Mahrams Prohibited Even Without Lust?
updated 2 years ago
4 Members
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10
Replies
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This is intentional glancing or staring which is prohibited. when there is no such feelings involved one may look at a woman while talking to her in a casual way.
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But isn’t the first hadith talking about sudden glance? Like when you’re walking through the road and suddenly a non-mahram woman comes in front of you. And you have to immediately avert your eyes? I mean, from a sudden glance a lustful feeling can’t arise, can it? But yet the hadith tells to turn away the eyes
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السلام عليكم
I think the confusion arises from the translation. At least in this طريق of the report there is no mention of a face whatsoever. A better translation would be: Jarir bin Abdullah said, “I asked the messenger of Allah about the coincidental, unsought-for glance (اچانک نظر پڑ جانا).” I think this is when your eyes accidentally land somewhere they shouldn’t.
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اشهل صادق
Thank you for explaining
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But isn’t the first hadith talking about sudden glance? Like when you’re walking through the road and suddenly a non-mahram woman comes in front of you. And you have to immediately avert your eyes? I mean, from a sudden glance a lustful feeling can’t arise, can it? But yet the hadith tells to turn away the eyes
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Prohibition comes with a reason or cause. The prohibition of looking at a woman for a man and man for a woman is to avoid lust which may leads to zina. this is preemptive measures. When there is no such thing is involved, one can look at a woman for example for a doctor it is allowed to examine a woman, vice versa. after accidental glance when one look back it is in most of the cases is not supposed to be a glance with some good intention. but while talking to some colleagues for example, causally looking at each other does not matter. still a glance with a bad intention is needed to be avoided.
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Thank you for explaining Sir
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For a detailed commentary of Ghamidi Sahab on the said matter, please refer to the following link from 3:36 to 18:26 (English subtitles available)
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Salam. I looked at it, but he didn’t talk about this hadith
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Ghamidi Sahab has discussed the matter from a principle stand-point in the light of Quran, after which all such ahadith can be understood properly as explained by Irfan Shahzad Sahab above.
Ahadith are not absolute directives, they always come with coditions and boundaries defined by Quran and Sunnah and should be understood in their light.
To understand Ghamidi Sahab’s take on how to approach hadith corpus from an epistemological stand-point, you’re requested to please go through all the resources provided in the following response or at the very least, go through the text and videos provided under the heading “placement of Hadith in the overall framework of religion“:
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