beginning, gradually it will become a
habit and you will be able to overcome
this very easily.”
If anyone is afflicted with a disease, he
must learn its signs and symptoms,
its severity, its impact on his body
and the prognosis to better understand
the nature of the disease. Then
only would he be able to seek proper
treatment. However, if a person does
not know the disease, how would he
seek treatment? Therefore, Maulana
Thanawi had mentioned its severity
and consequences in the first sentence,
“This particular sin takes away
the nur (light) of every kind of ibada
(worship).”
The Nur of Ibada
We can truly understand the gravity
of this sin that takes away the light
of ibada. A person might be offering
salat, tahajjud, tarawih, or performing
zikr, which might have increased the
nur in his heart, but the sin of casting
evil glances at women would take
that nur away and create darkness in
his ibada. Though he makes progress
toward good with each act of worship,
when the light that develops from the
act of worship is extinguished, then
there is no sweetness nor any reward
in his ibada.
If we are not even aware of the existence
of the nur or the sweetness of
ibada, how would we sense its withdrawal?
He who receives the light does
feel the void when it is gone. But, our
spiritual state of affairs has deteriorated
so much that we cannot even
comprehend the meaning of ‘the nur
of ibada.’
The Auliya of Allah sense this nur and
value it. It has been reported about
Maulana Muhammad Ya‘qub Nanautawi
that once he was invited to some
place for dinner. He did not know that
the person’s source of income was not
halal. He had merely accepted a Muslim’s
invitation for a meal. However,
he felt darkness in his heart for a long
time. The effect of that meal resulted
in sinful thought and an inclination
toward forbidden deeds.
Thus, we see that the Auliya of Allah,
whose hearts shine with the nur of
ibada, immediately realize when a
dark spot appears on their heart. They
lament and worry about it as if the
Last Day has come upon them.
The first thing that a person experiences
by casting an evil glance is that
his ibada of that day is devoid of the
nur, and he is unable to attain worldly
benefits from that day’s ibada. This
is why Hazrat Thanawi emphasized
treating this sin immediately.
Innate Instincts are not evil
Regarding the treatment, he says that
the root of the sin or the essence of
it is innate and the desire, are not
evil in themselves. Sexual desires in
the hearts are natural instincts. No
human is devoid of these and if he is,
that is a shortcoming in itself. Therefore,
having sexual desires is not a
sin. In fact, there is hikma (wisdom) in
its existence as it ensures continuity
of the human race. The existence
of mankind depends on it, without
which it would perish.
www.madania.org 17
/www.madania.org