And He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“That shall be their recompense, Hell; because
they disbelieved and took My Ayaat (proofs,
evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations,
etc.) and My Messengers by way of jest and
mockery”
[al-Kahf 18:106]
“Then for him who transgressed all bounds, (in
disbelief, oppression and evil deeds of
disobedience to Allaah).
And preferred the life of this world (by
following his evil desires and lusts),
Verily, his abode will be Hell-fire”
[al-Naazi’aat 79:37-39]
So the Muslim must strive to worship Allaah
and keep away from that which angers Allaah,
for Allaah will not cause the reward the one
who does good to be lost:
“As for those who strive hard in Us (Our Cause),
We will surely guide them to Our paths (i.e.
Allaah’s religion — Islamic Monotheism). And
verily, Allaah is with the Muhsinoon (good-
doers)”
[al-‘Ankaboot 29:69 – interpretation of the
meaning]
One of the fitnahs (temptations) with which we
are tested is the fitnah of women, as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “I have not left behind me any
fitnah (temptation) more harmful to men than
women.” There follow some of the methods by
which we can avoid this temptation. We ask
Allaah to set the affairs of the Muslims
straight.
1 – Faith in Allaah.
Faith in Allaah and fear of Allaah provide a
safety valve and protect a person against
committing haraam actions and following his
own whims and desires.
If the believer becomes aware that Allaah is
always watching and if he ponders the
meanings of His names and attributes, such as
the All-Knowing, the All-Hearing, the All-
Seeing, the Watchful, the Reckoner, the
Preserver, the All-Encompassing, that will
generate fear of Him in secret and in public,
and will put a stop to disobedience towards
Allaah, and will reduce the strength of desire
that leads many people to commit haraam
actions.
2 – Lowering the gaze and avoiding looking at
haraam things
The gaze can generate bad thoughts in the
heart, which then lead to ideas and then to
desires, then to will and resolve, and then
inevitably to doing haraam things. Think about
the meaning of this verse which makes a
connection between the first steps towards
haraam and the end result. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze
(from looking at forbidden things), and protect
their private parts (from illegal sexual acts).
That is purer for them. Verily, Allaah is All-
Aware of what they do”
[al-Noor 24:30]
Ibn Katheer said: “This is a command from
Allaah to His believing slaves, to lower their
gaze and avoid looking at that which is
forbidden to them so that they only look at
that which they are permitted to look at. If it
so happens that a person’s gaze accidentally
falls upon something haraam, he should turn
his gaze away from it quickly.
3 – Warding off evil thoughts
Bad thoughts pose a danger to the heart… If a
person dwells on them and does not push
them away, they will develop into an idea,
then into will and resolve, then this will
inevitably lead to haraam actions. Beware of
dwelling on passing thoughts; rather what you
must do is to ward them off and crowd them
out with good thoughts.
The treatment, then, is to ward off these
passing thoughts and keep yourself busy with
beneficial thoughts.
4 – Marriage
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood
said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: “O young men,
whoever among you can afford it, let him get
married, and whoever cannot, let him fast, for
it will be a shield for him.” Narrated by al-
Bukhaari, 5065.
5 – Fasting for those who cannot afford to get
married
– because of the hadeeth quoted above, in
which it says, “…and whoever cannot, let him
fast, for it will be a shield for him.” Narrated
by al-Bukhaari, 5065.
Al-Qurtubi said:
The less a person eats, the weaker his desire
becomes, and the weaker his desire is, the less
sins he commits.
6 – Keeping away from bad companions.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “A man will follow the way of
his close friends, so let each one of you look at
who he takes as a close friend.” Narrated by
Abu Dawood, 8433; classed as hasan by al-
Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 4046.
7 – Keeping away from places of temptation.
It is obvious that we are living in a society that
is filled with temptation – media of all types,
magazines, flirting in the marketplaces,
satellite TV, the internet, etc… So you have to
flee from all of these in order to keep your
religious commitment sound.
8 – Do not make your houses graves.
Make your house a reminder of obedience, not
of sin. If a room is connected to sin for
example, that will make a person commit sin
repeatedly, because every time he enters that
room he will remember the sin and may be
provoked to commit the sin again. So he should
make his room and his house a reminder of
obedience to Allaah, so when he enters he sees
the Mus-haf which he reads, and he
remembers praying qiyaam al-layl for Allaah,
and the regular Sunnah prayers that he offers
in this room. Doing a lot of acts of worship in
your house will make a connection in your
mind between the house and doing good
deeds, so you will do more and will think less
of sin, and the calls of desire will grow less.
9 – Trying to make the most of your time in
worshipping and obeying Allaah.
Time is one of the great blessings that Allaah
has bestowed upon His slaves, but there are
many who are not making the most of it. It was
narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Two
blessings which many people do not make the
most of: good health and spare time.” Narrated
by al-Bukhaari, 6412.
See also question no. 3234.
10 – Remembering the blessings of the
Hereafter.
Particularly appropriate in this context is
remembering al-hoor al-‘iyn and their
attributes, whom Allaah has prepared for
those who are patient and steadfast in
avoiding sin. This can help the Muslim to look
at these transient haraam pleasures which
only lead to regret and loss.
We ask Allaah to help us to avoid temptation,
both obvious and hidden. Praise be to Allaah
the Lord of the Worlds.