An individual asked the following question:

There are many Muslims living and working in countries where there is widespread immodesty. Avoiding interaction with non-Mahram females is almost impossible for them. What should they do to avoid sins of the eyes?

Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (May Allah protect & preserve him) replied:

‘This is a big problem nowadays, no doubt, even in some Muslim countries.

Two things need to be avoided:

1. Intentionally looking at non-Mahram females with the intention to derive pleasure

2. Intentionally thinking about non-Mahram females with the intention to derive pleasure.

Two things are needed to achieve this:

1. Using one’s will power and determination, i.e. forcing oneself against the carnal desires of one’s lower self

2. Asking Allah for protection.

He asked those present:

What do you think? If a slave sincerely asks Allah for protection, will He not grant His protection? Definitely He will grant His protection!

Another individual asked:

I have read in Hakim al Umma Thanvi’s (Allah’s mercy be upon him) discourses that sins of the eyes are so destructive that their effect can cause the beneficial effects of all the recitations, prayers, and other forms of worship become null and void.

Shaykh replied:

If a slave is sincerely doing the two things I have mentioned then nothing will cause his actions to go to waste. Rather, take note– this is not an invitation to sin– but if a person, after making his best effort and sincerely asking Allah for help, slips and commits a sin, then the subsequent Tawba will elevate his status.

He continued:

My Shaikh Dr Abdul Hayy Arifi (May his secret be sanctified) was a lawyer by profession. But he was uncomfortable with this profession as sometimes he would have to be involved in cases where his role in the case would be doubtful or disliked from Shariah point of view. He finally decided to quit and become a homeopathic doctor instead. He informed Hakim al Umma Thanvi (Allah’s mercy be upon him) about this decision.

Hakim al Umma (Allah’s mercy be upon him) replied:“I was waiting for this.

And now I give you ijazet-e-baiyat.”

Anyway, when respected Dr Abdul Hayy Arifi (Allah have mercy on him) started his clinic all sorts of people would come to him, including women who wore clothes which were contrary to Shariah. He became worried that he left his profession as a lawyer to avoid doing anything contrary to Shariah, now he has fallen into another problem! He wrote to Hakim al Umma regarding his predicament.

Hakim al Umma replied:

Take care of two things:

1. Force yourself to avoid looking at non-Mahram females with the intention of deriving pleasure

2. Sincerely, humbly, and with all humility, ask Allah for protection from falling into his disobedience.

Intekhab e Kaiseri, Ramadan 1440, post zohar majlis, office, Darul Uloom Karachi