Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Third Lesson

The Modest Dress Brings Dignity to a Woman

There is one issue which remains to be discussed. It is one of the criticism they have made against the modest dress which says that the modest dress deprives the honor and respect of a woman. You know that human dignity has become one of the important goals of humanity since the words about human rights have developed. Human dignity is respected and it must be followed; all human beings share in this whether man or woman, black or white, or whatever nation orcreed . Every individual has this right to human dignity.

They say that the Islamic modest dress opposes a woman's dignity. We accept the right of human dignity. The discussion is whether or not the modest dress, i.e., the modest dress which Islamic precepts mention, is disrespectful to women, an insult to her dignity. This idea came into being from the idea that the modest dress imprisons a woman, making her a slave.

Enslavement opposes human dignity. They say because the modest dress was introduced by men to enable them to exploit women, men wanted to captivate woman and imprison her in a corner of her home. Thus, it is to have overlooked or insulted her human dignity. Respect, honor and nobility of a woman call for not having a modest dress.

As we have said and we will further describe later, that is, we will deduce from the verses of the Holy Quran that we have nothing which would serve to imprison a woman and the necessities of the Islamic modest dress are not to imprison a woman. If a man has duties in his relation to a woman or a woman has duties in relation to a man, the duty is in order to strengthen and solidify the family unit. That is, it has a clear purpose.

In addition, from the social point of view, it has necessities. That is, the well-being of society demands that a man and a woman commit themselves to a special kind of association with each other or the ethical sanctities and ethical balance and the tranquility of the spirit of society, demand that a man and a woman choose a special way of relating to each other. This is neither called imprisonment nor enslavement nor does it oppose human dignity.

As we observe if a man leaves his house naked, he is blamed and reproached and perhaps the police will arrest him. That is, even if a man leaves his house with pajamas on, or with just underpants, everyone will stop him because it opposes social dignity.Law or custom rules that when a man leaves the house, he should be covered and fully dressed. Does this oppose human dignity to tell him to cover himself and leave the house?

On the other hand, if a woman leaves her house covered within the limits that we will later mention, it causes greater respect for her. That is, it prevents the interference of men who lack morality and ethics. It a woman leaves her house covered, not only does it not detract from her human dignity, but it adds to it. Take a woman who leaves her home with only her face and two hands showing and from her behavior and the clothes she wears there is nothing which would cause others to be stimulated or attracted towards her. That is, she does not invite men to herself. She does not wear clothes that speak out or walk in a way to draw attention toherself or does not speak in such a way to attract attention.

Sometimes the clothes of an individual speak. His or her shoes speak. The way she or he talks says something else. Take a man, for instance, who speaks in such a way so as to say,“Fear me,” or dresses in such a way opposite to that which is customary. That is, with a traditional cloak, a beard and a turban, etc., communicates to the people,“Respect me.”

It is possible that a woman wears clothes in such a manner that a human being, a respected human being, would associate among people and it is possible that she wears clothes and walks in a way which stimulates;“Come and follow me.” Does the dignity of a woman, the dignity of a man, or the dignity of society not cause a woman to leave her home serious, diligent and simply dressed in a manner not drawing the attention of everyone she passes by.

She should be such that she does not distract a man and turn his attention from what he is doing. Does this oppose a woman's dignity? Or does it oppose the dignity of society? If a person says something, which existed in non-Islamic societies, that the modest dress was to imprison women, that a woman must be placed in a locked house and she should have no right of association outside the home, this does not relate to Islam. If Islamic precepts were to say that it is not permitted for a woman to leave her house; if we were to ask whether it is possible for a woman to buy something from a store where the seller be a man and they said no, it was forbidden; if a person asked,“Is a woman permitted to participate in meetings, religious gatherings?” and we were to say no, it is not permitted; if it is possible for women to meet each other?; if someone were to say all of these were forbidden, that a woman must sit in a corner of the house and never leave her home, this would be something, but Islam does not state this.

We say this is based on two things. One is based upon that which is good for the family. That is, a woman must not do anything that would disturb her family situation. For a woman to leave her house to go to her sister's house if her sister is a corrupt and licentious person or even to visit her mother wherein the effects of the visit bring chaos to the house for a week, they say not to under such circumstances. The family must not be disturbed.

The second basis is that leaving the house, according to the Holy Quran, must not be in order to flaunt oneself, to disturb the peace and tranquility of others, to prevent the work of others. If it is not these things, there is no problem.

The Command to Announce Your Entrance to Someone's House

Now we will discuss theQuranic verses and after we clarify what traditional commentators have explained about the verses, then, with the help of traditions which have been narrated on this topic and the edicts of the religious jurisprudents on this issue, it will become clearer. The verses relating to the modest dress are found inSurah Nur andSurah Ahzab . We will mention all of them.

We will begin our discussion with the verses fromSurah Nur . Of course the verses which relate directly to the modest dress are verses 30 and 31 ofSurah Nur but there are three verses before this which are more or less introductory to the modest dress and relate to this issue.

“O you who believe! Do not enter houses other than your own houses until you have asked permission and saluted their inmates; this is better for you, that you may be mindful.” (24:27)

This verse describes the duty ofa man who is notmahram , to the house of another person, that is, the house of a person whose wife is notmahram to him. Of course,there are rules regarding those who aremahram and we will mention them later. Also there are some places where it is not particular to those who aremahram . It relates to what a person who wants to enter the house of another should do.

To begin with, let me say that during the Age of Ignorance before the Holy Quran was revealed, the present situation of houses did not exist with locks, etc. Doors are closed basically because of the fear of thieves. If someone wanted to enter, he would ring the doorbell or use the knocker. In the Age of Ignorance this situation did not exist. It was more like the situation in villages. People likemyself who lived in the village know that there were basically no doors shut. The doors to the courtyard are always open. In many places it is not even the practice to lock the doors at night. InFariman , a town near Mashhad, where I lived, I do not remember the door to the yard being closed even once and there was very little theft.

History shows that, in particular inMakkah , they often did not even put doors on a house. In Islam a law was passed that a person never owns their house inMakkah . Of course, there is a difference of opinion among the religious jurisprudents. The Imams and theShafiis agree that inMakkah , the land cannot belong to any one person. That is, it belongs to all Muslims and the land ofMakkah cannot be bought and sold. The houses belong to all the people. It has the ruling of a mosque. InSurah Hajj it says that the people who live there and the people who come from outside that area are all the same.

These rents which people collect today inMakkah neither agrees with theShi’ite jurisprudence nor with much of the Sunni jurisprudence. It must have an international ruling. They have no right to establish limits there and not allow a person to enter. It is like the room in a mosque, everyone can have a room there. It belongs to him but he has no right to prevent others from entering. The person has no right to close off an empty room. Of course, if a person is using it, he has priority.

The first person who gave the order for doors to be placed on the houses wasMu'awiyah . This had been forbidden to be done to the houses ofMakkah . This was the general situation.

It was not the custom among Arabs in the Age of Ignorance to announce that they wanted permission to enter. They felt it was an insult to seek permission to enter. The Holy Quran says in another verse,“If you go and seek permission and it is not granted, return.”

This may be considered to be an insult by some but this emphasis in the Holy Quran is one of the introductory aspects of the modest dress because every woman in her own home is in a situation that she does not want to be seen or she does not want to see a person. A verse was revealed.

“And when you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a curtain(hijab ). “(33:54)

Thus, a person must first seek permission to enter and then, with the agreement of the owners, the person enters even if the other party knows that he wants to enter.

The Holy Prophet said:“In order to announce your entrance, recall God's name in a loud voice.” I later realized the words 'ya Allah' that Muslims say, for instance, to enter, is the implementation of this command.

Thus, announce and how much better it is when this announcement is made by the recitation of God's name. The Holy Prophet continuously did this and he was asked,“Is this a general ruling that we should use when we enter our sister's house, our daughters house, our mothers house?” He said,“If your mother is getting undressed, would she want you to see her then?” They said,“No.” He said,“Then this same ruling holds for one'smothers house. Do not enter without announcing your entrance.”

When the Holy Prophet would enter, he would stand behind the door of the room in a place where they could hear his voice and would call out,“As-salam alaykum ya ahl al-bayt ” (“Peace be upon you oh household of the Prophet” ). He said,“If you hear no answer, perhaps the person did not hear you. Repeat it again in a loud voice. Repeat for a third time if you receive no response. If, after the third time that you announce yourself, you hear no response, either that person is not home or the person does not want you to enter; return.” The Holy Prophet did this and many stories have been narrated about this, such as when he wanted to enter his daughter's house, he would call out salutations in a loud voice. If she responded, he would enter. If he called out three times and received no response, he would return.

There is something here to note whichis the difference betweendar andbayt in Arabic . Dar is that which we call courtyard. They call a room,bayt . The Holy Quran refers tobayt , that is, when you want to enter the room of a person. Since the doors to the courtyards were open, the courtyard clearly did not assume an area of privacy. That is, if a woman was dressed in such a way that she did not want anyone to see her, she would not be so dressed in the courtyard. She would go into a room. The courtyard has the ruling of a room. The door is closed and it normally has high walls. Women still consider the courtyard to be, to a certain extent, a place of privacy. Nowdar has the ruling ofbayt becausebayt basically means the place of privacy where a woman does not want a strange person to see her.

“This is purer for you.” That is, the commandsWe give are better for you, contain goodness, are not illogical.“Know that this is good.”

“And if you do not find anyone therein, enter it not until leave is given to you and if you are told 'return'; that is purer for you; and God knows the things you do.” (24:27)

“There is no fault in you that you enter uninhabited houses wherein enjoyment is for you. God knows what you reveal and what you hide.” (24:28)

This was very difficult for the Arabs to understand. To seek permission when they wanted to enter a house was itself difficult and then to be told to return and then to actually do so, was next to impossible. It was an insult.

In the verse,“there is no fault inyou. .. ” , an exception arises. Does this ruling apply whenever one wants to enter anyone's home or only a person'sresidence. The Holy Quran says this is not a general ruling and only applies to someone's home.

A home is a place of privacy, the place of one's private life. If this were not so, there would be need to seek permission. If there is, for instance, a caravanserai and you havebusiness, do you have to seek permission, etc? No. Here it is not necessary to enter by seeking permission. What about a public bath? There is no need here.“There is no fault in you...” if it is not a place of residence in which you have business.“God knows what you reveal and what you hide.”

From the word, 'uninhabited', one can understand that the philosophy of why a person cannot enter the home of another without announcing it first is because of the wife as well as the fact that the home is the place of one's privacy. Perhaps there are things which one does not want someone else to see.

Thus, when a person enters the privacy of another's home, the entrance must be announced. A person must, in some way, announce that he wants to enter even if the person knows that the other has allowed him to enter. He is your friend. He knows that you are going to enter. You know that he is totally in agreement with your entering. Still, you should realize that you are entering upon his privacy.

The Command to 'cast down their glance'

“Say to the believing men that they cast down their glance and guard their private parts; that is purer forthem . God is aware of thethings they do.” (24:30)

“Say to the believing women that they cast down their glance and guard their private parts and reveal not their adornment except such as is outward and let them cast their veils (khumar ) over their bosoms and reveal not their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, or their husbands' fathers or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons or their women or what their right hands own, or such men as attend to them, not having sexual desire, or children who have not yet attained knowledge of women's private parts nor let them stamp their feet, so that their hidden ornament may be known. And turn all together to God, O you believers, so you will prosper.” (24:31)

In the phrase,“Say to the believing men that they cast down their glance,” there are two words which we have to define. Oneisghadh and the other isabsar . A person who might sayabsar , the plural ofbasar , needs no explanation because it means eyes butabsar essentially means 'sight'. If it had said 'ain asin ghamdh'ain it would have meant 'close their eyes'. It would have had a particular meaning in this case. What doesghadh basar mean?Ghadh means 'lower', 'cast down', not 'cover' or 'close'. We see this in another verse,

“Be modest in thy walk and lower (yaghaddwu ) thy voice; the most hideous of voices is the ass's.” (31:19)

This does not mean to be silent. A person's voice should be moderate. In the same way, 'to cast down one's glance' means not to look in a fixed way, not to stare.

In a famous tradition of Hindibn Abi Halah which describes the Holy Prophet, it is recorded,“When he was happy, he would cast down his glance.” 1 It is clear it does not mean he closed his eyes.

Majlisi in Bihar interprets the sentence about the Holy Prophet thus:“He would cover his gaze and put down his head. He did this so that his happiness would not show.”

Imam 'Ali in theNahj al-Balaghah says to his son ImamHasan , when he gave a banner to him in the Battle of Jamal 'Even if the mountains are uprooted, do not leave your place. Clench your teeth (so that your anger increases). Bare your head to God. Nail your feet to the ground. Survey the enemy's forces and cast down your glance.”2 That is, 'do not fix your gaze on the enemy.'

There are essentially two ways of looking. One is to look at another with care as if you were evaluating the person by the way he looked or dressed. But another kind of looking is in order to speak to that person and you look since looking is necessary for conversation. This is a looking which is introductory and a means for speaking. This is an organic looking while the former is an autonomous kind. Thus, the sentence means:“Tell the believers not to stare at or flirt with women.”

On the Command to Guard Their Private Parts

In the next sentence it says,

“Tell the believingmen. . to guard their private parts.” (24:30)

To guard from what? From everything which is not correct, guard against both corruption and the glance of others.

As you know, it was not the custom among Arabs in the Age of Ignorance to hide their private parts. Islam came and made it obligatory to cover this area.

It should be noted that the present Western civilization is moving directly towards the habits of the pre-Islamic Arabs in the Age of Ignorance and they are continuously weaving philosophies justifying that nakedness is a good thing. Russell in“On Discipline,” says that another illogical ethics or taboo is that a mother and father tell their children to cover themselves which only creates a greater curiosity in children and parents should show their sexual organs to children so that they become aware of whatever there is from the beginning. Now, they do this.

But the Holy Quran says,“And guard their private parts,” both from corruption and from the view of others. Covering one's private parts is obligatory in Islam except, of course, between a husband and wife and it is among the most disapproved acts for a mother to be naked before her son or a father before his daughter.

“That is purer for them. God is aware of the things they do.” (24:30).

“Say to the believing women that they cast down their glance...” (24:31) You see that in these two verses, the ruling for a man and woman is the same. This is not something particular to men. For instance, if women were forbidden from looking and not men, there would have been a distinction that such and such was all right for men but not for women. It is clear, then, that when there is no distinction made between men and women, it has another purpose which we shall discuss in the next lesson.

Notes

1.Tafsir ul Quran, Safi, 24:31,marrated from atradition of ‘Aliibn IbrahimQummi

2.Nahj alBalaghah , Sermon 110

Fourth Lesson

The Command “not to reveal their adornment”

“And to guard their private parts.” The wordfarj is used in Arabic to refer to both a man and a woman's private parts. The fact that men and women have both been commanded to guard their modesty, to guard their private parts is in relation to two things: the view of others and this includes everybody except a husband and wife, and the other is that one should guard one's modesty from corruption, from adultery. If we look at the external form of the verse, perhaps we would conclude that it only refers to corruption but because, from the time of the Prophet's Companions and the very first commentaries on the Holy Quran, it has been clearly recorded that wherever the Holy Quran says,“guard their private parts,” it means from adultery except in those verses where it is to guard the private parts from the view of others. Thus, thisverse, either refers to the collective view or it refers to the view of others if we take the traditions into account. There is no difference of opinion here.

The third duty is not to reveal“their adornment...” which refers to that which is separate from the body like jewels and gold as well as things that are attached to the body like henna orcollyrium .

The Exceptions

As to the fact that they should“reveal not their adornment,” there are two exceptions in the Holy Quran. The first is“except such as is outward” and the second is“except to their husbands...etc.” Both of these have to be discussed further, in particular, the first exception.

Women should“not reveal their adornment... except such as is outward.” What does this refer to? Is it beauty which is most often hidden under clothes that must not be revealed? Then what is that which“is outward?” From the beginning of Islam, many questions arose in relation to“except such as is outward” which were asked from the Companions of the Holy Prophet and the Helpers and manyShi'ites asked the pure Imams. There is almost total agreement regarding this point. That is, whether one is a Sunni who refers to the Companions and Helpers of the Holy Prophet or one be aShi'ite who refers to the recorders of those traditions, there is more or less agreement that which“is outward” iscollyrium , a ring and, in some, ananklet .

That is, adornments which are used on the two hands and the face. This then shows that it is not obligatory for women to cover their face or their hands. Things which adorn them may appear as long as they are part of common usage. The adornments which are applied to the hands and the face are not obligatory to be covered.

There are great many traditions in relation to this. It was asked from ImamSadiq what may be displayed of adornments. That is, those things which are not obligatory to cover. He said,“It refers tocollyrium and a ring and they are on the face and hands.” 1 Abi Basir said he asked ImamSadiq about the exception and he said a ring and bracelet.”2

There is a tradition recorded by a person who was not aShi'ite but because of his reliability, he is referred to and quoted by theulama . He says that he heard from ImamJa'far , peacebe upon him, that the exception is the face and the hands. These are all similar in what they say. When the face and hands do not need to be covered, then their adornment, even more so.

There is another tradition narrated by Aliibn Ibrahim from ImamBaqir , peace be upon him. He was asked about this exception and he said it includes a woman's clothes,collyrium , ring and coloring of the palms of the hands and a bracelet.”3

Then the Imam said that we have three levels of adornment, the adornment all people may see, the adornment whichmahram may see and the adornment for one's spouse. That which may be displayed for the people is the face and hands and their adornment such ascollyrium , a ring, a bracelet but the adornment which may be displayed before someone who ismahram is the neck and above including a necklace, an armlet, hands plus ananklet and anything below the ankles.

There is, of course, a difference of opinion as to what can be revealed before someone who ismahram .That which can be concluded from the totality of the traditions and according to the edicts of the religious jurisprudents is that no one ismahram other than one's husband from the navel to the knees. That is, a woman must cover herself from the navel to the knee from even her father or brother and from the navel above, it must be covered from everyone except one's father. But for the husband, a woman may display her whole body.

We have other traditions in this area as well such as the fact that women must 'cast their veils over their bosoms'. Before the revelation of this verse, women would wear a scarf but they would place the ends behind their head so that their earrings, neck and chest would show since their dresses were most often v-necked. With the revelation of this verse, it became clear that they had to cover their ears, neck and chest with their head covering. There is a traditional recorded byIbn Abbas , the well known transmitter of traditions, that it is obligatory for women to cover their chests and neck.4

The first exception we have referred to relates to what is not obligatory to be covered. The second exception refers to those before whom it is not obligatory to cover such as fathers, husbands, children, etc.

Is 'Looking’ Permissible For Men?

In this area there are two points to be recognized and separated, at least mentally. One is what is obligatory for women to cover and what is not. If we say that it is not obligatory for women to cover their face and hands, does this agree with the saying it is advisable for men to lower their gaze? Or is that something separate? Is it something which needs to be discussed separately? Is it possible that it is not obligatory for women to cover, even though this is definite in jurisprudence, but that itbe advisable for men to lower their gaze?

We know from the life-style of the Holy Prophet that it is not obligatory for men to cover their head, hands, face or neck. Does this mean that it is also not advisable that men lower their gaze if they are walking down the street and women are passing? These are two different issues and must be discussed separately.

Another issue is that in areas other than the ones we mentioned as exceptions which the traditions have commented upon and in which the verse itself states what the limitations are, the face and the hands are among the absolute necessities of Islam whereby covering everything but them is obligatory for women. Of course, thisitself has an exception which we will discuss in the next verse which is that if women reach beyond a certain age, it is no longer obligatory for them. But in general, covering the hair of a woman is among the compulsory precepts of Islam. It is clear that much of the hair which shows by which one would conclude that a woman's head is 'uncovered' is clearly not permissible to show in Islam. Covering the neck, the chest, the arms above the wrists, the feet (which is debated) from the ankles above are all among the obligatory aspects of Islam. There is no controversy here.

But there is another point. We said that we have to discuss separately whether or not lowering the gaze is advisable. If the look is of a flirting nature, looking with the anticipation of pleasure, this is another clear issue which is among those which are forbidden. Not only is it forbidden to look at strangers or persons to whom one is notmahram , but even those who aremahram as well. If a father was to flirt with his daughter, it is forbidden and perhaps an even greater sin. It is forbidden for a father-in-law to look at his son's wife with lust. That is, in Islam, lust is exclusively allowed between marital partners. It is not permissible in any form anywhere else between anyone else.

But this should be distinguished fromriba ' which means to look but not with the intention of lust nor to really see or view the other person. It is a special state which could be dangerous. That is, the fear exists that the look will cause a person to deviate to a forbidden state. This, then, is also forbidden and there is no difference of opinion on this.

Thus, if a person says it is advisable to look, a lustful look is not meant or a look which holds the fear that it may lead to something forbidden.

Now we will discuss 'looking'. We have a tradition recorded by Aliibn Ja'far , the brother of ImamRidha ’ . He asks to what point a man can look at a woman who is not permissible tohim? He said,“Her face and her hands and her feet.” 5 Of course, face and hands are clearly so but the jurisprudents have not issued edicts about the feet.

There is another tradition about a man who is on a trip and dies. There is no man present to give him the obligatory bath for the dead nor are anymahram women present. What should be done for the obligatory ritual bath? The opposite has also been questioned, a woman on a trip who dies and there are nomahram men present to give her bath. When in both cases they asked the Imam, ImamSadiq said about the first case,“Those women may touch and wash that part of the man's body which was permissible for them to see when he was alive.” The same thing is said about a woman who has died. The Imam said that if they touch the face and wash her face and her hands, this is sufficient. It is not necessary to wash her whole body. Thus, a man may look at a woman's face and hands when she is alive.'6

We also find this in the tradition inMustamsak whichAyatullah Hakim relates about Fatimah, peace be upon her. One is the tradition regarding the CompanionSalman who once entered her house and saw that she was grinding barley and her hands were bleeding. This tradition makes it clear that the hands were not covered and that it was not forbidden to look at her hands because if it had been, neither wouldSalman have looked at them nor would she have left them uncovered.

More authentic than this is a tradition of Jabir that appears inKafi , inWasa'il and in all of the reliable books on traditions which theulama narrate. Jabir narrated that he went with the Prophet of God to enter the blessed Fatimah's house. The Holy Prophet had said that a person should seek permission to enter another'shouse, even if it belonged to one's mother and that the only exception is that one need not seek permission to enter one's wife's room.“When he arrived at her house, he did not enter but called out, 'Assalam alaykum ya ahl al-bayt '. She answered from inside the house. The Holy Prophet asked, 'Do you allow us to enter?' She said,Yes enter.' He asked, 'Should the person with mc enter?' She said, 'No. Then wait until I cover my head.' Then she said, 'Enter.' Again the Holy Prophet asked 'Should the person with me enter?' And she said, 'Yes.' Jabir says that when he enteredhe saw that her face was sallow colored. 'I became very sad when I realized it was because of lack of food. I said to myself, 'Look at how the caliph and a king's daughter is brought up and the daughter of Prophet of God!” '7

This shows that the Prophet's daughter neither covered her face nor her hands. Otherwise Jabir's look would have been forbidden.

Among the traditions, we have a great many which, when they ask of the Imam, he says that one cannot look at the forearm of a woman or at a woman's hair. All of these are mentioned but nowhere does it say anything about the face and hands.

Another issue is ihram (the pilgrim's clothes) where it is forbidden for women to cover their face and therefore we realize that it is not obligatory. It could not be that therebe something which is obligatory but not so in the ihram and forbidden here.

“Let them cast their veils over their bosoms.” The verse itself expresses the limits and does not include the face and hands. On the other hand, those who say looking' is absolutely forbidden have given a reason, the very reason which has been given for it not being forbidden. They refer to the verse,“say to the believing men to cast down their glance.” He answers that in the first place, the verse does not say what not to look at. Secondly, it says min which mean 'from something', and thirdly,ghadd means 'cast down' or 'lower'.

There is another tradition which is referred to and those who say that it is forbidden to look should note it. A man wrote a letter to ImamAskari , peace be upon him, where he said that there is a woman who wants to confess something and others want to listen to her confession to bear witness to it. Must she confess behind a curtain and the others listen from behind a curtain to then justly say that it was her voice? The Imam said,“No. She should come forward to bear witness but she should cover herself so that only the roundness of her face shows” .

Another tradition which they present is an often quoted tradition. It is calledSa'd Iskaf in reference to a man who went to the Prophet with his face bleeding and said that he had a complaint to make. The Holy Prophet told him to speak. He said he was walking down the street ofMadinah and saw a woman coming towards him who was very beautiful and who had tied her scarf behind her head and her chest was visible. As she passed, he turned his head to look at her and did not see what was in front of him. Something was sticking out of the wall and it struck his face and injured him. The verse was then revealed,“Say to the believing men to cast down their glance.” 8

Another reason they give is that it says in the traditions,“Is there anything which has not committed an illicit act for the illicit act of the eyes is to look?” The answer is that this is referring to looking with lust, not just looking; like the tradition which says,“looking is like an arrow ofsatan ,” and, of course, it refers to looking with lust.

There is another tradition which I have read in the books on traditions of the Sunnis. It says the Holy Prophet was on a journey, probably the Farewell Pilgrimage.Ibn Abbas , a young boy then, was behind him. He continued to look at the women who passed back and forth in the ihram. The Holy Prophet realized that he was doing this and he turned the boy's face away.Ibn Abbas then began to look from that direction. The Holy Prophet again turned the boy's face away.

According to theShi'ite sources, the tradition differs. It says that he was a very handsome young boy and the Holy Prophet was riding, probably on a camel. A woman from theKhasamiyyah tribe came to ask the Holy Prophet a question. She asked and the Holy Prophet answered. Then the Holy Prophet realized that her eyes were fixed uponFazl ibn 'Abbas andFazl ibn 'Abbas was staring at her. The tradition states that the Holy Prophet turnedFazl's face away saying,“A young woman and a young man, I am afraidsatan will enter.” 9

They say that because of this, it is clear that it is forbidden to look like this. There is no doubt about it. This is love making and it is forbidden.Shaykh Ansari says that from this tradition it is clear that it was obligatory for women to cover themselves and it was not forbidden in general for men to look. Otherwise, the Holy Prophet would not have looked but he was looking at her as he was answering her questions and saw that her eyes were fixed onFazl ibn 'Abbas and his on hers.

Ayatullah Hakim narrates another tradition. A man by the name of Aliibn Salah said to ImamRidha ’ , peace be upon him,“I have a problem. I look at beautiful women and it makes me happy to do so but I have no bad intentions.” The Imam said,“There is no problem as God is aware of your intentions and you have no ill intentions but fear an illicit act.”

Notes

1.Kafi , vol. 5, p. 521 andWasail , vol. 3, p. 25.

2. Ibid.

3.Tafsir ul Quran, Safi, 24:31.

4.Majma 'al-Bayan , Quran 24:31.

5.Qurb al-Asnad , p.102.

6.Wasa'il , vol.17, p.135.

7.Kafi , vol. 5 p. 528 andWasa'il , vol. 3, p. 28.

8.Kafi , vol. 5, p. 521; al-Wasail , vol. 3, p. 24. It should be noted that most often this Tradition which refers to a woman who tied her scarf around the back of her neck, lust and a man in general is also presented for verse 24:31. It would appear that it better relates to that verse.

9.Sahih Bukhari , vol. 8, p.63.