The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 332
332. Essence of Islam-III vided with any occasion for secret functioning and should not be confronted with anything that might incite dangerous tendencies. . This indeed is the philosophy that underlies the Islamic injunctions regarding the veil, and this is what the. Shariah demands. The Book of God does not aim at keeping women in captivity like prisoners. This is the thinking of the ignorant who are not aware of the Islamic ideals. The purpose of these regulations is to restrain men and women from letting their eyes rove freely and from displaying their beauty and charm, for this is to the benefit of both men and women. Remember, in Arabic. Ghadd-e-Başar means to restrain oneself from casting even a cursory glance at the wrong place, while at the same time seeing things which are permissible. . It does not behove a pious person, who desires to keep his heart pure, that he should lift his eyes in an unbridled manner like a beast. It is necessary for such a person to cultivate the habit of Ghadd-e-Başar in his social life. . This is a blessed habit through which a person's natural impulses are transferred into a high moral condition without adversely affecting his social needs. This is the quality which, in Islām, is called Iḥṣān or chastity. [Islāmī Uşūl ki Philosophy, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, vol. 10, pp. 343-344]. Extreme Attitudes about the Veil. People have adopted extreme attitudes in respect of the veil. Europe has gone to one extreme in abolishing it altogether and now some naturalists too wish to follow suit, whereas it is patent that this licentiousness has flung open the gates of vice in Europe. On the other hand, some Muslims go to the other extreme and do not let