Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 33
Malfuzat - Volume I 33 to war with God—as if one were to become a hermit or a monk. All such things are an infringement of the rights due to fellow man. If human faculties were to be relinquished completely, this would result in objection against God who in- vested us with them. Hence, the teachings in the Gospel-which result in the ruin of one's faculties-lead a person to misguidance. Allah the Exalted orders their proper use, not for them to be wasted away. As such, He states: إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ. . . الخ Verily, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others. Justice is a thing which all ought to benefit from. For the Messiah as to teach that 'the eye which offends thee be plucked out, also brings about the destruction of one's faculties because he did not teach that a person must not look at a non- mahram woman at all. On the contrary, one is permitted to very well do so, but not with an adulterous eye—there is no prohibition in looking at the first place. If a person looks at such a woman, it should be taken into account how this affects a person's faculties. Why, like the Quran, was the eye not forbidden from looking at what causes a person to stumble in the first place, so that one would not mourn the loss of something as beneficial and valuable as the eye? The Meaning of the Islamic Veil In the current day, objections are raised against the veil. However, people do not realise that the Islamic veil is no prison. It is only a barrier which prevents the free mixing of men and women. The veil saves them from stumbling. A just-minded individual would appreciate that if non-mahram men and women were to mix without any hesitation and concern, and if they were to go about together, they would surely succumb to the flare of their inner-passions. It has often been heard and observed that certain people see no ill in a non-mahram man and woman re- maining alone behind closed doors. Civilisation they call it. It is to counter these very adverse effects that the Founder of Islam has forbidden an individual alto- gether from approaching anything that may lead them to stumble. In this relation, the Holy Prophetsa has stated that where a non-mahram man and woman sit in seclusion, the third of them is Satan. Just reflect on the harrowing outcomes that Europe is having to bear as a result of this non-restrictive and unbridled teaching. 1 an-Nahl, 16:91