Islam and Human Rights — Page 138
Isl am and Hum an R ights 138 limits set by Allah, so go not nigh unto them. Thus does Allah make His commandments clear to people that they may become secure against evil” (2:188). What has been made clear in this context is that “to become secure against evil” one must not proceed to the point where one is directly confronted by the evil, but one must stop short even of the approaches to it. When it beckons from afar one must resist the temptation to dally with it; one must aschew even the innocent-seeming preliminaries to it; one must not seek to deceive oneself and must realize whither they would lead. We can now appreciate the wisdom of the injunction, “Come not nigh unto adultery, surely it is a foul act and an evil way” (17:33). This is not only an injunction against adultery, it bars all appoaches to it, beginning with stolen glances and fugitive smiles and culminating in the foul consummation by way of innuendo, hand- clasp, caress and embrace. The injunction is not confined to the extreme case of adultery; it applies to every kind of evil, overt or covert. “Approach not indecencies, whether open or secret” (6:152). That is the only way to security against all manner of evil, maugre vehement protestations of innocence of design and purity of intention. ‘’Whether you conceal what you say or proclaim it, He knows well