TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013 • 12:00 AM

An ear of corn holds so many kernels that each bite pulls out numerous milky pouches from the hard cob into your mouth.

A frozen river reflects the scenery around it in waves of color and tufts of snow that crinkle the smile lines of your eyes.

Expensive perfume tip-toes around you for hours after you left it on the shelf.

A mother’s voice changes your mood and calms your nerves.

And the smooth, cool feel of the black stone changes your heart at the moment of contact.

{Which of the blessings of our Lord do we deny?} (al-Rahman)

Our senses are blessings that give us the ability to experience blessings. Day after day we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch things that bring us joy, sustenance and love.

Our heart is attached to each of these senses.

When our eyes gaze upon beauty our heart is lifted. Gazing upon people of God brings dhikr to our hearts and certainty to our minds.

But when we allow our eyes to look at that which is haram, whether on television, an Internet game, or an inappropriate website, our heart suffers the damage.

The same senses that can take us closer to Allah (swt) can prevent us from ever reaching Him.

The Prophet ﷺ himself turned the face of al-Fadl b. Abbas so that he would not gaze at a women who came to ask the Prophet ﷺ for a ruling.

Narrated Abdullah b. Abbas (r): “Al-Fadl b. `Abbas rode behind Allah’s Messenger ﷺ as his companion rider on the back portion of his she-camel on the day of Nahr (slaughtering of sacrifice, 10th Dhul-Hijja) and Al-Fadl was a handsome man. The Prophet ﷺ stopped to give the people verdicts (regarding their matters). In the meantime, a beautiful woman from the tribe of Khaitham came, asking the verdict of Allah’s Messenger. Al-Fadl started looking at her as her beauty attracted him. The Prophet ﷺ looked behind while Al-Fadl was looking at her; so the Prophet ﷺ held out his hand backwards and caught the chin of Al-Fadl and turned his face in order that he should not gaze at her…” [Sahih Bukhari]

The Prophet ﷺ was teaching al-Fadl how to behave in public – not to stare in lust at a woman. In today’s sexually charged society, images appear in front of us every day. They appear in front of our family members, too. It is up to us to set the environment at home as an environment of purity. Help yourself and your family members protect their eyes.

Your senses are in your care. Let your eyes gaze at beauty, and protect them from that, which will bring ugliness to your heart. Let your ears listen to Quran and beautiful words, and protect them from the cacophony of sin and disbelief. Let your nose breathe deeply of clean, fresh smells, and train your spirit to smell of good deeds and not of sin. Let your hands hold the hands of your family, neighbors and friends, such that they do not fall to mistakes in idleness. And let your tongue taste the sweetness of faith, and not relegate your heart and soul to hell fire with hearsay and canards.

Senses are blessings to help us experience our blessings and they are a direct line to our hearts. Protect your sense of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste with obedience and good works.

May Allah protect us from that which we cannot avoid.

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