Brothers and Sisters! I wish to share with you some thoughts on a topic which speaks about avoidance of sins committed by the limbs. My khutba is mainly based on the writings of Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (Rahimahullah) in his well-known work—Bidayat ul-Hidaya, which means ‘The Beginning of Guidance.’
What is sin? According to a hadith, “Sin is that which causes discomfort within your soul and which you dislike that people should come to know of it.” Sin consists in transgressing the bounds set by Allah (SWT). The instruments by which sins are committed are the seven parts of a man’s body.
Imam al-Ghazali says that one should guard one’s entire body, especially seven parts of it—the eyes, the ears, the tongue, the stomach, the private parts, the hands and the feet.” These body parts are in fact Allah’s gift to man, and a trust committed to him. They are created to be used for good purposes; but by making wrong use of them man commits sins. The Qur’an tells us that hell or jahannam has seven gates, through each of which a particular group of people is destined to enter.
لَهَا سَبْعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ لِكُلِّ بَابٍ مِنْهُمْ جُزْءٌ مَقْسُومٌ
“It has seven gates, with a designated group of them for each gate.” (al-Hijr, 15:44)
Sinners will be divided into different groups in accordance with their different sins for their entry into hell from seven different gates specified for each different sin. This implies that atheists, polytheists, disbelievers, hypocrites, self-seekers, sensualists, tyrants, etc shall each enter into hell through the gates specified for their group.
Disobeying Allah with our limbs is the ultimate ungratefulness to Him, and betraying the trust He has placed in us is the ultimate tyranny. Indeed, the parts of our body are our subjects. So we should pay attention to how we govern them.
As for the eyes, they were created for us only so that we may be guided by them in the darkness; that we may be helped by them in respect to our needs; that we may see the wonders in the kingdoms of the heavens and earth and derive lessons from the signs they contain. We have to guard our eyes from casting lustful looks, from looking at that which is unlawful or undesirable; from looking at a Muslim with an eye of contempt; and from being on the lookout for another Muslim’s faults. Allah commands both the believing men and the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts.
قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ
“Say to the believing men that they lower their gaze and guard their private parts.”(al-Nur, 24: 30)
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ
“And say to the believing women that they lower their gaze and guard their private parts.”(al-Nur, 24: 31)
As for the ears, we have to protect them from listening to heresy, backbiting, lewd talk, vain conversation, or talking about the faults of others. The ears were created for us only to listen to the speech of Allah; to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (SAW); to the wisdom of the friends of Allah, so that by them we may gain access to beneficial knowledge. So, if we use them to listen to something disliked, then what was in our favor will be against us, and what was meant to be a reason for our success will become a reason for our destruction. This is ultimate loss.
As for the tongue, it was created for us only so that we could spend much time in the remembrance of Allah and in recitation of His Book; that we could guide Allah’s creatures to His way, and that we express our needs in worldly and religious matters. If we then use it for other than that it was created for, we have been ungrateful for Allah’s blessing. According to a hadith, “People are not thrown into Hell on their faces for anything more than the harvests of their tongues.” A Muslim should keep his tongue under firm control. He should guard it against lying, breaking a promise, backbiting, disputation, ascribing goodness to oneself, cursing, supplication against creation, and making fun of people.
As for the stomach, it has to be protected from eating the forbidden and the doubtful. We should always strive to seek out the lawful. Once we have obtained what is lawful, we should try not to eat to over fullness, for indeed excessive fullness hardens the heart, ruins the intellect, hinders one’s ability to memorize, and makes one lazy in worship and seeking knowledge. It strengthens one’s carnal appetites (shahawat), and gives assistance to the soldiers of Satan (junood ash-Shaytan). Seeking out the lawful is obligatory on every Muslim. Engaging in worship and seeking knowledge with unlawful nourishment is like building on a garbage heap.
The fifth part of the body that has to be guarded refers to the private parts or genitals. Basically, sexual desire is created in man for the continuation of the human species. It has to be satisfied within wedlock. Any intimate spousal relationship outside the bond of marriage is forbidden in Islam and is a major sin. No matter how promiscuous or permissive a society is in such matters, a believer must not give in; rather he or she should always guard his or her private parts. One of the qualities of the true righteous believers is that they safeguard their chastity.
As for the hands, the Islamic view concerning them is that like other limbs, they are created by Allah for certain specific purposes related to the good of body and soul. Their misuse or leaving them unused where they should be used means ingratitude to Allah. Misuse of the hands results in sins.
As for the feet, they too are Allah’s grace to man. The favors of Allah must not be used to do that which is forbidden by Him. We have to guard our feet from going to forbidden places. Without necessity or compulsion, using one’s feet to go to oppressive people who wield power is also a major sin, for it means humbling oneself before them and honoring them in their sinfulness. Allah says,
وَلَا تَرْكَنُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ثُمَّ لَا تُنْصَرُونَ
“Do not incline towards those who do evil, or the fire may touch you. You will then have no one to protect you from Allah, nor will you be helped.” (Hud, 11:113)
The Prophet (SAW) said, “When a man bows himself before an upright rich man, two-thirds of his religious quality goes away.” Imam Al-Ghazali says that this is in the case of a rich man who is upright; what then, do you think, of a rich man who is an oppressor?
On the Day of Judgment when the sinners, having seen hell-fire will plead to Allah not to punish them without sufficient evidence, Allah will give power to the tongue, hands and feet to speak out concerning the sins their possessors committed through them in this world. They will testify against them, and their faults will be exposed in front of an assembly of creation.
يَوْمَ تَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَلْسِنَتُهُمْ وَأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
“On the Day when their own tongues, hands and feet shall bear witness against them about what they used to do.” (al-Nur, 24:24)
الْيَوْمَ نَخْتِمُ عَلَىٰ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَتُكَلِّمُنَا أَيْدِيهِمْ وَتَشْهَدُ أَرْجُلُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
“On that day, We shall seal up their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness about what they used to earn.” (Ya Sin, 36:65)
May Allah grant us the tawfiq to use our limbs for the purpose for which they were created.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! Man’s capacity to move any of his body’s parts or to keep them still is a grace of Allah. Therefore, the limbs or parts should not be moved to do anything which involves disobedience to Allah. They should only be employed in obeying Allah. If we fail short of doing this, the evil consequences will come back upon ourselves. And if we are diligent in acts of devotion to Allah, then the good consequences of our diligence will come back to ourselves. Allah is independent of us and our action.
Beware of saying, “Allah is Generous, Ever Merciful. He forgives the sins of the disobedient.” Undoubtedly, this is a true statement, but what is meant by it in this context is false, and the person who repeats it without making an effort to mend his ways is to be dubbed a fool. The fool is one who makes himself follow his passions and desires in committing acts that are contrary to the command of Allah. A Prophetic narration says, “The shrewd man is he who considers himself below the standard and works for that which is after death.”
Let me conclude by saying that man is answerable to Allah for his misguided and erroneous ways. A sin remains a sin no matter how much one rationalizes it. Some of us commit them intentionally; others unintentionally out of ignorance, carelessness, and uncontrolled desires. Although some people may not commit sins intentionally, yet they neither make a conscious effort to stay away from them, nor do they curb their desires or exert self-control. As long as a believer keeps struggling to protect his faith and guard his limbs, there is hope for him, but the minute he lets down his guard, his desires and attractions would overpower him and push him towards committing more sins.
بَلَىٰ مَن كَسَبَ سَيِّئَةً وَأَحَاطَتْ بِهِ خَطِيئَتُهُ فَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
“Truly, those who do evil and are encompassed by their misdeeds shall be the inmates of the Fire. Therein they shall abide forever.” (al-Baqarah. 2:81)
Brothers and sisters! Sin breeds sin until it dominates a person and he cannot escape from it. It gradually strengthens his will to commit sin and weakens his will to repent until there is no will in his heart to repent at all. Even if he seeks forgiveness and expresses repentance, it is merely words on the lips, like the repentance of the liars whose hearts remain determined to commit sins and persist in them. He becomes desensitized and no longer finds sins hateful.
Sincere Tawbah purifies our heart from the filth of sins. Repentance from all sins is obligatory on every adult Muslim. This is emphasized by Allah (SWT) when He says,
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“And repent to Allah, all of you believers that you may succeed.” (An-Nur, 24:31)
May Allah (SWT) grant us the tawfiq to sincerely repent for our sins, and to mend our wrongful ways. May He make us among those with whom He is pleased, and who are pleased with Him; ameen.
