It is an obligation for every Muslim to lower his gaze from looking at what is prohibited. This goes without saying. However, a concerned believer will even take care to protect himself from looking at anything which may affect his heart negatively. No doubt, the human heart is corrupted by regularly taking in images of worldly people who have no connection to Allah Almighty.
Allah says:
وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْبَصَرَ وَٱلْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْـُٔولًا
Surah al-Isra: 36
“Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart – one will be questioned about all those”
The vast majority of what the average person gazes upon each day, whether through the television, mobile phone, billboards, or magazines, is controlled by the enemies of Allah who are active in their mission of spreading kufr. Evil is presented as good, and the believer is bombarded with filthy images which enter the heart, corrupting it and preventing it from receiving the gifts Allah Most High sends to the believers who possess pure hearts.
The Prophet ﷺ told us:
Certainly there is a piece of flesh in the body, if it is kept sound the whole body is sound; if it is corrupt then the whole body is corrupt – indeed it is the heart.
Bukhari and Muslim
Some of the scholars of tasawuff have said that the eye is the quickest inroad to the destruction of the heart. Others argued it was the ear. Irrespective, it is imperative for each Muslim to spend his life guarding the entry points of the heart, lest he arrive on the Day of Judgement wanting.
يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ
Surah al-Shu’ara: 88-89
إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى ٱللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ
“The Day when neither wealth nor children will be of any benefit. Only those who come before Allah with a pure heart (will be saved)”.
Another calamity which may befall a person in this very life, even before the next, is that they are prevented from seeing the Prophet ﷺ in their dreams. Anybody who hopes to gain the vision of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ should be aware that this is a major blessing which is unlikely to be given to somebody whose inner vision, having been sullied with impure images, is not ready and prepared for it.
Imam Muntasir al-Halwani mentions1 that Sheikh Hasan Shaddad told him that he would regularly see the Prophet ﷺ in his dreams. However the visions stopped when he began watching television programmes. Concerned, he went to Sheikh Zayn bin Sumayt who advised him to recite the following formulas 116 times each:
الصَّلاةُ وَالسَّلامُ عليكَ يَا سَيِّدِي يَا رَسُولَ الله قَلَّتْ حِيلَتِي أَدْرِكْنِي May prayer and peace be upon you, my Master, O Messenger of Allah, relieve me of my difficulty and help me.
السَّلامُ عَليكَ أيُّها النَّبيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ
May peace be upon you, O Prophet with the mercy and blessings of Allah
أَنا في جاهِ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ 'I am in the sanctuary of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.'
Sheikh Hasan immediately did this and that same night, he saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ three times.
1] This was in the year 1995 (1416AH). See ‘The Muhammdan Treasures’ (al-Kunuz al-Muhammadiyah) by Muhammad Muntasir al-Halwani (Sakina Publishing).
Orthodox Muslim 