Thursday 2 February 2012

Entering places of sin



I found a very interesting and insightful answer by Sheikh Abdul Aziz ad-Dabbagh in regards to entering places of open sin (he especially later talks about joining people who drink, even though you don't drink with them):

As for what he said-God be pleased with him-regarding the
danger of angels fleeing the body, this is how (469) he answered me
another time when I put questions to him. We were debating the
views of the shaykh al-l:Iattab and the shaykh al-Mawwaq-God
the Sublime have mercy on them-about entering a bathhouse with
naked people who don't cover themselves. The shaykh al-l:Iattab
says: 'It's forbidden to enter. And a person must perform ritual
ablutions with sand if he's afraid of [using] cold water.' The shaykh
al-Mawwaq says: 'Let him enter. And let him cover himself and
lower his eyes. Then it isn't forbidden for him.'
He replied-God be pleased with him: 'The shaykh al-l:Iattab is
right. As for what the shaykh al-Mawwaq says, it contains an evil,
even supposing the one who covers himself is very cautious and
avoids at all costs gazing at the private parts of others. The evil here
is that the sins and the violation of God the Sublime's commands are
accompanied by darkness. Between this darkness and the darkness of
Hell there are threads and connections by means of which the
wretchedness of Hell befalls him. No one knows this better than God
the Sublime's angels. Thus if some group gathers under the roof of a
bathhouse, for instance, for the purpose of sin and they all commit
sin, darkness pervades that place. The angels then shun them. And if
the angels shun them, Satan and his soldiers come and inhabit the
place. The lights of their faith, i.e. the faith of the sinners, become
like lamps assailed by violent winds from every side. Sometimes you
see their light going in this direction, sometimes in that direction,
and other times it's turned downwards so that you say it's gone out
and disappeared. That's why "sins are the messenger of infidelity".
God the Sublime protect us from this!
If the bathhouse and its people are as we described and if we
suppose that a man who's virtuous, devout, eminent and cautious,
comes and enters the premises while covering himself, the light of
his faith will suffer a disturbance because of the darkness he finds in
the bathhouse. For that darkness is the opposite of faith, and his
angels are disturbed by this as well. The satans, on the other hand,
experience a hope in him. They join him and arouse in him lust for
gazing at [people's] private parts and tempt him. He continues to
struggle with them. But they're a match for him, and he's weak in
their presence so that he finds delight in lust and takes pleasure in
gazing at [people's] private parts. We beseech God to protect us
from this!'
(Pg 551-552 from the Ibriz)

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