The word · The heart
غَضُّ البَصَر
Ghadd al-Basar
Lowering the gaze: turning your eyes away from what you are not permitted to look at.
Also written · Ghadd al basar · Ghad al-basar · Ghadhul basar · Gad al basar · Lowering the gaze · Lower your gaze · Guarding the eyes · Zina of the eyes · Looking at haram · Eyes
The meaning
What Ghadd al-Basar means in Islam
The Qur'an instructs believing men, and then believing women, to lower their gaze and guard their chastity (Qur'an 24:30-31). The Prophet peace be upon him told Ali that the first look is his and the second is not, in a report collected by Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi. Classical scholars treat it as the practical gate of the heart, on the principle that whatever the eye brings in, the heart has to carry. It is a discipline of the second look, not an order to walk with your head down.
Evidence · Qur’an · Stated directly in the Qur’an
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- Haya'A modesty that makes a person shrink from what is ugly, before Allah and before people.الحَيَاء
- HawaWhim: personal desire raised high enough that a person follows it instead of the evidence.الهَوَى
- QalbThe heart: in the Qur'an the seat of understanding and intention, not the organ alone.القَلْب
- TaqwaAn alert, careful awareness of Allah that keeps a person away from what harms them.التَّقْوَى
More from The heart
- 'AfwPardon: dropping a wrong you are owed, without the other person having to earn it.العَفْو
- GhaflahHeedlessness: not the denial of the truth, but the habit of never getting round to it.الغَفْلَة
- KadhibLying: saying what you know is not so, in speech, in a hint, or in a misleading silence.الكَذِب
- NamimahCarrying words between people in a way that sets them against each other.النَّمِيمَة
- Sakha'Generosity: giving easily, before being asked, without making the receiver pay in dignity.السَّخَاء
- TafakkurDeliberate reflection on creation and on your own life, treated as an act of worship.التَّفَكُّر