Your unchecked desires might scorch your soul. Zina is not just a sin, it's a path that leads
you deeper into darkness, a fire that starts with a glance and then consumes everything in its wake. Every lustful look and every secret indulgence pulls you closer to the
flames. So do you choose the garden of shade or the furnace of regret?
The Prophet (ﷺ) says that I saw what was like a large oven or tannur. It was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom with fire burning beneath it. Inside of it were men and women
who were being tormented by flames rising from beneath them, and they had no clothes to cover them. Whenever the flames reached them, they screamed in agony. And when the Prophet (ﷺ) asked the angels, who are these people? They said
that these are the adulterers, both men and women who are being punished for their zina. Now this hadith is referring to people who actually commit the act of zina. But it's
important to appreciate that for someone who commits a smaller act, there may be a smaller manifestation of this punishment in the barzakh, and it's very easy to find yourself
on the slippery slope to zina until you fall into its worst manifestation. There's this clear theme of heat and fire when it comes to zina and chastity. It starts with the heat
of desire, and that heat can either be further flamed by the fans of zina, or it can be put out with the coolness of chastity. And the Prophet (ﷺ) connects
chastity with shade and coolness in that famous hadith of the seven that are shaded by Allah when there is no shade except for His. The Prophet (ﷺ) also describes
a time where holding on to this religion will be like holding on to burning hot coal. And the patience required to not allow your heart to disintegrate as the flame of shahwa and
passion overtake it is a real struggle that the ahadith speak to. There is indecency and access to engage in zina all around us. It's just a few taps away now, on our computers,
on our phones. And remember that much of the matters of the grave are in regards to the lighter manifestations of major sins. But just like the dust of riba, there is an increasing
inevitable share of zina that each of us unfortunately have to encounter. I mean your ads alone, or your social media platforms, or your billboards, or your magazine covers, or the
thumbnails and the videos that come across your screen constantly. It's so easy to let them lead you to where you completely lose yourself in that world. And the Prophet (ﷺ)
said that Allah has fixed the very portion of adultery which a man will indulge in. There would be no escape from it. There's the adultery of the eyes, the adultery of the ears, the adultery
of the tongue, the adultery of the hands, and even the adultery of the feet as you walk to a place to fulfill those desires. And it's important to note in this day and age that the zina of every
body part is still zina if it's being done in a virtual world. Whether by watching indecent videos or engaging in indecent acts with someone virtually, zina is a lifestyle. It's not just an
action. And that's why the Qur'an describes it as a path. وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الزِّنَا إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا Do not come near zina, for it is indeed an indecency and a dark path to follow.
It's a lifestyle that ends up stripping away the honor and dignity of men and women by burying the soul and elevating the most animalistic parts of us. You'll notice that the Qur'an mentions the prohibition of zina next to the prohibition
of murder in more than one place. Allah Azza wa Jal says, وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ Some of the scholars said that of the wisdoms of this is that murder is the killing of the body
while zina is the killing of the soul. A person trapped on the path of zina may be dead before they even reach the barzakh, overcome with the fire of their passions that burn up their
relationships, their ambitions, their dreams, their aspirations as if they were in the oven that the Prophet (ﷺ) is speaking about in the barzakh already.
Al-Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim describes the final stage on the pathway to zina like an addiction that turns a person into a captured bird. But how did this happen? The path to zina starts with a simple glance that can be like a poisoned
arrow from the devil launched right through the eyes into the heart. That's why the Qur'an commands us to lower our gaze, both men and women. And Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim connects lowering the gaze
to increasing light in our hearts, in our faces, and in our bodies. He says this could be the reason why Allah mentions the ayah of nur, light upon light, right after the command of lowering
the gaze. Because just as a person avoided the darkness of the path of zina, Allah illuminates their heart, He illuminates their minds, and then they can carry that light with them into the barzakh
and then finally into the Day of Judgment. Imagine that darkness and the heat of a grave that's turned into an oven, and then imagine the brightness and coolness of a grave that's turned into a garden.
This is the difference between zina and chastity. For those trapped in the darkness of this path of zina, there is a light behind you. The more and more you resist and conquer, the brighter that
light is going to become. And I really want to speak directly to the issue. These are addictions that are so deep and prevalent, but you need to know that you're not alone. There are other people
that are struggling as well, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has not forsaken you or given up on you. When you're willing to get the help that you need to try to get out of this prison, you're actually humbling yourself to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and saying that I'd rather
lower my head here in shame to try to overcome this addiction than face the heat of it on the other side. Your room can become as dark as your grave, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows when
you're struggling in private, and you have a chance to build a journey from being in a state of disobedience to being in a state of ihsan, which is to start worshipping Allah as if you
can see Him. It takes a ton to try to overcome an addiction, but the strengths that you acquire in that process might unlock a level in Paradise that would have otherwise been inaccessible to
you. And when the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned the burning hot coal, he also said that you have the reward of 50 of the companions when you hold on tight. And in this day and age, that burning
hot coal seems to be your phone which gives you instant access to your desires. But if your fear of Allah holds you back instead, it can be an amazing thing. And it's mentioned by Ibn Asakir
that there was this young man who used to worship in the masjid during the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه). And every day as he'd go to the masjid, there was a woman that became infatuated with him.
And so she'd invite him on his way to the masjid to come into her home. And he resists day in and day out, and she keeps trying day in and day out. And then one day, he falls for it. So just as he's
about to enter into her house, he remembers this ayah.
Indeed, those who fear Allah, when the shaytan touches them with an impulse, they suddenly remember Allah and they immediately can see again. And so as he recited
this verse, he felt unconscious right in front of her door. And when he regained consciousness, he kept on repeating this verse until he actually passed away. So when the news reached to Umar
(رضي الله عنه), he was deeply grieved. And he went to console the father of this young man. Then he went to the grave of that young man to pray on him and make du'a for him. And as Umar (رضي الله عنه) went to his grave and stood on top of it, he said,
O young man, for those who fear their Lord will be two gardens in Paradise.
What he unlocked in those moments of fear of Allah in the midst of temptation ended up giving him multiple gardens of Jannah. But you have to know that that fear of Allah wasn't generated in those
few moments. It just kicked in at the right time. It was all that time in the masjid and with the Qur'an that he built up the spiritual resilience to hold himself in that moment. What's it like
for you to open a mushaf and to sit in the corner of a masjid? Or to use your phone in the privacy of your room to read the words of Allah instead of indulging the cravings of your lower self?
Will you allow the Qur'an to heal and protect you? Or will your neglect of it lead you further into punishment?
