The Many Forms of Zina | The Other Side: Barzakh and Beyond Ep. 19
Zina is a pathway to destruction. It starts with a glance, a conversation, a moment of indulgence, and before you know it, you’re trapped in an unrelenting fire. The Prophet ﷺ described the terrifying fate of those who let their desires consume them—a blazing oven in the Barzakh, where regret burns as fiercely as the flames themselves.
But the struggle against temptation isn't without reward. Those who hold on to their faith and protect their chastity in a world filled with desires are promised the shade of Allah on the Day of Judgment. Your restraint today could mean the difference between light and darkness, between a grave that feels like a garden or one that feels like an inferno.
NOTE: All depictions of Barzakh are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.
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References
- The Prophet ﷺ said: "Last night two individuals came to me (in a dream), woke me up, and said to me, 'Proceed!' … So we continued on until we came upon something like a tannūr (a large oven). 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. I asked, ‘Who are these people?’ … [They replied,] They are the adulterers, male and female, [being punished for zina].’” [Sahih al-Bukhari #7047]
- The Prophet ﷺ said, “Seven (types of people) will be shaded by Allah by His Shade on the Day of Resurrection when there will be no shade except His Shade.” Among them he mentioned: “A man who is tempted by a woman of beauty and status but responds, ‘I fear Allah.’” [Sahih al-Bukhari #6806; Sahih Muslim #1031]
- The Prophet ﷺ said, “A time will come upon the people when the one who remains steadfast upon his religion will be like one holding onto hot coal.” [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #2260]
- Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “The son of Adam has been allotted his share of zina, which he will inevitably commit. The zina of the eyes is looking, the zina of the ears is listening, the zina of the tongue is speaking, the zina of the hands is touching, the zina of the feet is walking (toward sin), and the heart desires and longs. Ultimately, the private parts will either confirm or deny it.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #6612; Sahih Muslim #2657]
- Ibn al-Qayyim connects lowering the gaze to increasing light in the heart, face and body. He says, “Lowering the gaze brings light to the heart, just as allowing it to wander freely brings darkness. For this reason, Allah mentioned the verse of light right after the command to lower the gaze. He says: “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them.” [Surah An-Nur (24): 30] Then immediately after, He says: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His Light is like a niche within which is a lamp…” [Surah An-Nur (24): 35]”. [Ibn al-Qayyim, Al-Jawab al-Kafi]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: "Last night two individuals came to me (in a dream), woke me up, and said to me, 'Proceed!' … So we continued on until we came upon something like a tannūr (a large oven). 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. I asked, ‘Who are these people?’ … [They replied,] They are the adulterers, male and female, [being punished for zina].’” [Sahih al-Bukhari #7047]
- The Prophet ﷺ said, “Seven (types of people) will be shaded by Allah by His Shade on the Day of Resurrection when there will be no shade except His Shade.” Among them he mentioned: “A man who is tempted by a woman of beauty and status but responds, ‘I fear Allah.’” [Sahih al-Bukhari #6806; Sahih Muslim #1031]
- The Prophet ﷺ said, “A time will come upon the people when the one who remains steadfast upon his religion will be like one holding onto hot coal.” [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #2260]
- Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “The son of Adam has been allotted his share of zina, which he will inevitably commit. The zina of the eyes is looking, the zina of the ears is listening, the zina of the tongue is speaking, the zina of the hands is touching, the zina of the feet is walking (toward sin), and the heart desires and longs. Ultimately, the private parts will either confirm or deny it.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #6612; Sahih Muslim #2657]
- Ibn al-Qayyim connects lowering the gaze to increasing light in the heart, face and body. He says, “Lowering the gaze brings light to the heart, just as allowing it to wander freely brings darkness. For this reason, Allah mentioned the verse of light right after the command to lower the gaze. He says: “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them.” [Surah An-Nur (24): 30] Then immediately after, He says: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His Light is like a niche within which is a lamp…” [Surah An-Nur (24): 35]”. [Ibn al-Qayyim, Al-Jawab al-Kafi]
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.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?
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