Say to the believers. He expressed this by the description as an indication of the inability to avoid mixing after the mixture. Only he who has firm faith in his heart can be exempt from it. This is due to the hidden nature of betrayal at that time, unlike what was previously mentioned regarding the prohibition of entry, where the expression was with 'those who believe.' 'They lower' means they should lower and not raise; rather, they should refrain from what they were prohibited from.

Since the matter is extremely difficult, He said: 'from their gazes' by affirming 'from' which indicates a partitive sense, indicating the pardon for the first glance. What is taken into account is the persistence in looking. Since the gaze is the messenger of fornication, it was given precedence.

Since preserving one's private parts from the danger of sexual intercourse is easier than preserving one's gaze, and because one does not act upon it without testing, He omitted 'from' for the purpose of generality and said: 'and they should guard their private parts' meaning from every unlawful act, whether exposure or otherwise. He did not exclude the wife and what is owned by the right hand, considering it sufficient with what was previously mentioned regarding the believers. This is because the context is for emphasizing the importance of preservation and intensification. He encouraged this by justifying it with His saying: 'That' meaning the high and great matter of both lowering and guarding which I commanded them with 'is purer for them.' This means it is closer for them to grow, increase, and be purified in both senses, and it will bring blessings for them. As for the physical sense, it is that fornication leads to death by plague, and it causes poverty and other calamities. 'There is no people in whom fornication becomes widespread except that they are struck by famine.'

It was narrated by Ahmad from Amr ibn al-As, may Allah be pleased with him, (p-255) and it was narrated from him by Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Hakam in the Book of Conquests, and its wording is: "There is no people among whom fornication appears except that they are taken by famine, and there is no people among whom usury appears except that they are taken by years of drought, and there is no people among whom bribery appears except that they are taken by fear. Fornication brings about poverty." It was narrated by al-Bayhaqi from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, and if fornication appears, poverty and humiliation appear. It was narrated by Ibn Majah and al-Bazzar, and this is its wording from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them - and al-Bayhaqi, and its wording is: "Fornication brings about poverty." And in another narration of his: "No immoral act ever appeared among a people and was acted upon openly among them except that plague and ailments appeared among them that were not in their ancestors." It was narrated from him by Ibn Ishaq in the Sirah regarding the expedition of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, may Allah be pleased with him, to Dawmat al-Jandal, and its wording is: "Indeed, no immoral act ever appeared among a people until they openly declared it except that plague and ailments appeared among them that were not in their ancestors who passed away. And they did not violate the measures and scales except that they were taken by years of hardship and the tyranny of the ruler. And they did not withhold zakat from their wealth except that rain was withheld from the sky. Were it not for the animals, they would not have been rained upon. And they did not violate the covenant of Allah and the covenant of His Messenger except that Allah unleashed upon them an enemy from among themselves, who took some of what was in their hands. And what (p-256) their leaders did not rule by the Book of Allah and they tyrannized in what Allah revealed except that Allah made their fear among themselves." And in al-Targhib for al-Mundhiri from Ibn Majah and al-Bazzar and al-Bayhaqi from him, may Allah be pleased with him, is a wording similar to this. And at the end of the Sirah from Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, in his sermon when he assumed the caliphate: "No people abandon jihad in the way of Allah except that Allah strikes them with humiliation, and no immoral act ever spreads among a people except that Allah encompasses them with calamity.

And in al-Muwatta from Malik from Yahya ibn Sa'id that it reached him from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he said: "No treachery ever appeared among a people except that fear was cast into their hearts, and no fornication ever spread among a people except that death increased among them, and no people ever diminished the measures and scales except that their provision was cut off, and no people ever ruled by other than the truth except that blood spread among them, and no people ever betrayed a covenant except that an enemy was unleashed upon them."

And al-Tabarani narrated in al-Awsat from Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "When immorality increases, corruption increases, and the ruler becomes tyrannical." And in it: "I represent them in that time as the flatterers. When usury and fornication appear in a village, Allah announces its destruction." It was narrated by al-Tabarani from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them.

(p-257) As for the moral aspect, Imam Ahmad narrated from Abu Umamah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "There is no Muslim who looks at the beauty of a woman and then lowers his gaze except that Allah will replace it with an act of worship that he finds the sweetness of it." Ibn Kathir said: This has been narrated as a raised hadith from Ibn Umar, Hudhayfah, and Aisha, may Allah be pleased with them, but there is weakness in its chains. He provided a supporting narration from al-Tabarani from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, with the wording: "Indeed, the glance is a poisoned arrow from the arrows of Iblis. Whoever abandons it out of fear of Me, I will replace it with faith that he finds the sweetness of it in his heart." It is known from this that whoever adorns himself with what Allah has commanded here, his heart will be a place for wisdom, his actions worthy of success, and his remembrance coupled with acceptance. Since purity involves both increase and purification, and the discussion here is about lowering the gaze, which is very apparent in purity, there was no need to emphasize by explicitly stating purity. As for the verse of Al-Baqarah, since it deals with a difficult matter, and it can only be due to grudges and enmities, the guardian might think that preventing her from whom he has kept her away is purer for him and for her. He emphasized the statement by the act of zakah by explicitly stating what he understood from purity. (p-258) And since the situation is difficult due to the inclination of souls towards lowly matters and their following of desires, he explained this matter encouragingly and warningly by saying: "Indeed, Allah"—meaning the One who nothing is hidden from Him due to His complete encompassing knowledge—"is All-Aware." And since the restraint of modesty is a great barrier, it does not oppose except through treatment and training, he expressed it by the term 'actions' and said: "by what they do," meaning even if they strive to conceal it and are meticulous in planning deceit regarding it.