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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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The story of our mother Eve.

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O Eve, do not approach that which is forbidden.

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O Eve.

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Some people argue about the issues of what is forbidden and what is permitted.

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They demand a Qur'anic text for every matter labeled as forbidden.

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And the reason is that these people, in reality,

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are among those whom Satan has misled and diverted from the path.

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It has reached the point where they even deny that Allah has forbidden alcohol,

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despite the explicit verse in the Qur'an.

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The cause is their failure to understand the speech of Allah and the language of the Arabs.

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We have a lesson in the story of our mother Eve regarding the understanding of Qur'anic expressions,

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and the educational dimensions they contain.

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Allah the Almighty says:

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"And We said, 'O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat..."

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"...therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers.'"

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He forbade them from approaching it,

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and did not merely forbid them from eating from it.

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So, is it permissible for them to eat from it?

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Al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

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His statement:

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"But do not approach this tree,"

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is a stronger warning than simply forbidding them from eating from it.

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This is because the prohibition against approaching it serves to block the means that lead to eating from it.

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This means that preventing the precursors to an act

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is a prevention of falling into the act itself.

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And here lies the danger, O Eve.

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The precursors to the forbidden,

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may not appear to you as something that will cause you to fall into the forbidden,

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but they will drag you, step by step, into the forbidden.

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That is why the scholars have established the principle of "blocking the means" (sadd al-dhara'i') to prohibited things,

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as a protection for your honor.

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Muhammad Rashid Rida, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

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"The prohibition against approaching a thing is more emphatic than the prohibition against the thing itself,"

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as we have explained in the Tafsir.

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“It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are raiment for you and ye are raiment for them. Allah is Aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect and He hath turned in mercy toward you and relieved you. So hold intercourse with them and seek that which Allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn. Then strictly observe the fast till nightfall and touch them not, but be at your devotions in the mosques. These are the limits imposed by Allah, so approach them not. Thus Allah expoundeth His revelation to mankind that they may ward off (evil).” (2:187)

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It necessitates staying away from the sources of doubt that entice one toward it and lead to it,

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out of piety and precaution.

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Whoever falls into doubtful matters falls into the forbidden,

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like a shepherd grazing his flock around a protected sanctuary;

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he is on the verge of falling into it.

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As mentioned in the hadith.

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This is another meaning

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that Sheikh Rashid Rida points to,

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which is staying away from doubtful matters,

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in accordance with the hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

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So, if a matter becomes doubtful to you, O Eve,

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then leave it.

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For in the clear, permissible things, there is enough to suffice you from doubtful and forbidden things.

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O Eve,

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your mother was only forbidden from eating from a specific tree,

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and everything else in Paradise was made permissible for her.

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But Satan diverted her attention from the vast permissible,

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and focused it on the narrow forbidden.

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So, be aware of Satan's methods.

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Sayyid Qutb, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

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The Qur'an remains silent on the identity of this tree,

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because identifying its species adds nothing to the wisdom behind its prohibition.

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This suggests that the prohibition itself is what is intended.

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Allah permitted them to enjoy the permissible,

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and instructed them to abstain from the forbidden.

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There must be a forbidden thing from which this species learns

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to stand at a limit,

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and to train the will embedded in its nature,

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with which it controls its desires and passions,

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and rises above these desires and passions.

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Thus, it remains a master over them, not ruled by them like an animal.

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This is the characteristic of a human being,

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by which he is distinguished from the animal,

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and through which the meaning of being human is realized within him.

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O Eve,

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prohibition is a test of the strength of your will.

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So, strive to succeed in it.

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Abu Zahra, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

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Allah the Almighty called Adam by his name to honor him.

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He permitted him to dwell with his wife Eve in Paradise,

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and to eat from it wherever he wished of its fruits,

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in any part of it he desired.

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But He forbade them from a specific tree,

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as a test of the strength of their souls and their will,

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and to repel the temptation of Iblis toward them wherever he intended.

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He clarified that if they ate from it,

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they would be among the wrongdoers,

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for disobeying the command of their Lord,

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and for the weakness of their will.

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The root of wrongdoing

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is the weakness of the wrongdoer's will.

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Allah's prohibition to them was not to approach this tree,

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and the prohibition against approaching

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is a prohibition against eating, a fortiori.

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We do not know what this tree is,

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so let us not try to identify it,

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as long as Allah the Almighty has not named it.

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But Iblis

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found the door through which he could enter to whisper to them.

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These are some examples that have been forbidden to us under the principle of "blocking the means,"

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so that we do not fall into the forbidden.

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Allah the Almighty says:

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“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is aware of what they do.” (24:30)

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"That is purer for them."

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“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is aware of what they do.” (24:30)

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“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed.” (24:31)

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Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

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Since lowering the gaze is the foundation for guarding one's chastity,

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He began by mentioning it.

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And since its prohibition is a prohibition of the means,

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it is permitted for a greater benefit,

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and forbidden if corruption is feared from it,

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and no greater benefit outweighs that corruption.

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He, glory be to Him, did not command lowering it absolutely,

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but commanded lowering part of it.

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As for guarding one's chastity,

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it is mandatory in every case,

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and not permitted except through its rightful means.

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Therefore, He commanded its protection.

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Allah, glory be to Him, has made the eye the mirror of the heart.

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So, if the servant lowers his gaze,

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the heart lowers its desire and intent.

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And if he lets his gaze roam,

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the heart lets its desire roam.

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So do not let your gaze roam, O Eve,

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lest you fall into the forbidden.

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Another example occurred to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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with his wife Safiyyah.

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Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said regarding it:

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When Safiyyah, may Allah be pleased with her, came to visit him, peace be upon him,

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while he was in retreat (i'tikaf),

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he stood up with her to escort her to her house.

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Two men from the Ansar saw them,

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and he said:

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"Take it easy,

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she is Safiyyah bint Huyayy."

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They said:

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"Subhan Allah, O Messenger of Allah!"

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He said:

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"Indeed, Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood.

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I feared that he might cast evil into your hearts."

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He blocked the means to their thinking ill of him

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by informing them that she was Safiyyah.

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So do not go, O Eve, to places of suspicion,

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lest you be thought ill of.

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And do not adorn yourself in a way that makes those who see you think you are adorning yourself with the forbidden.

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A final example

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is one of the calamities of this time in some societies,

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which is a woman marrying herself off without a guardian (wali).

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Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

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The prohibition of a woman gifting herself to anyone other than the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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the secret of this is

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that in the opposite of this, and the failure to observe it,

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lies a means to the occurrence of fornication in the guise of marriage.

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As in the narration:

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"The adulteress is she who marries herself off."

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For there is no adulteress who says,

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"I marry myself to you for such-and-such" in secret from her guardian,

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without witnesses or public announcement,

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and without a wedding feast, tambourine, or sound,

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but that she has done it.

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It is known with certainty that the corruption of adultery

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is not negated by her saying, "I have wed myself to you,"

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or "I have married myself to you,"

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or "I have made myself permissible to you for such-and-such."

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If the corruption of adultery were negated by that,

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it would be one of the easiest matters for her and the man.

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Therefore, the Lawgiver has magnified the importance of this contract,

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and blocked the means to its resemblance to adultery by every path.

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We will continue in a future meeting, if Allah wills.

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And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.