The Abomination of Zina

Allah the All-Mighty describes Himself in the Glorious Quran with different qualities. One of the first quality with which He describes Himself is mentioned in the opening verse of Surah Al-Faatihah;

"Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds" (1:1)

The word used in arabic is "˜Rabb'. It has been translated as "˜Lord'. As with all translations, the true meaning of this arabic word cannot be fully understood through the word "˜Lord'. Imam Qurtubi rahimahullah explains the word "˜Rabb' as "˜Al-Muslih' the Reformer and "˜Al-Mudabbir' the Administrator. Imam Al-Harawi explains "˜Rabb' as "˜the being who takes it upon himself to reform and perfect something'. Hadhrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi' sahib rahimahullah sums it up in the following;

"Lexically, the word, Rabb signifies 'one who nurtures'. And "˜nurture' implies developing a thing by gradual stages in a manner which is conducive to its own good till it attains perfection." (Mariful Quran)

This one attribute of Allah Ta'ala signifies His Greatness while similtaneously portraying the dependence and reliance of the creation on the being of Allah Ta'ala. In another verse, Allah the All Mighty announces His being the sole creator;

"This is Allah: your Lord, there is no God but He, the creator of everything; so worship Him" (6:103)

Creation is in need of Allah in all aspects of life as He is the Rabb. It is to Him that we turn to for our needs. He provides for our material needs and it is only Him who has bestowed us with the intellect through which we advance in our worldly existence;

"Allah has bought you forth from tour mothers' wombs when you knew nothing, and He made for you ears, eyes and hearts so that you maybe greatful." (16:78)

The perfection with which this world has been created, and the achievments made by humankind through their Allah given intellect portrays how perfectly the word "˜Rabb' fits only and solely for Allah. Praise for a building is in actual fact praise of the builder. Praise of the creation is in actual fact praise of the Creater!

If this much is understood, then a person will be able to understand something else also. That this Creator, Nurturer and Master of ours has set out a path for us to tread; a way of life to follow. To leave all other ways and paths and to tread firmly on the way He desires us to. He has shown those things which are detrimental to us and those things which benefit us. And why not? When He is our Creator; the being who knows us better than we know ourselves. A simple example will make it clearer. A professional builder with indepth understanding of his profession will know all the in's and out's. He will know the best equipments and materials to use. He will know what is the best price to pay. He will know the best way of building the house. More than that, he will know how to make a house that will last; a house that can weather any storm to the best of its ability. Allah the All-Mighty, the creator of everything most definately knows what is good and what is detrimental to His creation. One such thing which Allah Ta'ala has decided as detrimental for us as humans is Zina.

Zina destroyes families. Husband and wife become worst of enemies. Mother and father play tug of war with the childrens emotions; leaving them with deep emotional scars. The extended families become pitted against one another; harbouring hatred, anger and malice. Physical, verbal and mental abuse becomes magnified. Sleeping around increases the chances of disease. This is just a little of the dangerous affects of zina. It rots society to the core. Our Rabb, who has created us to perfection, has deemed that zina disfigures our spirituality. Allah Ta'ala says;

"Do not even go close to fornication. It is indeed a shameful act, and an evil way to follow. (17:32)

Highlighting the blow on a person's Iman, the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said;

"When a servant commits fornication, Iman (belief) leaves from him. It stays above his head like a canopy. When he finishes; his Iman returns back to him" (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi)

In another Hadith, the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam warns;

"When fornication and usury becomes widespead in a village, verily they (inhabitants of that village) have caused the punishment of Allah to befall upon themselves" (Al Mustadrak)

How does this disobediance of Allah Ta'ala begin? What is the root cause? Allah Ta'ala does not leave us in the dark. Allah Ta'ala order's the believers;

"Say to the believing men; LOWER YOUR GAZES and safegaurd your private parts" (

The root cause of zina and fornication is being addressed in this verse. The misuse of the eyes is the first step that can lead a person into the pits of evil. A poet very accurately describes it;

"Many an evil glance pierces the heart of a man; the piercing of an arrow without a bow and a bowstring"

 It is for this reason that Allah Ta'ala has made it a sin to cast gazes at the opposite gender. When the Prophet Sallallhu alayhi wasallam realised that his cousin Fadhl ibn Abbas radhiyallahu anhu was looking at a non mahram female, He turned Fadhl radhiyallahu anhu's face away with his own hands. When Jareer ibn Abdullah radhiyallahu anhu enquired about an accidental glance, the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam's reply was "lower your gaze". When the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam was describing the rights of the road to the Sahaabah; the first right mentioned was of lowering the gazes. These few accounts from the life of our Beloved Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam brings attention to the reality that this first step into zina was a very big issue. What can be said regarding today wherein looking, talking, laughing and befriending the opposite gender has become a trivial issue? Where muslim men and women, without any neccesity, are intermingling either in person or via the web, social media and other platforms. The laws of Hijaab have become virutually non existent and even organisers of "˜Islamic' programmes and function rarely go to any pains in trying to fulfull this aspect of the deen of Allah Ta'ala.

Upon describing the signs of the Day of Judgment, one sign which the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam mentioned was the "Increasing of fornication". Today, any right minded person will be able to see this prophecy of our beloved Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam playing out completely. The safegaurds which Allah placed on saving us from the dangers of fornication are routinely overlooked and trampled upon. Rather, those who in this age of fitnah still hold firmly onto this branch of shariah are looked upon as strange and narrow minded. And through all this, fornication has increased to very high levels. There is only one route to salvation which our Rabb has showed us and that is the road of Shariah. Any diversion off this route will only lead to doom and destruction. It is a hard path to walk. Those undertaking this path will find walking this path like trying to hold onto a burning ember. This path is a path that stays far away from zina and fornication. However, every cloud has a silver lining. Despite the magnitude of keeping our eyes and other body parts as far away as possible from fornication, we can have peace of mind that our Rabb has ordered us to abstain from this disobedience, so there must be benefit for us in it.

May Allah Ta'ala keep us all in His protection and save us from all forms of fornication. Ameen

Zayd Gajia