Lower Your Gaze

There was a companion of the Prophet (SAW) his name was Thalaaba Ibn Abdulrahman. Thalaaba was very young, about 16 years old, and he used to run errands for the Prophet (SAW) and one night, the Prophet (SAW) sent him to do something and he was walking through Medina, whilst he was walking he passed by a house and the door was open. The inside of the house was covered by a peice of material which acted as a curtain to hide the inside, but the wind blew this curtain to the side revealing a women inside who was bathing. Thalaaba glanced a little too long til he saw something, then he came to his senses and said Audo Billah!. Straight away the boy feared that Allah swt would reveal an ayah about him to the Prophet (SAW) and reveal him along with the hypocrites, and out of fear the boy ran away.

The Prophet (SAW) waited for the boys return, and hours later he sent other companions to go and search for him and bring him back. The companions returned and told the Prophet (SAW) they could not find him anywhere. The Prophet (SAW) told them to go search again on the outskirts of Medina, the companions came to a side of a mountain where there were Nomads, the companions asked them had they seen this boy, they described him to them. The nomads asked them, did they mean the boy who done nothing but cried, the nomads told them that the boy stayed on the other side of the mountain and did nothing but cry and say Astaghfurallah, and that he only came down after the sun set and drank some milk and when he drunk the milk it would mix with the boys tears because he was crying so much, they told them the boy only came down after sunset. So the companions waitied til sunset and the boy came down. It was a struggle but they managed to bring the boy back to his home, and he was crying even harder.

When the boy was taken back home he was crying even more and the Prophet (SAW) came to visit him, and comforted him by putting the boys head on his thigh (SAW) but the boy told the Prophhet (SAW) not to do such a thing and that he wasn’t worthy enough to be so close to the Prophet (SAW). The Prophet then asked him what is it he wished for, the boy replied he wished for the mercy and forgiveness of Allah swt.

The boy started shaking, he told the Prophet (SAW) that he felt as if ants were crawling between his skin and his bones, the Prophet told him that it was death, and it was approaching him. The boy died shortly after. The Prophet (SAW) washed him and covered him and led the prayer.

The Prophet(SAW) walked behind the body as they carried him to the cemetry.The Prophet(SAW) walked on the tip of his toes the whole way there as if it was crowded. One of the companions asked the Prophet (SAW) why was his walking on the tip of his feet when he had a lot of room? The Prophet (SAW) replied “I cannot find a place to put my foot down with the way the angels are crowded around him.”


SubhanAllah, the amount of hayaa (modesty) that Thalaaba had can hardly be found today. Now-a-days, we've  become so used to seeing nudity and indecent images everywhere that we no longer feel shame or guilt. Our hearts have become so used to this sickness that we've become numb to the corruption around us. Honestly, we don't even fear Allah SWT like we should; we no longer think about the harm we're doing to our self and our imaan in general. We must take Thalaaba's story as an example and learn from his character mashAllah.