make him dance in front of men—or engage in anything similar that would provoke temptation among the people—and it is likewise impermissible to gaze at him in that state.

The scholarly disagreement concerns only the third kind of looking: gazing without present desire yet while fearing its possible arousal. Within the school of Aḥmad, two opinions are reported. The sounder view—transmitted as the explicit position of al-Shāfiʿī and others—is that such a gaze is not permissible.

The second view permits it, arguing that the default assumption is that desire will not erupt; therefore one cannot declare something unlawful on the basis of mere doubt, though it may be deemed disliked. The first view, however, is the stronger. By the same reasoning, the preponderant position in the Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools is that looking at the face of an unrelated woman without need is forbidden, even when no desire is felt, because of the fear that desire might be stirred. For that reason, seclusion with an unrelated woman is prohibited, since it is a likely cause of temptation. The guiding principle is that anything which serves as a means to temptation is not allowed, for avenues to corruption must be blocked unless an overriding benefit requires otherwise.

Consequently, any gaze that may lead to temptation is forbidden except when an overriding need exists—such as the look of a suitor, a physician, and the like. In those cases, looking is permitted for the need, provided no desire is involved; but to look, without need, at something that is a locus of temptation is impermissible.

As for the eyes themselves, they must be open so that one can see, and a person may suddenly encounter something without intending to look at it; therefore it is impossible to keep them lowered at all times. For this reason Allah commanded His servants to lower their gaze, just as Luqmān instructed his son to lower his voice.

As for His words: “Indeed, those who lower their voices in the presence of the Messenger of Allah…”