In short, sitting along the roadways leads to many ills. Yet when he ﷺ said, “Beware of sitting in the roads,” and warned them, they replied, “Messenger of Allah, we cannot do without our customary gatherings; we sit and converse, take comfort in one another, become acquainted with one another, and derive benefit from that.”

When the Prophet ﷺ saw that they were determined to sit, he said, “If you insist on sitting, then give the road its due.” He ﷺ did not impose hardship on them, nor did he prohibit these meetings in which they spoke, grew fond of each other, and found companionship. He did not make things difficult for them, for one of his traits ﷺ was that he was gentle and merciful toward the believers. Thus he said, “If you must sit, then give the road its right.” They asked, “And what is its right, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Lowering the gaze, refraining from harm, returning the greeting of peace, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong.” These are five things:

First: Lowering the gaze—averting your eyes from anyone who passes by, whether man or woman. A person must lower his gaze from a woman, and likewise a woman must lower her gaze from a man; she should not fix her eyes on him to find out what he is carrying. In earlier times a man would bring the household’s provisions each day in his hand; when he passed by such onlookers they would stare and say, “What is he carrying?” and so on. Not long ago, if a man walked by carrying meat for his family they would start talking: “So-and-so has brought meat for his family today; so-and-so has brought this or that.” For that reason the Prophet ﷺ commanded his Companions to lower their gaze.