immediately avert it and not look again), for the first glance is permissible, but the second is not.’^[1]

What is Meant by the First Glance?

Some ignorant individuals misinterpret the third hadith, fail to avert their gaze, and continue to look improperly because ‘the first glance is forgiven’, مَعَاذَاللہ,.’ In reality, the first glance that is forgiven is the one that falls upon a woman unintentionally and is immediately averted. A deliberate first glance is also forbidden (ḥarām) and an act that leads to Hell. As Mufti Aḥmad Yār Khan رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, states in the commentary of this hadith:

The first glance refers to an unintentional look at a non-maḥram woman, and the second glance refers to looking at her again intentionally. If the first glance is deliberately prolonged, it falls under the ruling of the second glance, and it too will be a sin.^[2]

The Ruling on Looking at a Woman

On page 30 of the book ‘Parday ke bare mein Suwal Jawab’, published by Maktaba-tul-Madinah, the grand Shaykh, Mawlānā Muhammad Ilyas ꜤAṭṭār al-Qādirī دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـهْ, while answering a question about whether a man can look at the face of a non-maḥram woman, writes the following:

(A man should) not look (at the face of a non-maḥram woman). However, out of necessity, he may look under certain restrictions. The Hanafi jurist, Mufti Amjad Ali al-AꜤẓamī  رَحْمَۃُ اللہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ explains: Looking at a non-maḥram woman’s face and hands is permissible when necessary, such as when giving testimony for or against her, or to pass a judgment. If one has not seen her, how can one testify accurately? The same condition applies to looking at her: there should be no fear