Try a simple experiment: close one eye and keep it closed for a few seconds. Now open it and close the other eye for a few seconds. Notice anything?
What you should have noticed is that as you close your left eye, your nose suddenly comes into focus at the bottom left of the image viewed by your right eye, and vice-versa when you close your right eye.
The human nose is centred between our eyes and protrudes from our face. Hence, it is only logical and expected that it should partially obstruct our vision. This is proved by the above experiment which establishes that the nose is partially blocking each eye. Therefore, the question is, “Why do we not perceive our noses as an obstruction in our vision when both eyes are open?”
The answer is simple – the obstruction IS there, however due to repeated exposure, our brain chooses to ignore it and ‘filters’ it out for us.
From the above example, we see that repeated exposure to a certain phenomenon causes a person to become desensitized towards it as his brain begins to ignore it and filter it out. While this may be useful and helpful at times, such as a doctor becoming accustomed to the gruesome sight of blood, or a person becoming desensitized to a noisy environment when trying to sleep, at other times it is harmful and detrimental.
The reason is that Allah Ta‘ala has created within every person certain natural responses to negative stimuli. These responses will be anything from disappointment and dislike to disgust and revulsion, and these instinctive responses prompt and urge us to shun and avoid the stimulus. A simple example of this is the disgust that is perceived on seeing or smelling excreta.
Our beloved Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) taught us, as Muslims, to lead lives of complete internal and external cleanliness and purity. Hence, as small children, we are taught about physical hygiene (wudhu, istinjaa, ghusl, najaasat, etc.), just as we are taught to be clean in our conduct and character (to avoid vulgar speech, refrain from stealing and lying, etc.) and to be clean in our living (to eat halaal, remain in good company, etc.).
Thus, we find that when these integral and fundamental values are correctly instilled within the child, then on him hearing vulgar speech for the first time, he will feel shock and revulsion. If he observes a non-Muslim consuming pork or wine, he will feel disgusted, and if he sees people dressed un-Islamically and conducting un-Islamically, he will feel uncomfortable in their company.
If a child feels and reacts in this manner then it is a very positive sign indicating that the values of Deen and the sunnah have taken root in his heart and have been firmly entrenched in his life.
Unfortunately, many children ‘lose’ their natural aversion, disgust and abhorrence for evil, sin and haraam due to repeated exposure. This may take place in schools, as the sheer abundance of other students, from diverse backgrounds and with different morals and values, makes it impossible for the child to remain shielded and unexposed.
For example, if a Muslim child remains in school for twelve years – as is the norm – and he witnesses non-Muslim classmates eating pork, uttering profanities and leading a sinful lifestyle throughout this period, then it is highly impossible for him to remain unaffected by this experience and exposure, unless a very strong and continuous effort is made on the imaan and Deen of this child. At the very least, it is likely that his feeling of revulsion will not be as strong as before.
We can well imagine that if such exposure continues, then as time passes, let alone losing the revulsion and detestation for the sin – the child may even begin to like the sin and advocate for it! (May Allah Ta‘ala save us all!)
This is exactly what we are witnessing today. Due to repeated exposure to the media (movies, novels, social media), and to un-Islamic environments (e.g. schools where un-Islamic ideologies are taught and un-Islamic practices are carried out) Muslim youth have now sunk to such depths of depravity that they are proudly ‘coming out’ and identifying as members of the LGBTQ movement – something that was unimaginable a few decades ago!
As parents, we must ensure that we are not responsible for desensitizing our children to the natural revulsion which every believer should have for sin and haraam. We must try our best to shield and protect them from evil influences, and must continuously reinforce the values of imaan and the sunnah within them. Their natural disgust for sin is a shield that will protect them. Let us not play a part in stripping them of this natural defence.
May Allah Ta‘ala bless us and our progenies with the true ‘taste’ of Deen and the sunnah, and may He safeguard our Deen and imaan until our final breaths, aameen.