´It was narrated from Jabir bin Samurah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:` “Let those who lift their gaze to the heavens desist, or their sight will not come back.”
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
912. Commentary:
It is permissible to raise the hands for supplication (du'a) during the prayer, just as they are raised in the Qunut, and as Abu Bakr radi Allahu anhu also raised them in praise of Allah. See: (Hadith 940, 941). However, it is not correct to raise the gaze towards the sky; in this hadith, the prohibition is regarding raising the eyes, not the hands.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 912
Shaykh Safi ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri
Lexical Explanation:
«لِيَنْتَهِيَنَّ» is derived from "intihā’" and in this context, the "lām" appears as a response to an omitted oath. The shaddah (gemination) on the final "nūn" is for emphasis, and this is a statement in the sense of a command, meaning: they should desist, they should refrain.
«أَوْ لَا تَرْجِعُ» means their gazes will not return.
«إِلَيْهِمْ» to them, meaning they will remain blind. The occurrence of one of the two is inevitable: either people will refrain from raising their gaze during prayer, or, as a punishment, Allah ta‘ala will take away their eyesight.
«وَلَا وَهُوَ يُدَافِعُهُ الْأَخْبَثَانِ» means that even at that time, prayer is not valid when the one praying performs prayer while restraining urine or feces. The "wāw" in «وَهُوَ» is circumstantial. The two filthy things refer to urine and feces. "Mudāfa‘ah" is from the form "mufā‘alah," which implies mutual participation. Its meaning is: to push one another. It is as if the one praying pushes and restrains them, and they pull and push the one praying towards relief.
Benefits and Issues:
➊ Raising the gaze towards the sky during prayer is forbidden (haram). Imam Ibn Hazm rahimahullah has even said that the prayer of one who does so is invalid. [المحلي لا بن حزم : 74، مسئله 382] Imam Nawawi rahimahullah has stated in his commentary on Sahih Muslim that there is a severe prohibition and warning in this matter. He has transmitted the consensus (ijma‘) of the scholars on the prohibition of this act. [صحيح مسلم بشرح النووي، 199/4، 200، مطبوعة مؤسسة قرطبة]
➋ Similarly, if there is an urgent need to relieve oneself before starting the prayer, one should not perform the prayer while restraining it. Such a prayer will not be valid. When there is an intense need to urinate or defecate, both of these forcibly try to pull the one praying towards relief, due to which concentration in prayer does not remain.
Source: Bulugh al-Maram: Commentary by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri, Page: 193