I came across this image this evening, which i found disturbing. It features Mohammed, along with Buraq and Gabriel, visiting Hell, and seeing a demon punishing “shameless women” who had exposed their hair to strangers. For this crime of inciting lust in men, the women are strung up by their hair and burned for eternity. Persian, 15th century.
What disturbed me most wasn’t just the violence of the image, but the idea behind it. The women are punished for men’s lust, as though the responsibility belongs to the one who is seen rather than the one who sees. Not all Muslims accept or interpret these traditions in the same way, and I don’t want to be unfair to a diverse faith. But the moral logic of this particular image still troubles me.
Jesus points in a different direction. He says that if your eye or hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s obvious hyperbole, but the point is clear: deal with your own heart. When he speaks about lust, he places responsibility on the person who looks, not on the person being looked at.
Christians haven’t always lived up to this, but the teaching itself is striking. The problem is not someone else’s hair or body; the problem is what we choose to do with our desires.
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