The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, warned against raising one's gaze to the sky during prayer, threatening those who do so with the snatching away of their eyesight. The question inquires about the nature of this warning: Did it actually occur during the Prophet's time? Is it an absolute threat? Does it apply only to believers? And how does blindness occur—instantaneously or gradually?

All praise is due to Allah.

The text discusses the ruling on raising one's gaze towards the sky during prayer. A hadith has been narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forbidding this act and threatening those who do it with the snatching away of their eyesight. Scholars have agreed on the reprehensibility of raising one's gaze to the sky during prayer, but they differed on the degree of prohibition, oscillating between tahrim (prohibition) and karaha (dislike/reprehensibility). Scholars interpreted "snatching away of eyesight" to mean either physical blindness or spiritual blindness. The wisdom behind the prohibition is that raising one's gaze contradicts the required humility (khushu') in prayer, and it also goes against the command to face the qibla. The fulfillment of the threat against the one who violates it may be delayed for many reasons, including Allah's mercy towards His servants.