Why do shaykhs not care about advising women to lower their gaze? Are men a temptation for women just as women are a temptation for men? Is a woman sinful if she looks with desire at her male maharim, at parts of the man’s body that are not awrah? Must she cover these parts? And why did Islam not make the entire body of a man awrah, even though women desire the entire body?

Lowering the gaze is obligatory for both men and women alike. Both men and women have an awrah (private parts) in front of each other that must not be uncovered or looked at. It is also impermissible to look at anything other than the awrah with desire. A man is not required to cover anything beyond his awrah (the area between the navel and the knee), even though it is forbidden for a non-mahram woman to look at it. A woman must cover her face if there is fear of temptation by its uncovering, because women are inherently objects of desire, and their covering is easier and less conspicuous. Temptation occurs from both sides, but women are a greater temptation for men.