Nosy Naseera

Ask our children:

1. Can a Muslim spy on other people and peep into their homes?
2. Can a Muslim spy on people and listen to them speaking without them knowing?
3. Should a Muslim always be curious and want to know what other people are doing?

Now tell them the story:

There was once a little girl named Naseera. Naseera was a good girl who always read her salaah, kept her fasts and listened to her parents. However, Naseera had one very bad habit. She was nosy and curious about other people’s lives and always wanted to know what other people were doing. She would spy on them by peeping into their homes, and eavesdrop by hiding and listening to them in secret, to find out what they were doing and what they were speaking about in their homes.

One day, Naseera was at home when she heard the neighbour, old Uncle Goolaam, arrive home from work. Since Naseera was so nosy, she immediately rushed to the window and peeped out to spy on him. As she watched, she saw that he had brought home some shopping bags and was busy carrying them into the house. Now, Naseera was burning with curiosity and just had to know what was in the shopping bags. Had he bought chocolates? Or perhaps clothes and  shoes? Or was it just groceries?

Naseera quietly crept out of the house, walking on tip toes, until she came to Uncle Goolam’s house. Then, she went to the kitchen window and slowly lifted her head to peep inside. However, she was too short, so she found some bricks lying nearby and stacked them into a small pile underneath the window. Then, she stood on the pile of bricks, but just as she lifted her head to peep inside, Uncle Goolam opened the window. He didn’t know that Naseera was trying to peep inside, and as he pushed it open, it hit Naseera on her nose! Naseera lost her balance on the bricks, and before she knew it, she had fallen to the ground!

Poor Naseera! Her nose was bruised and paining, and tears were coming out of her eyes, but she did not dare make a sound, in case Uncle Goolaam caught her and told her father that she was spying on him.

Just then, Naseera looked around and noticed that another neighbour, Aunty Shaakirah, was at home. As Naseera looked at her house, she could hear Aunty Shaakira’s voice from her bedroom. Naseera was so nosy and curious, that as soon as she heard Aunty Shaakirah’s voice, she just had to know who she was talking to and what she was saying!

However, there was one problem. Aunty Shaakirah’s bedroom window was too high, so Naseera could not hear properly and could not make out what she was saying. Naseera thought for a few moments, and then she came up with a plan. There was a big tree in Aunty Shaakirah’s yard, near the bedroom window. Naseera would climb the tree, and then she would be able to hear what Aunty Shaakirah was saying.

However, as Naseera climbed the tree, she was so distracted that she did not notice that she had disturbed a bee hive. Before she knew it, the bees began to swarm around her! Naseera immediately dropped out of the tree and began to run, but even as she ran, a bee managed to sting her on her ear before she escaped! Now Naseera had a swollen ear to add to her already bruised nose.

This time, the pain was too much and Naseera could not remain silent. She shouted, “OOOOWWWW!” and ran home to her mother and father! When her parents saw her bruised nose and swollen ear, they asked her, “Naseera! What happened! Tell us the full story!”

Naseera realized that if she told her parents the truth, she would be in trouble. But, she had to speak the truth because her parents taught her not to lie and told her that Allah Ta‘ala does not like those who lie. She knew that lying would be another sin, and that lying would make her get into even more trouble, so she told her parents what she had done.

Her mother and father were very disappointed in her. Her mother said, “Naseera! You must not spy and eavesdrop on people! It is haraam! A believer does not eavesdrop and spy! Just as Allah Ta‘ala does not like those who speak lies, Allah Ta‘ala does not like those who eavesdrop and spy. Why do you want to know what is happening in other people’s houses and lives?”

Then her father said, “Naseera! Our beloved Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) taught us that it is haraam to peep into people’s homes! Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, ‘It is not permissible for any Muslim to look inside another person’s home until he gets permission.” If you have to look into someone’s home without permission, you might see something that you are not supposed to see. What if the person is changing when you peep inside and you see something haraam? If you do this, then you will get double sin! One sin for looking in the house without permission, and another sin for seeing the person’s body. You must not look into any person’s home unless you ask for permission to enter and they allow you to come inside!

“As for eavesdropping, then Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) warned us that if a person eavesdrops on other people’s conversations, then on the Day of Qiyaamah, boiling liquid will be poured into his ears to punish him!”

That night, as Naseera lay in bed, with her bruised nose and swollen ear, she realised something important – spying and eavesdropping is not only a sin that makes Allah Ta‘ala angry, it also gets you into BIG trouble. She decided that from that day, she would no longer be Nosy Naseera.

Lessons:

1. A Muslim must not spy on other people and peep into their homes. Spying on people and peeping into their homes is a sin.
2. To listen to people’s private conversations is called eavesdropping. Eavesdropping is also a big sin.
3. A Muslim must not be nosy and curious and worry about what other people are doing in their homes and lives.