My dear brothers and sisters! We learn through a hadith that “every religion has a chief characteristic, and the chief characteristic of this religion (i.e., Islam) is modesty.” This hadith informs us that modesty or Haya’ as it is called in Arabic is a prominent feature of Islam. Insha’Allah, in today’s khutbah, we’ll try to understand the Islamic concept of Haya’. The word Haya’ has different shades of meanings. It implies modesty, self-respect, shame, shyness, bashfulness, honor and humility.
Islam encourages and treasures Haya’. It is one of the most important traits that each and every Muslim should acquire and possess. It is a quality that keeps a person from committing a sinful act. It is an attribute which pushes one to avoid anything distasteful or abominable. If a person has no modesty, he or she will do almost anything. Muslims should possess both an inner and outer modesty. This is reflected in behavior, speech and appearance, and includes being mindful of Allah at all times.
Allah (SWT) created human beings with fitrah, which is a natural disposition that is inclined towards right action and submission to Allah. Our inborn fitrah can direct us towards Haya’ and good morals. Our fitrah is programmed to feel uneasiness when codes of morality are violated. The believer is most in touch with his or her fitrah, and is keen to act in accordance with this natural disposition. Haya’ is a quality that for some people comes naturally, and some may need to struggle to instill it in some aspects of their life. It is possible to revive and kindle this great quality of Haya’, just as it is possible to ruin it by consistently neglecting it. Nurturing Haya’ in our hearts is part of the process of our spiritual development and building our relationship with Allah. We often find that shyness, humility and bashfulness are frowned upon by our society as a weakness or a lack of confidence when, in fact these are quality of dignified upright human beings, who are conscious of their actions and their responsibilities in life.
We are living in a time where we are constantly exposed to nakedness and shamelessness; to the extent that we get desensitized to it. When someone sees something lewd and vulgar for the first time, he gets disturbed; why; because his sense of shame is intact. But if he sees it over and over again, he no longer considers it a big deal. He becomes desensitized. The more he becomes desensitized to shamelessness, the more spiritually bankrupt he becomes. He begins to question. Why are people making such a big deal about it? Why is it that it’s such an evil?” When the heart is not disturbed by sin anymore; when the heart is not disturbed by evil anymore, and you don’t find a problem with it anymore, that is a deep spiritual problem. And if we have that problem, then we will not be able to concentrate in our prayers; we will not be able to humble ourselves before Allah; we will not be able to cry before Him. Those things will disappear from our life; because we allowed shamelessness to take over us; to take over our life.
Modesty is referred to in the Quran in the verses 30 and 31 of Surat al-Nur:
قُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ ذَلِكَ أَزْكَى لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ
“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.” (Al- Nur, 24: 30)
وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلاَّ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ وَلا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ
“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty…” (Al- Nur, 24: 31)
Addressing the entire humanity, Allah says in verse 26 of Surat al-A’raf,
يَا بَنِي آَدَمَ قَدْ أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ لِبَاسًا يُوَارِي سَوْآَتِكُمْ وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَى ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ ذَلِكَ مِنْ آَيَاتِ اللَّهِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ
“O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness – that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember.” (Al-A’raf, 7:26)
It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Among the things that people have found from the words of the previous prophets was: ‘If you feel no shame, then do as you wish.” This hadith can be understood in several ways because there are different explanations given by scholars. It is interesting that all these explanations are correct and are possible simultaneously. One way to understand it is as a threat. Do whatever you want, but be prepared to face the consequences. This mode of expression is well known in the Arabic language, and it is used for threatening someone. This mode is used by the Qur’an in verse 40 of Surat Fussilat, which says,
اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ إِنَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
“Do what you like. He sees whatever you do.” (Fussilat, 41:40)
A second interpretation is that if you engage in an act and it is such that there is no reason to be ashamed of doing it before Allah or the people, then you may do that act. The command here is in the form of permission. A third interpretation is that the hadith under reference is not a command but a statement of fact, meaning that if a person does not have any modesty, then there is nothing to prevent him or her from doing anything. This problem can manifest on two levels: on an individual level where someone is openly indecent and sinful, and on a community level where society as a whole embraces immorality. There are many ahadith related to modesty. A few of these are:
1. “Haya’ and Iman are two that go together. If one is lifted, the other is also lifted.”
2. “Haya’ will not bring anything but good.”
3. “Iman consists of more than sixty branches, and Haya’ is a part of Iman.”
There are many manifestations of Haya’. One of them is to have Haya’ towards Allah. A Muslim should feel ashamed to have Allah see him doing something or hear him saying something that is undesirable, and that may displease Allah. There is Haya’ towards the angels, as they are noble and dignified creatures who witness the acts performed by humans. Then there is Haya’ towards other humans, an essential characteristic that keeps people from harming one another and from performing indecent acts. There is also Haya’ towards the person himself such that he should be ashamed of his acts that are shameful. Basically, the sense of Haya’ should affect a Muslim’s conduct before Allah; before others, and even when one is alone.
The Islamic concept of Haya’ should be promoted through all possible means and at all levels and by everyone: educators, teachers, preachers, lecturers, and parents. While modern day technology when used wisely is of utmost benefit, at the same time, when abused, it brings nothing but harm and destruction. Evildoers leave no stone unturned to promote anything that distorts and corrupts Haya’. Entertainment is taking new destructive directions. Chances of committing crimes become higher in a society where nudity, adultery, violence, drug addiction, lewd music, and distrustful acts are all looked as means of entertainment. When Haya’ is distorted, Iman gets distorted too.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
My dear brothers and sisters! What course of action should a person take if he or she happens to do something shameful, either intentionally or unintentionally, either deliberately or accidently? Let me share with you the advice given by the Qur’an in this regard. Verse 35 of Surat Aal Imran says,
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
“And those who, when they have committed fahisha (shameless acts) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; – and none can forgive sins but Allah – and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.” (Aal-Imran, 3:135)
This ayah is telling us about persons who, when they have committed a shameless act, i.e., they looked at something they shouldn’t have looked at, they went somewhere where they shouldn’t have gone, they were with someone that they shouldn’t have been with or they did something they shouldn’t have done; but then on realizing their mistake, they turn to Allah in repentance. So, if we want to save ourselves from becoming shameless, and if we do fall into any act of shamelessness, then the remedy for protecting ourselves is to immediately remember Allah, and to immediately ask Allah to forgive our sins. Who else is going to forgive our sins other than Allah?
Brothers and sisters! When we do something shameless, we feel really bad about ourselves. When we feel bad about ourselves, Shaytan comes and says, “How are you going to talk to Allah now? What face are you going to show Him? First you do this, and now you think you’re going to pray to Allah?” And so we say “Yes, I shouldn’t talk to Allah.” And we become distanced from Allah. And Shaytan succeeds. When we do something evil, especially an act of shamelessness, something that’s humiliating; we should immediately ask Allah (SWT) to forgive us. But we should not persist in doing that act again. To have the attitude of persisting in a shameless act means that we are not sorry before Allah. So, this is a Qur’anic advice for getting out of the cycle of shamelessness.
There is Haya’ in the way we dress, in what we watch, in what we listen to, in what we read, and in what we say. There is Haya’ in how we treat others, in the friends we choose, in the places we go, and in what we do.
May Allah (SWT) make us people adorned with the garment of Haya’ and Taqwa. May Allah allow us to have the gift of good company and keep us away from shameless activities. May Allah (SWT) protect all of us from all acts of shamelessness, and may He protect our Iman and make us live and die on Islam. Allahumma Ameen.
