Thursday 13 th December 2012 Hadith 20: Modesty Lecture by Sister Eman al Obaid www.alhudasisters.wordpress.com Who taught Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam this wisdom. Allah subhana wa ta'ala. You have: Kalamullah Kalam Nabi This hadith is very short but has a lot of akhlaq within it. On the authority of Abu Masood Uqbah bin Amr al-ansaree al-badree (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, Verily, from what was learnt by the people from the speech of the earliest prophecy is: If you feel no shame, then do as you wish. It was related by al-bukhari. 1
verily إن them. from what people teach م م ا The knowledge people have comes through different means, from books, the internet, parent s, others around them. The news they get is from different means. from the words م ن ك ل م الن ب و ة of prophet hood. Not just kalam an nas, not just words inherited from people s own culture. Something reached the people from the words of the early Prophets, Ibrahim alaihi as-salaam, Nur alaihi as-salaam etc. Musa alaihi as-salaam and Isa alaihi as-salaam are the later prophets. The people get the kalam through - the wahiy (revelation) which is in the divine books and the sunnah - what people will bring through their experiences This hadith refers to the early prophets. We need to believe in all the messengers but only follow Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam. The messengers and prophets had some teachings. Whatever reached you from the early prophets is in the Qur an and sunnah i.e. stories, you will take what the Qur an affirms. 2
You will reject anything in their books which is contrary to the Qur an. The Qur an is your judge. For example Adam & Eve in the Bible Huwa caused Adam alaihi as-salaam to sin. Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam made a statement similar to Prophet Ibrahim alaihi as-salaam relating to the concept of haya. If you don t have any shyness then you do as you wish. When people do certain things it indicates that the modesty and shyness is absent. This is about one of the manners which is very rare these days Al Haya. The word al haya resembles al hayat = life. Your life should be with haya. A good life is with haya. If you don t have shame or shyness you will do everything that you can do. The haya is a barrier from doing things which you are not supposed to do. You see some people behaving in a way, people talking in a way, acting in a way that a normal human being would feel ashamed to do the shame is a barrier. What makes a person not do everything they want to do? The haya. The haya makes a person think twice. When a person has no shyness they will do everything that comes to their mind, regardless. 3
Haya towards HaqqAllah Some people are not ashamed from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. There are a set of rules you need to follow, the halal & haram, the do and don t do. Allah the Almighty prescribed them. If a person does not have haya from Allah subhana wa ta'ala they will not obey Allah subhana wa ta'ala. The more haya you have you will obey Allah subhana wa ta'ala. For example children will not do certain things infront of a teacher. So even with Allah subhana wa ta'ala you need to feel shy from Allah subhana wa ta'ala why are you disobeying Allah subhana wa ta'ala? Why specifically shyness, why not something else? Because Allah subhana wa ta'ala bestowed upon you many blessings, everything belongs to Allah subhana wa ta'ala and Allah subhana wa ta'ala commanded you to do only a few things. If you fulfill these few things Allah subhana wa ta'ala will give you Paradise. If you don t do the things required from by Allah subhana wa ta'ala it as if the person is not shy from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. If someone does a favor for you don t you feel ashamed? When you feel ashamed you feel you need to do something, at least to obey. You cannot pay back the favor but at least you obey. You need to feel ashamed and shy while committing a sin and be aware that Allah subhana wa ta'ala is watching you. But people are ashamed of other people and they are not ashamed of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. We need to feel more ashamed from Allah subhana wa ta'ala because He is our Creator He is our Bestower, He is our Provider, Allah subhana wa ta'ala is giving and giving to us, but still we disobey Him. Sometimes Allah subhana wa ta'ala will give you some nurturing to go back to Him, the tawbah, when a person feels ashamed from committing the sin, just this feeling is the key to repentance. What makes some people repent and others not to repent? A person committing a sin is ashamed after a while, the shame from Allah subhana wa ta'ala will be a key to repentance. The repentance in your heart is from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. 4
Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam said All my servants Allah subhana wa ta'ala will pardon, except mujahirun (the one sinning proudly) Haya is from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. HaqqAllah is to feel ashamed to sin as Allah subhana wa ta'ala is showering you with His blessings Haya related to the people. Haya from people Haya in Arabic is different to Hajal both meaning shyness. This shyness is modesty in dealing with people. You are ashamed to do something indecent, not haram but it is not the right etiquette, indecent etc. Haya Inborn some children are naturally shy, modest Haya is for men and women.???? was so shy even the angels were shy from him. Adopted you need to adopt this character, ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to grant you this. Some people will say or do anything and they are encouraged to behave like this. If you don t have haya you have to train yourself. How? With tawakkul, by accompanying people with haya. A very praiseworthy good character. Today haya is very rare, and if you have haya you are considered boring, dull etc. Without haya you challenge everything, say anything and do anything. 5
Hadith: Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar (ra): The Prophet (saws) passed by a man who was admonishing his brother regarding Haya and was saying, "You are very shy, and I am afraid that might harm you." On that, Allah's Apostle said, "Leave him, for Haya is (a part) of Faith." (Bukhari) You cannot tell people to be haya, it is associated with the faith. As the faith increases haya increases. The more faith you have the more haya you will have. Haya comes automatically with the faith. The more you acquire knowledge, do the Ibadat, you will find that you become more haya lazim. Hadith: Narrated by Abu Huraira (ra): The Prophet said, "Faith (Belief) consists of more than sixty branches (i.e. parts). And Haya is a part of faith." (Bukhari) Everybody has different levels of faith. The highest level is La illaaha illa Allah. If a person does not have this they do not have faith. The least of the faith is to remove the harm from the way. This is something practical, if you don t have this you don t have the faith. 6
Imagine if everyone followed this hadith. If you have the faith in Allah subhana wa ta'ala you will want the reward from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Haya is associated with faith. Modesty comes with the faith: you will have good manners, you will be good with the people etc. "Every way of life has an innate character. The character of Islam is haya." Or "Every Deen has an innate character. The character of Islam is modesty (haya)." (Abu Dawood) Every religion has a manner which is important. In Islam, a Muslim is associated with haya. This is the best akhlaq in Islam. Hadith: Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam is more shy than an unmarried woman. Shyness is not only associated with women. Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam was ashamed from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. A person who is not ashamed from people will say whatever they like to them, but Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam had haya from the people. If Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam heard people say something he did not like he would not say anything, but it would show on his face, his face would become red with anger. Shyness is not to put people in a difficult situation because of your words. We are not here in life to fight and make people angry. Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam was gentle with his advice, he would not embarrass people in front of others. Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam was invited to dine somewhere. They went to pray but someone broke his wudu. Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not want to embarrass that one person so Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam told everyone to go and make wudu. 7
Hadith: Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam said Have haya of Allah as you should. They replied, We do. We even made a nasheed about it. The Prophet (s) said, That is not true haya. Rather, true haya is preserving your head and what it contains; preserving your belly and that which it carries; remembering death and what comes after it; preparing for the Akhirah (Hereafter). Haya is to protect all your limbs - not to listen to something very low, something indecent - not look at something indecent - do not use indecent words In the Qur an certain topics are mentioned gently, not directly so that even a child can read the Qur an for example if you touch a woman. By reading the tafsir you will understand what this relates to you. One day Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam saw one of his daughters wearing a transparent dress. Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam told her The dress which you are wearing, it describes your bones in order not to embarrass her. You need to protect your stomach. You need to protect your heart from feeling wrong feelings. A person who has haya, their heart is alive. If there is no haya the heart will be dead. The haya is a light as you are protecting everything. Hadith: Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam said you need to be modest. Allah subhana wa ta'ala is Hayyi (shy). If you raise your hands to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, Allah subhana wa ta'ala feels shy not to respond to you. Allah subhana wa ta'ala s shyness is perfect. When you sin, Allah subhana wa ta'ala will cover your sins from the people. If we all knew each others sins we would not go near other people. Out of Allah s Hayyi, Allah subhana wa ta'ala feels ashamed to put us in a difficult situation and yet we want to embarrass the people. Allah hayyi As Sitter. - Allah subhana wa ta'ala wants to respond to you - Allah subhana wa ta'ala wants to cover your sins 8
If a person insists on the sin Allah subhana wa ta'ala will expose you. Types of Haya HAYA MAHMOUD = Modesty which is praised (you will be rewarded) HAYA MAZMOOM = Modesty which is disliked (i.e. ashamed to speak the truth) Types of Haya According to you Situation. Haya According to Your Situation Haya al Janiyyah When Adam alaihi as-salaam committed sin he felt shy. When you sin you feel haya and you will be rewarded for that. Haya Taqsir Shortcomings i.e. your prayer was not perfect and you feel haya. You feel you didn t do much and Allah subhana wa ta'ala deserves more. Haya al Ijlaal Respect you feel haya from someone who has position i.e. your father. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has the greatest position so the more you magnify Allah subhana wa ta'ala, automatically you will have Haya al Ijlaal. After Allah subhana wa ta'ala you have haya al Ijlaal for Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Haya al Hishmah. Modesty not to say certain things infront of your father or brother, not to be revealing in the way you dress. The Prophets son in law wanted ask Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam about an embarrassing matter. He 9
did not ask the Prophet ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam in front of his daughter. Haya al Istihqar Haya from a person to his Master, Allah subhana wa ta'ala. This is when you are asking from Allah subhana wa ta'ala even though he gives you so much and continues to give to you. Haya Mahabati Love if you love someone and they mention your name you feel shy. Haya al Ubudiyah Love only for Allah subhana wa ta'ala you are ashamed from Allah subhana wa ta'ala because - you love Allah subhana wa ta'ala - you are afraid from Allah subhana wa ta'ala - you hope from Allah subhana wa ta'ala like a slave is shy from his master. Haya al Sharafi When a persons position makes them act in a certain way i.e. their age La Hayat fi ad Deen A question regarding your religion - do not feel shy to ask about an issue in the religion, whether the matter is embarrassing or. Ya Rabbi, increase me in guidance and keep me on the way of guidance until the last moment of my life. This is a transcript of a lecture given by Sister Eman al Obaid. We ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and His Mercy. Anything that is good from these notes is from Allah subhana wa ta ala. Any mistakes & misrepresentations are my own. I ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and to put forgiveness in the hearts of those who read them. JazakAllah Khairan. 10