Modesty in Islaam
All praise is for Alláh who disciplined the Prophet ﷺ and made him the most modest and humble of all people. May peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his Companions and those who follow on their footsteps until Day of Recompense.
O servants of Alláh! Islam is a religion of superb morality, which calls to the virtuous manners and instills in the soul the values of modesty and virtue. The Prophet ﷺ made it clear that he was sent to complete the best manners and ethics when he said:
“I was sent for the sole purpose of completing the virtuous manners.” (Hadith)
Islam has come to fight vice and all reprehensible actions, prohibiting all sins inwardly and outwardly. The purpose of Islam is to establish a clean and virtuous society in which sin, crime and motives for obscenity and evil do not exist. The society that is based on Islamic teachings shall be a clean society that is free of lewdness, rudeness and immorality.
Modesty is at the head of all virtuous manners and at the core of the branches of faith. With modesty, religion is complete, life is appropriate, virtue is dominant and vice is abolished.
Al-Haya’ (modesty) is the title of Islam, the proof of Imaan, and the guide for man to attain goodness and guidance. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Modesty brings nothing but good.”(Hadith)
“Modesty is a branch of Faith. He who has no modesty, has no Faith.”(Hadith)
If a person is endowed with modesty, it will be a sign of his good conduct and behavior, his righteousness, the purity of his intuition and the completeness of his faith. On the other hand, when a person lacks modesty, he is indeed deprived of a lot of good and is suffering a great loss.
Modesty is the feeling of rejection for every disgraceful matter. It is a quality instilled in man to deter him from indulging in everything his soul desires, so as not to become like an animal. Therefore, modesty is a deterrent from committing sinful deeds. It prevents man from doing anything disgraceful no matter how minor it is. It is the base for every virtue and goodness. It is also immunity against every vice and evil.
Referring to this, the Prophet ﷺ said:
Verily, every religion has a nature and the nature of Islam is modesty.” (Hadith)
The Prophet ﷺ was so shy that one could tell if the Prophet ﷺ had seen something that he hated from the look on his face.
He had the most sensitive nature of all people, the noblest life and the deepest feelings of responsibility. He was also the farthest from all vices and immoral matters.
O servants of Allah! If we look around us these days, we could notice that modesty does not exist in this world except with those upon whom Allah has bestowed His mercy. The impact of modesty has been taken away from the faces of men and women altogether. Hence, the earth is filled with evil, vice, sins and immorality. Disgraceful acts are being committed without restraint.
One sees women going out of their homes half-naked everyday, leaving no satanic method of seduction and temptation except that they follow it.
As for those who claim to be men, they have reached the highest levels of immorality, rudeness, dishonor, so much so that they have become like the worst kinds of animals.
If modesty goes, the whole religion will follow. And if both go, people will burst out like wild and lost animals, not caring about anything but their lusts and desires. For the sake of their desires and whims they would regard as permissible every prohibition. Without restraint, they would indulge in fulfilling their lusts by any means without considering any virtue, ethics, principles, or religion. It was narrated that The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out one day, and said:
‘Be shy from Allah as you should be!’ We said, ‘O Messenger of Alláhl We all are shy from Alláh, praise be to Him.” The Messenger ﷺ said: “That is not what I meant. Being shy from Alláh is to preserve the head and what it contains, the stomach and what it contains, and to remember death. Whoever looks forward to the Hereafter shall abandon the temptations of this life, and he who does that is modest according to Alláh in its proper manner.”
During Immoral occasions such as Carnival, it is necessary to protect oneself, family and children from all evils associated with it, especially viewing.
