Our Character #8

Let me tell you a very common but true story. Muslims gather for a very good cause, perhaps a charity fundraising event; men and women together. The ladies were in hijab, though perhaps a few were not.

“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. 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…” (Qur’an Nur, 30-31)

Here are some easy steps to achieve Hayaa.

1-Reflect:

Every night instil a habit of reflecting upon the sins and immodest actions you did and when you wake up the next day think about how you will avoid that undesirable action.

2-Say No to Fashion Hijab!

The Prophet said, “There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen yet. People with whips like the tails of cattle, with which they strike the people, and women who are clothed yet naked, walking with an enticing gait. They will not enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance may be detected from such and such a distance.”

Also Allah mentions in the Holy Quran,

“… and not to show off their adornment…” [An-Noor 24:31]

The hadith mentions women who wear clothes yet naked which means that the clothes are so tight that the shape of their body is revealed. Unfortunately we see our Muslim women wearing tight fitting clothes with a little piece of cloth on their heads covering only the hair. Sisters if you want to observe hijab do it like the wives of the prophet and don’t adopt the fashion hijab, which does not fulfill the proper requirements.

3-Seek Knowledge to keep a sound heart:

“The Day on which neither wealth nor sons will be of any use, except for whoever brings to Allah a sound heart.” [Quran 26:88-89]

Knowledge is food for the soul. It helps us to keep our iman at its highest peak always. This way we will always be aware of immodest acts. Modesty is a fruit of imān and knowing Allah, the All-Mighty and Exalted will increase our Iman.

4-Remember Allah is always watching:

It is narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, Allah the Exalted is Modest and Concealing (Sittīr); and He loves modesty and concealment. So, when any of you bathe, let him conceal himself.”

Wherever you are and what time it is, we should remember that Allah is watching and He is the All-Knowing.

5-If you have nothing good to say, be quiet:

“Allah does not like that evil should be mentioned in public except by one who has been done injustice. And Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.” [Sûrah al-Nisâ 04: 148]

Abstain from shameless words or actions, such as foul speech. This will aggravate Satan, who beautifies these actions, and tempts people with them. So, not engaging in such actions will make him hopeless, and he would in turn retract in disgrace.

6-Constantly increase your acts of worship:

Allah, says: “Verily, prayer prevents lewdness and evil deeds.”

It was said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): “So-and-so prays all night, but when he wakes up he steals!” So, he (peace be upon him) said: “What you mentioned [i.e. his prayers] will [eventually] prevent him from that.” Or he said: “His prayers will prevent him.”

Zakah is another example. Allah, Most-Glorified, says regarding zakah: “Take a portion of their wealth as charity [zakah] to purify them and increase them with it.” (Qur’an, 9:103)

7-Better be alone than in an ill company:

Accompanying people who are immodest will not help you to have Hayaa, in fact it will do the opposite. Try to find good and modest people with high iman so that you too can benefit from them.

8-Ask for forgiveness:

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'” (Surah Zumar 39:53)

Asking for forgiveness for your past immodest acts will make you ashamed of yourself and the next time you turn to anything immodest you will think twice as to will this be forgiven again. Verily Allah is the all-Forgiving.

Following these steps will Inshallah will make us modest people and modesty will lead us to Paradise. I ask Allah to make our youth more modest so that our future generation is more modest than the present.

Fatima Damad,

Writer, AAT

“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. 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…” (Qur’an Nur, 30-31)

Here are some easy steps to achieve Hayaa.

1-Reflect:

Every night instil a habit of reflecting upon the sins and immodest actions you did and when you wake up the next day think about how you will avoid that undesirable action.

2-Say No to Fashion Hijab!

The Prophet said, “There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen yet. People with whips like the tails of cattle, with which they strike the people, and women who are clothed yet naked, walking with an enticing gait. They will not enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance may be detected from such and such a distance.”

Also Allah mentions in the Holy Quran,

“… and not to show off their adornment…” [An-Noor 24:31]

The hadith mentions women who wear clothes yet naked which means that the clothes are so tight that the shape of their body is revealed. Unfortunately we see our Muslim women wearing tight fitting clothes with a little piece of cloth on their heads covering only the hair. Sisters if you want to observe hijab do it like the wives of the prophet and don’t adopt the fashion hijab, which does not fulfill the proper requirements.

3-Seek Knowledge to keep a sound heart:

“The Day on which neither wealth nor sons will be of any use, except for whoever brings to Allah a sound heart.” [Quran 26:88-89]

Knowledge is food for the soul. It helps us to keep our iman at its highest peak always. This way we will always be aware of immodest acts. Modesty is a fruit of imān and knowing Allah, the All-Mighty and Exalted will increase our Iman.

4-Remember Allah is always watching:

It is narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, Allah the Exalted is Modest and Concealing (Sittīr); and He loves modesty and concealment. So, when any of you bathe, let him conceal himself.”

Wherever you are and what time it is, we should remember that Allah is watching and He is the All-Knowing.

5-If you have nothing good to say, be quiet:

“Allah does not like that evil should be mentioned in public except by one who has been done injustice. And Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.” [Sûrah al-Nisâ 04: 148]

Abstain from shameless words or actions, such as foul speech. This will aggravate Satan, who beautifies these actions, and tempts people with them. So, not engaging in such actions will make him hopeless, and he would in turn retract in disgrace.

6-Constantly increase your acts of worship:

Allah, says: “Verily, prayer prevents lewdness and evil deeds.”

It was said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): “So-and-so prays all night, but when he wakes up he steals!” So, he (peace be upon him) said: “What you mentioned [i.e. his prayers] will [eventually] prevent him from that.” Or he said: “His prayers will prevent him.”

Zakah is another example. Allah, Most-Glorified, says regarding zakah: “Take a portion of their wealth as charity [zakah] to purify them and increase them with it.” (Qur’an, 9:103)

7-Better be alone than in an ill company:

Accompanying people who are immodest will not help you to have Hayaa, in fact it will do the opposite. Try to find good and modest people with high iman so that you too can benefit from them.

8-Ask for forgiveness:

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'” (Surah Zumar 39:53)

Asking for forgiveness for your past immodest acts will make you ashamed of yourself and the next time you turn to anything immodest you will think twice as to will this be forgiven again. Verily Allah is the all-Forgiving.

Following these steps will Inshallah will make us modest people and modesty will lead us to Paradise. I ask Allah to make our youth more modest so that our future generation is more modest than the present.

Fatima Damad,

Writer, AAT

The man under scrutiny here had a wife and she was muhajjaba (a woman who observes the hijab).  Being in such an environment, with low iman, and little haya, the man of course found it difficult to lower his gaze, and soon the poisoned arrow of Shaytaan found its place. He was attracted to this sister who wasn’t wearing the hijab. And so the Haram love story began and only Allah knows how it will end in this world but surely in the hereafter this love story is bound to be thrown in the blazing hell fire. Allahu Akbar! Surely if modesty was observed by both genders, then this would not have happened. The heartbreak and sorrow, in this life and the hereafter can be spared.

So let us start with understanding what modesty is, then we will move on to how it will build a strong Muslim character. Hayaa in Islam can be defined as modesty, shyness or bashfulness in our character, as in the way we talk, walk, dress and every other aspect of life.

“Every way of life has an innate character. The character of Islam is Hayaa.” (Abu Dawud)

It is of utmost importance to point out that hayaa is a part of iman. Modesty is a very clear indication of our faith. As the Prophet had mentioned to the Ansar who was condemning his brother about being shy, “Leave him, for Hayaa is (a part) of faith.” (Bukhari) In another narration the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Iman consists of more than sixty branches (parts). And Haya is a part of iman.” (Bukhari)

Haya encompasses self-respect, upright character, humility, decorum, scruple and therefore it is integral that a muslim acquires it. Hayaa should be deep rooted in our hearts, and apparent in the way we dress and act. A Person who has hayaa will never do anything against the Islamic teachings , because he knows that he has to face Allah and feels shy and ashamed to stand before Allah with sins.

Today some people are of the opinion that Hayaa is in the heart, and as long as it there, all is well. Due to this they label others as extremist when they are advised to act upon hayaa. I ask you and them, are we better than the Prophet and His companions? They acted upon they hayaa that was in their hearts, indeed it is related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had more hayaa, was more shy than a veiled virgin girl. Shouldn’t we try to imitate him?

Who knows us better than our Creator? When we become modest people, Allah will love us as we are trying to follow the Quran and Sunnah. This improves our character a great deal and will help us in attaining a good reputation in this world and the hereafter. After this knowledge we have gained through reading this will we go on following the ways of this world? If so, then Iman is not written in our hearts. And if this is the condition of most of the Muslims then a severe punishment is very near in this world of immorality, where modesty is frowned upon, and ridiculed.

May Allah make us those of the modest, of those who follow the Quran and Sunnah and not of the ignorant and not of those who hear but are deaf and who see but are blind.

Fatima Damad,

Writer, AAT