We all love it when we are loved  and honored even if there is no reward offered, Right? But what if we are rewarded as well? Those are rare occurrences in our lives?

I will show you a way of being loved , respected, honored and rewarded your whole life and the hereafter in just observing one crucial matter, Hayaa ie; modesty . In the previous article we learned about what hayaa is, and in this article we will learn about what are the merits of hayaa.

• Allah loves those who have Hayaa. Allah loves the quality of modesty and its related virtue, forbearance. Forbearance means to be patient with people when they make you angry and to avoid responding to an evil deed with another evil deed.

Ashaj ibn Asr reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to me, ‘Verily, you have two qualities which are loved by Allah the Exalted.’ I said, “What are they?” The Prophet said, ‘Forbearance and modesty.’ (Sahih)

Forbearance and compassion are the qualities of the Prophet Abraham which Allah has praised in the Quran. The love of Allah, is the greatest of all loves, Allah’s love indicates His pleasure and we should all be striving for the pleasure of Allah, so that we may attain his mercy, forgiveness and reward of paradise. When Allah loves someone he calls upon Jibreel and the inhabitants of the samaa’ and instructs them to love that individual, and they do so. Then He grants acceptance for the one whom He loves upon the earth, as we know from the hadith. What an immense honour!

• Hayaa is a quality that the people of paradise possess.

Narrated ‘Ata bin Abi Rabah: Ibn ‘Abbas said to me, ‘Shall I show you a woman of the people of Paradise?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This black woman came to the Prophet and said, ‘I get attacks of epilepsy and my body becomes uncovered; please invoke Allah for me.’ The Prophet said (to her), ‘If you wish, be patient and you will have (enter) Paradise; and if you wish, I will invoke Allah to cure you.’ She said, ‘I will remain patient,’ and added, ‘but I become uncovered, so please invoke Allah for me that I may not become uncovered.’ So he invoked Allah for her.’ (Al-Bukhari)

So, from this hadith we know that people who have Hayaa will enter paradise. Don’t we all want to enter Jannah? So, the people who have hayaa will enter paradise and vice-versa.

As the Prophet Muhammad told us: “Haya comes from Iman; Iman leads to Paradise. Obscenity comes from antipathy; and antipathy leads to the fire.” (Bukhari)

• Hayaa Brings nothing but goodness to the individual and to the society as a whole.

Imran ibn Hussein reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Modesty does not bring anything except goodness.” (Sahih Muslim)

Goodness here means positivity and betterment for the individual and the people around him. The character no doubt becomes a lovable one. Hayya beautifies everything in which it is found.

• Modesty is a sign of true faith.

Ibn Umar reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by a man from the Ansar who was admonishing his brother about modesty. The Prophet said,”Let him be, for modesty is part of faith.” (Sunan Abu Dawud )

Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Verily, modesty and faith come together. When one of the two is missing, so is the other.” (Al-Adab Al-Mufrad )

Nowadays people make the modest among them feel that they are weak or the lack confidence and are frowned upon , but it is the other way around as modest people are the conscious ones who are responsible and are humane. Indeed haya (modesty) and Iman are Companions. When one of them is lifted, the other leaves as well.

Ibn Abbas said, “Modesty and faith are like two horns.  If one is removed, the other one follows it.”

• Modesty prevents us from sins ;if we are modest with Allah, as we become shy to sin knowing that He is All-Seeing and All-Aware.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Be modest in front of Allah for He has a right to your modesty.” We said, “O Messenger of Allah, we have modesty. All praise is due to Allah.” The Prophet said: “That is not what I meant. Having modesty with Allah is to protect the mind and what runs through it, to protect the stomach and what fills it, and to remember death and trials. Whoever wants the Hereafter should leave the ostentation of the worldly life, so whoever acts like this has been modest with Allah as is His right.” (Sunan At-Tirmidhi)”

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad had more Hayaa than a virgin behind her veil, and so we should follow him as our role model so that we too can acquire Jannah. Humility, modesty, and forbearance are virtues that are essential for Muslims. Allah has revealed that we should be humble towards one another and we should not boast to one another. Humility means to avoid the destructive sin of arrogance and haughtiness. Arrogance is an evil deed in which a person praises himself instead of Allah, or he considers himself superior to others, or he rejects the truth because it comes from a person he considers lesser than himself. Modesty in Islam means to have a good conscience, to be shy to commit evil deeds, to feel remorse for sinning. Such an attitude only brings goodness to those who practice it.

Remember that some people are born with Hayaa and some have to acquire it , the people who enter into Islam have to work upon building a very strong characteristic of being Modest.

Fatima Damad,

Writer, AAT