Haya(Modesty) in Islam

The Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬said:

“Haya (Modesty) comes from

eeman; eeman leads to paradise.
Obscenity comes from antipathy;
antipathy leads to fire.”

(Bukharee)

Modesty and humbleness plays a special role between the creator and the
creature. Modesty is a Special sense of shame and shyness. A strong believer feels
shy in front of his creator as he knows that Allah knows and sees everything. So
he feels ashamed while doing any misconduct or any sin whether in public or in
private .This type of modesty directly related to faith

“Modesty and Faith are

connected with one another just
like two things fastened by rope.
If one of them is gone, the other
is also lost.”
(Imam Baqir)
Modesty towards Allah:
Modesty towards Allah is called the best level of Modesty. In Islam Modesty is
not just how a person dressed or how a person behaves in public. It is reflected in
a Muslim person’s dress, speech and behavior in public or even in private in
regards to Allah.There is another way to develop modesty is by thinking that
whether he/ she would do the sin they are ponding in front of their parents.
Because a person having a shred of shame in his heart will never commit any
vulgar act in front of his parents. So what about doing that in front of Allah?

Thus, according to Islam the modesty of a believer must be greater in front of

Allah than the people.

“God is more deserving than other people of shyness”

(Abu Daud)

There is a saying that early Muslims used to say,

“Be shy towards God when you are in private in the same way you are shy in front
of people when you are in public”

Another one of their saying is:

“Do not be a devoted slave of God in your public behavior while you are enemy to
Him in your private affairs”
Modesty towards others:
Modesty towards others refers to behave decently in public, avoid indecent talks
and inappropriate activities and respect everyone. With this sense of modesty a
person will feel ashamed and embarrassed when someone noticed him doing
something wrong and this will stop him repeating that action.

To clarify the importance of modesty towards others:

“The evilest of all is who is not ashamed of his actions

in front of people.”

(Hazrat Ali)
Modesty towards others also includes that not to gaze at opposite gender or
harm them in any other way. Whenever the opposite gender interacts with each
other they should lower their gaze.

In Quran both men and women are commanded to lower their gaze and “Guard
their modesty”.

According to the Quran:

‘‘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.”
(Surah An- Nur 24:30)
”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
except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their
sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or
their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands
possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who
have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their
feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye
Believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss.”

(Surah An-Nur 24:31)

Moses and Ziphorah 

After waiting for a long time in the queue, being only two females among all the
males, someone finally helped them, and they were able to take their flock of
sheep and goats home. Their father was old, and they had no brother to do their
outside chores. Being one of the most onerous of tasks, drawing water from the
well in order to water one’s livestock was one performed by men; a lucky day for
them to come home early with the drove freshly watered. The father was
surprised about their early return, and when he inquired into the occurrence, his
daughters told him that a man who seemed a traveler had helped them. The
father asked one of them to seek the man out and invite him home. Upon
returning to the well, the lady approached him shyly. When she was in earshot,
she gave him her father’s invitation so that he might recompense him for his help.
He kept his gaze low to the ground as he replied to her, saying that he had done it
for the sake of God alone, and required no compensation. However, realizing that
this was God sent help, he accepted the invitation. As she was walking ahead of
him, the wind blew her dress, which revealed part of her lower legs, so he asked
her to walk behind him and point out the way he should follow when he reached
a fork in the foot path.
 
Once they arrived at the house, the father presented him with a meal and asked
where he was from. The man told him that he was a fugitive from Egypt.
The daughter who had brought him home whispered to her father:
“O Father, hire him, because the best of the workers is one who is strong and
trustworthy.”
He asked her: “How do you know he is strong?”
 
She said: “He lifted the stone lid of the well that cannot be removed except by
many together.”
 
He asked her: “How do you know that he is trustworthy?”
 
She said: “He asked me to walk behind him so that he couldn’t see me as I
walked, and when I conversed with him, he kept his gaze low with shyness and
respect.”
 
This was Prophet Moses, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, who
had run away from Egypt after killing someone by mistake, and the father of the
girls was a God fearing man from the tribes of Median; a man who was sonless,
but had had these two daughters.
 
The verse in the Quran that tells us this story stresses upon the manner of her
approaching Moses:
 
“So one of the two (daughters) came to him walking modestly…”
(Quran 28:25)
 
Both the way Ziphorah approached Moses and his care about not seeing more of
her than was needful at the time describes acute senses of propriety. Neither had
a chaperone, nor could people see what they did, yet both conducted themselves
with the utmost decorum. This was done out of fear of the One who sees
everything. The outcome was that when her father proposed to Moses that he
marry one of his daughters, Moses considered them a suitable marriage prospect.
He and his daughters also saw in him all the virtues a man needs as a mate for a
woman to consent to his guidance and nurture through life. Moses accepted, and
also ten years hire as a shepherd.
Thus, The key to modesty is Knowing thay Allah is aware of your doings and
Staying away from the forbidden things. Allah desires the best for us. So we
should submit ourselves according to his will and believe in what he sent down to
us through his Prophet Muhammad and embrace tha religion(Islam) that he
brought us