Jumuah Khutbah | Mufti Azeemuddin

The Gift of Faith

Beloved elders and brothers, dear friends and listeners, Allah, our Creator, Nourisher, Provider, Sustainer, Most Merciful, Most Loving, Most Kind, has given you and I something without much effort on our part. And that is, given us the gift of Islam and the ability to recognize Him. Whosoever has been blessed with this blessing, all other blessings are pale in comparison with this. And whosoever is deprived of this blessing, no misery can compare and no misery can be brought with the misery of simply passing away and leaving this world, deprived of the understanding and knowledge of who Allah is. We ask Allah the way He granted us faith, that He grant us a life of faith and death on complete Iman and raise us with complete Iman. Amin Rabbil Alameen.

The Distinguishing Trait of Islam

My beloved brothers and sisters, every single community and every single group of people have specific traits that they are known for. Some are known for generosity, some are known for some other type of hospitality. The Prophet ﷺ for example, he spoke about various tribes within the Ansar. And then he spoke about various communities amongst the Qabail and the Arab nations. Talked about their traits, good or bad. People are known for certain specific traits. And every religious beliefs that a person holds has an impact naturally on how they act.

The Prophet ﷺ was sent as the one who came to complete the chapter and the discussion of character. بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ مَكَارِمَ الأَخْلَاق and وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيم. The Prophet ﷺ based on what the Quran says, based on what Allah instructed him to say as well. Is that was the manifestation of the most complete form of excellent character. Hence the Sahaba that he trained and the traditions that he left behind for you and I to follow are replete with virtues of various traits. And there's so many that we have to work on. So many that we need to make an effort and address.

But if there's one trait that the Prophet ﷺ made it as a stand alone representative of Islam. Imagine how important that trait would be. Imagine how important that characteristic would be that he called it the most salient feature of a Muslim. The characteristic that makes Islam stand out. When he said in the famous hadith that every single deen and way of life and religion has specific characteristics and the characteristic of Islam is حياء.

Understanding Haya

حياء is that concept which if someone has it, practices it, breathes it, sees it, he knows what it is. Doesn't need to be explained. Definitions are not required but rather sometimes definitions are even hard to give. If someone doesn't have it, has never seen it, then it gets quite tough and difficult to explain this concept. Because حياء is a characteristic from top to bottom every aspect of a human being's actions are dictated and controlled by this beautiful powerful characteristic called حياء.

From amongst the many definitions that are there, one simple definition is خُلُقٌ يَبْعَثُ الإِنْسَانَ عَلَى فِعْلِ الْمَحْمُودِ وَتَرْكِ الْقَبِيحِ مِنْ خَوْفِ مَا يُعَابُ عَلَيْهِ. It is a characteristic that encourages a person to do that which is acceptable, which is praiseworthy and pushes him away and repels him from doing anything that is repulsive, that is looked down upon, that is regarded as something unworthy and unbefitting for a Muslim or a human to do. With the fear of what the repercussions will be, and amongst those repercussions simply is what will people think? That is a repercussion itself. SubhanAllah. What will people think? This might be fine, I feel like it. But if people think that this is something that is not befitting, then I wouldn't do it.

حياء is that beautiful trait that when a person has it, he or she will be saved from doing so many things that will bring about misery and remorse in this world or the next.

Haya as the Ornament of Faith

Some of the scholars of the past have explained it beautifully like Wahab ibn Munabbah rahimahumullah says, الإِيمَانُ عُرْيَانٌ. Iman is naked. لِبَاسُهُ التَّقْوَى. Taqwa is the clothing that you put on top of iman. وَزِينَتُهُ الْحَيَاء. And the beauty of that clothing, the extra add-ons to that cloth, the embroidery, the scarf, the various attire, whatever the case may be, a person cufflinks, he may be dressed up for occasion, that zina is called حياء. The more حياء you have, the more beautiful you are. The less حياء a person has, the less beautiful a person's characteristic is.

Since the Prophet ﷺ reached the height of character, hence we can obviously conclude that he had the most حياء. Because it had to be present in a man who has been called وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيم. Indeed, you are at, sitting at the very top of the greatest of characteristics. If you have a mountain of beautiful characteristics, beautiful qualities, the Prophet ﷺ is its zinat.

Hence, naturally that's why the companions when describing the Prophet ﷺ, who had valor, who had courage, who was never shy to speak the truth, even if it was him versus everyone in Mecca. He was never shy in taking the side of the oppressed, never shy in taking the side of the immigrants, sides of those who left their homes, those who were downtrodden, taking the sides of the slaves of society. The Prophet ﷺ would instruct us that speak the truth even if it's bitter. He has valor and courage like none other, in the battlefield and beyond. Yet, the Prophet ﷺ is described by his companions as أَشَدُّ حَيَاءً, that he had more حياء than an unmarried young girl in her khudur, in her carriage, in her private room. The amount of حياء you would expect from someone in that state, more حياء than that was present in front of our Prophet ﷺ.

The True Nature of Haya

My beloved brothers and sisters, so we understand that this quality of حياء is not, doesn't hold a person back from speaking the truth, doesn't hold a person back from being a manifestation of extreme courage and valor. Because when we translate it in the English language as the scholars write, we find it very difficult to find an appropriate translation for the word الْحَيَاء. Whether we take the word inhibition, we take the word modesty, we take the word bashfulness, we take the word timidness, all of these and many other words that are usually used to translate the concept of حياء fall short in proving and explaining to us what is this beautiful characteristic that the Prophet ﷺ said is the most salient feature of us Muslims.

Because those other words, they all have a certain meaning to it. It has a weaker meaning, that a person may, yes, have an inhibition from sin, but that inhibition may lead him not to speak up when he needs to speak up. Not to speak the truth when the truth is being attacked. A person may be bashful or shy, it has good connotations, but again the bad connotation would be if someone is being oppressed, will this bashful, shy person stand up? And so you see Rasulullah ﷺ had the best of both, and that's where this word concept comes of الْحَيَاء.

And this is where many scholars have mentioned beautifully that a person, the حياء is a trait that if this is not found in a person, then many things a person may end up doing which he would not have done otherwise. Meaning حياء is something that holds back a person from doing so many evil things that he otherwise would definitely have gone into.

The Crisis of Our Time

My beloved friends, many times we think that the problem is the lack of knowledge. The lack of enough books, apps, websites about what to do and what not to do. And this is the cause of the decline of our communities, that this is the cause of the decline of our youth and generations. That has definitely a portion of it, but beyond that if you look at our elders, our parents and grandparents generation, they were simple people, they didn't have huge programs the way we have right now. Discussions that take place, academic discussions that happen from the pulpit, those discussions my parents were not privy to have, they weren't blessed to have those type of discussions.

They went to normal, in India, Catholic schools graduated from good at that time, that was one of the best schools available in India, and in certain parts of the world, that's how it is. But subhanAllah, they graduated there, they didn't have Arabic studies, they didn't have Islamic studies, they didn't have Islamic schools, they actually memorized Christian carols in school, in the 50's. But subhanAllah, when they came out, and they're here in this country, may Allah give our parents long life and health, they have something which you see a person who studied years today doesn't have. And you wonder, what's going on? There's more books than ever, more apps than ever, more classes than ever, and that's something to focus on. What are we lacking?

And one of those things, one of those main ingredients that we see lacking today is this very important aspect of حياء, that if a person doesn't have حياء, no matter how much hadith and Quran he memorizes, always unfortunately will be lacking. And not just lacking a little bit, but sorely lacking.

The Connection Between Haya and Life

Notice the word حياء, and حياة, they have a similar root word. And this is for a reason, because the earliest of Arabs recognized that حياء was so important to society that the individual who doesn't have حياء, is as though he has no حياة. And حياة, you know, means life. The one who doesn't have modesty, bashfulness, and حياء is as good as a dead corpse.

A dead corpse naturally doesn't have حياء, because there's no life. You yank off a shirt, you yank off the pants, you roll them over, wash them, what are they going to say? You throw them, Allah forbid, on the ground, what are they going to say? Nothing, they can't say anything. Their stinking, smelling corpse, that's what's going to be to you and I is going to happen on its set day. But what can you expect from a lifeless body? Will that individual who's become wealthy and so-called educated in deen or dunya and has become progressive in many different ways, but if they don't have حياء, they're as useless to society as a dead body, as a corpse.

The Connection Between Faith and Haya

And the Prophet ﷺ explained to us the intrinsic connection between these two, between faith and حياء.

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

الإيمان and حياء are partners. إذا رفع أحدهما when one of them is lifted up, رفع الآخر, you can be assured that the next one is on its way out. That society, that community that loses حياء, that individual that starts losing حياء, my beloved brothers and sisters, is just a matter of time before they will lose their faith.

A Timeless Teaching

The Prophet ﷺ when speaking about the concept of حياء, he mentioned that

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

Something that's been passed down from the previous generations of Prophets. Not just Rasulullah ﷺ's own instruction, but rather something that's been passed down from generation after generation of Prophets. What is that? That if you lose your sense of حياء, then you may do whatever you wish. No one can stop you. Only Allah will take care of this person on the Day of Judgment. Because حياء is what is the last line that you can't cross.

When the Last Line is Crossed

You broke the law, you broke the rule, you broke this, you broke that, but at the end of the day there has to be حياء. Let me give you an example. A person disrespected someone at home. Father finds out about it. Disrespected his sibling, his mom, or hurt one of his family members. Broke something, caused some physical damage to the house, financial damage. And now, this 18 year old, his father calls him and says, son, what did you do? This is the final, final meeting here. And he says, for example, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. And the father says, okay, don't do this again. Alhamdulillah, case over. Or it gets a little bit more heated.

But if the son looks at the dad and says, what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to take me on? And I tell you, because this is happening, this has happened. I have had fathers come and tell me how they've been pushed by their sons. Old fathers would say, my son pushed me, what am I supposed to do? It's game over. It's done. You meet him in the court in front of Allah. Right now for this world, you really can't do much. Because you've crossed the line.

The Crisis of Lost Respect

If a person can look at his parent's eyes and say, "what are you going to do about it?" Then we really can't do anything about it. This is what you call Frankenstein. It's over. When a person speaks like this to his mother, when a girl speaks to her dad or mom to say, "why do I have to respect you just because you're 20 years older than me? How does that make you worthy of respect?" When a mother is being pushed down the stairs by her daughter, what do you expect? It's game over. Now it's really tears of blood is not going to help. You've crossed that limit.

When a teacher walks in and someone has the audacity to not only disrespect or throw paperballs, spitballs, but what you're seeing today, which has broken my heart as I've seen videos recently, the past week, of physical abuse to teachers in our high schools.

The Example of Haya from a Simple Guard

I don't know how much, what little amount of money he used to get. Local guard, he was one of many guards, he used to stand at the door, he used to sleep in his little hut. Probably get paid peanuts compared to anyone else here. But I remember on Sundays, I'd sometimes go for a walk, and I'd see him wearing his suit, an old suit, a tie, a hat, and a briefcase. And we say, "Stanford, where are you headed?" He said, "I'm going to church." He was dressed for best.

What was that? It was haya from the church. Haya, from a gathering, that I need to dress in my best manner. He could dress however he wanted, but there was this expectation that, hey, this is church. That's a Christian. SubhanAllah.

Muslims and the Loss of Haya

Muslims, same thing. How do we dress when we come to the house of Allah? How do we dress when we go to each other's home? There is something about haya. What's happened is that we have equated lack of haya, or what we call, you know, bi haya, bi ghayrati. We have equated that to being honest and frank, and just being myself.

No, you shouldn't be yourself. A person is visiting his uncle's house. A person is visiting someone else's house. We shouldn't be in a t-shirt and shorts. "Oh, but this is who I am." Guess what? I don't want to see how you are in the shower. That's how you are too. But you don't act like that outside of the shower and the bathroom. So how you are in your bedroom or your home should not be how you are at a friend's house or a guest's house.

Proper Adab in the Home

When you're welcoming people to your home, there's gotta be akhlaq and character. There's a way you sit relaxed, alone. You have guests coming, you have to sit upright. Your mom and dad, when they enter the room, a person should not be lying down in the same casual manner they would be on their own. When father walks in, mother walks in, there has to be a response. You can't say, "what?" That's called lack of haya. That's not called being free and open with your parents. That's simply called the absence of haya.

This attitude that we have with teachers, that we have with parents. I wonder what would happen if Rasulullah ﷺ would walk in. Imagine today's idea of, "I'm just being myself. It's today's kids, you can't tell them anything." What would happen if the Prophet ﷺ walked in? You put yourself in that situation. This is the role of parents after the Prophets. Who are the ones after Allah that we have to worship? Not worship rather, but who we have to fulfill the rights.

A Lost Trait of Humanity

My beloved friends, that is something our society in general is lacking greatly. And we as Muslims, we have to take a stand on it. We have to show. It's our responsibility to say, this is the lost trait, not of the Muslims, this is the lost trait of the world. This is the lost trait of the world that there was a time when elders would be respected, children were shown mercy. There was a beautiful sense of haya in communication between men and women, between young boys and young girls. There was a whole beautiful way that you would speak and communicate.

But when all of that goes out, what happens? You have filth, and upon filth, upon filth in society. And the simple reason for that is the lack of haya. And when we remove this from us and our society, beloved friends, what awaits us is nothing but the next step, which Rasulullah ﷺ said, is the loss of iman. The loss of iman.

The Foundation Before Everything Else

Where are we gonna get this straight back? How are we gonna focus on this? I have just alluded to a massive topic. But it's something food for thought for us to learn, to talk about it, to emphasize, to say Arabic is secondary, usool al-fiqh is secondary. All of this stuff is young kids, you know, survival lessons in the jungle is secondary. If you can't respect your dad, you can't respect your mom, you can't respect your grandparents, you can't respect your teacher, game over. You're not even a human.

A Personal Awakening

I learned this overseas when I was studying, as a child. I remember when I came back in 98, after my first semester overseas, I went back to my Islamic school. And I literally went back to my Islamic school to apologize to all my teachers. And they said, "Azeemuddin, what's wrong? You're such a good kid. You're a great A student." I'm like, "no, no, no, I'm sorry. I didn't know what it means to be a student."

Whether you're Muslim or non-Muslim. You taught me geography, English, calculus, or Islamic studies. Doesn't make a difference. You were my teacher, and I'm sorry, I was not a good student. I was just a reflection of what my classroom environment was. I learned overseas what means to respect a teacher. And I am here to apologize, because if I don't get your prayers and don't get your blessings, my future is going to be bleak.

And they were obviously shell-shocked, but I was being honest, because that's what I learned. And that is exactly what we have to teach our kids. That the most important thing is haya and adab. If we don't have etiquette, we don't have haya, game over. All the other accolades and names are all secondary.

The Connection to Allah

What's the point if you don't have respect in your own home from your own kids? And you might think it's all okay. No, it's not all okay. The more disrespect they have to you, there's no way they're going to be able to respect Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There's no way they're going to be able to respect the Prophet ﷺ. The one who cannot respect his parents and his teachers. The one who can't even thank people will never be able to truly thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Practical Solutions for Our Homes

My brothers and sisters, this conversation has to be happening in our homes. Let us read the verses of the Quran that speak about haya. Like Musa and the daughters of Shu'aib. Their meeting that is discussed in surah al-Qasas. The description of the hur of Jannah, whether it's surah Rahman or surah Waqi' or surah Safat. Talk about the haya that's mentioned there.

Pick up any book of hadith, even Riyad al-Saliheen. Read through the hadith of haya. And we understand that that is the standard we're supposed to be at. By reading the Islamic literature and haya, ourselves and our children will be educated. Re-educated about what you and I are supposed to have.

Min Adab al-Islam is a great book of Sheikh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah translated in English. An etiquette. Adab al-Muashara. There are many books on this etiquette of life that we have to study. They don't teach that in college, just in case you didn't know. They don't teach that in the best of universities. That is taught in the madrasah, the masjid at home. The mother's lap. And we have to restart those classes.

Learning from Our Elders

Now, the summer is here. We have to have these discussions. And our elders who sit, mashallah with us on our chairs, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give them long life and health. We need our kids to sit with them. We need ourselves to sit with them. Because they were born in a generation in which there was haya.

They didn't have fancy shamancy classes, but they had haya which today makes them far ahead of us. Because of those beautiful characteristics that were embodied within them from a young age. Unless and until our children and ourselves don't sit with the elders, be it ulama or just elders of our home, grandparents, grandmothers, witness and watch how they speak, how they interact, we will never truly understand what it means to have haya of Allah, haya of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, haya from the angels, haya from each other, and lastly haya from our own selves.

Final Du'a

I ask Allah azza wa jal that He bring this trait of adab and haya within myself and my children, within you and your children. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to see right from wrong. Give us that nur of iman by which we can distinguish right from wrong from a long far away. And allow us to recognize what are the qualities that we need to take in and what are the characteristics that we need to push out of our lives.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant you and I great company. And the company of the pious, of the awliya, in whose company we can pick up these traits.