Importance of Hayaa' - Qari Zakaullah Saleem

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

We praise Him, we ask for His help, and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whosoever He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and you will not die except as Muslims.

O you people, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul. And He created from it its mate. And He spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for help and mercy. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak a just word. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great success.

The Distinctive Quality of Islam: Hayaa'

My dear respected brothers and sisters, the religion that we believe in and we belong to is only the religion that Allah has chosen for mankind. This religion, the religion of Islam, is not only the religion that our beloved Prophet Muhammad, Rasulullah ﷺ, has brought to mankind. Rather, this was the religion of all the previous Prophets and Messengers of Allah who came before our beloved Nabi ﷺ.

Since this religion is the religion of Allah, it has some unique and distinctive qualities and characteristics that you cannot find in any other religion in the world. And in today's khutbah I would like to highlight one of the most important and distinctive qualities of this religion that our Nabi ﷺ has defined in a hadith reported by Imam Ibn Majah and Imam Malik, on the authority of Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas, who says the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4181; Muwatta Imam Malik)

Indeed every single religion has some unique qualities, and the distinctive quality of the religion of Islam is Hayaa' — shyness, modesty, decency.

Hayaa' is the most important and distinctive quality of our religion. In fact, Hayaa' is part of Iman. It is part of our faith.

Hayaa' as a Branch of Iman

Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has reported on the authority of Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 9; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 35)

Iman, the faith, has around 60 or 70 branches. The uppermost branch of this religion — Iman and faith — is the Tawheed of Allah. It is the highest, uppermost branch of Iman and faith. And the least of them is the removal of anything harmful from the road and from the path. And then the Prophet ﷺ, within this hadith, highlighted: out of all those 60 or 70 branches of the faith and Iman, only one — after making mention of the uppermost and the least one, the highest and the bottom one — the Prophet ﷺ covered the center and the middle part of faith by saying: Hayaa' is one of the highest and most important branches of Iman and faith.

And this hadith is explained by another hadith reported by Imam al-Bayhaqi, on the authority of Sayyiduna Qurrat ibn Iyas who says: We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when we started discussing Hayaa' — about Hayaa' and shyness and modesty. Some of us asked the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah, does Hayaa' have anything to do with the Deen? Is Hayaa' part of the Deen?

(Shu'ab al-Iman, Imam al-Bayhaqi)

Rather, Hayaa' is the whole religion. You are asking, is Hayaa' part of the Iman or faith or Islam or Deen? Rather, Hayaa' is the whole religion. In other words, the whole religion is about Hayaa', and Hayaa' is about the religion.

What Does Hayaa' Mean?

My dear brothers and sisters, what does Hayaa' mean? Hayaa' is translated as shyness and modesty. And we can understand from these ahadith of the Prophet ﷺ that the more you are modest and shy, the stronger you are in your faith and Iman. And the less Hayaa' and shyness and modesty you have, you are weak in your Iman.

And this is not my statement; this is the statement backed by what Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri says about our Nabi ﷺ:

The Prophet ﷺ was more modest and more shy than an unmarried single virgin girl behind the curtain. This was the shyness of our Nabi ﷺ.

My dear brothers and sisters, what about ourselves? Do we have Hayaa' in our talk and speech? Do we have Hayaa' in our eyesight? Do we have Hayaa' in our hearing? Do we have Hayaa' in our walk? In our sitting? In our dealing? In our behavior?

Hayaa' from Allah — Its True Meaning

If you would like to understand the meaning of Hayaa', then ponder on this hadith reported by Imam al-Tirmidhi, on the authority of Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, who says the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2458)

O people, have shyness from Allah, Who is your Lord and your Creator, the One who sustains, the One who provides. Have Hayaa' from Allah as He deserves to be shown Hayaa' from. The companions of Rasulullah ﷺ said: O Messenger of Allah, by the grace of Allah we do have Hayaa'. The Prophet ﷺ said: This is not what I meant. Let me tell you what it means.

Having shyness from Allah means: that you preserve your head and what it comprehends — your thinking, your thoughts, your belief, your Iman, whatever you think about. If you preserve it, and you think in a positive way, you have good ideas, good thinking, positive thinking — not negative thinking about Allah or about His creation. If you preserve your head and what it comprehends, and then you preserve your belly and what it contains — whether you are earning halal or haram, or if you are mixing between halal and haram — that you preserve it, and you be mindful of your belly and what it contains.

And then, you always remember your death and being returned to dust in your grave.

And then the Prophet ﷺ says: whoever seeks the Hereafter, he abandons the adornment and the zina of this dunya. Whoever has observed all of these things — these qualities — then he has shyness from Allah the way Allah deserves.

My dear brothers and sisters, ponder on this hadith and judge yourself. I should judge myself and you should judge yourself. Do we have this type of shyness from our Creator? The One who has created us from nothing, the One who provides us, the One who helps us when we find no help, the One who answers our du'a when we are in difficulties and hardships. Do we have this shyness from our Lord and Creator?

The Ummah Has Lost Its Hayaa'

Unfortunately, this Ummah — the Ummah of Muhammadur Rasulullah ﷺ — has lost a great amount of Hayaa'. People have lost, Muslims have lost Hayaa' in their speech, in their talk. They have lost Hayaa' in their eyesight. They have lost Hayaa' in their hearing. They have lost Hayaa' in their behavior and in their dealings with others. Rather, we think that shyness is not something good. Being shy — it's not something good.

The Prophet ﷺ saw a person who was advising his brother not to be too shy. And this hadith is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari on the authority of Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Umar, who says the Prophet ﷺ passed by a person who was advising his brother of not being too shy. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 24; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 36)

Leave him alone. Hayaa' is part of Iman. What are you talking about? Hayaa' is not good? Rather, the Prophet ﷺ said in another hadith, again reported by Imam al-Bukhari on the authority of Sayyiduna Imran ibn Hussain:

Hayaa' and shyness and modesty does not bring anything other than good. This is the thinking, this is the teaching, this is the instruction of our beloved Nabi ﷺ. But on the other hand, we have our own thinking, our own decisions. We think being shy and being quiet is something not good. Rather, you have to be outspoken. You have to speak out.

The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2027)

Hayaa' and 'iyy — both of them are branches of Iman. And 'iyy means not being able to speak out excessively. The Prophet ﷺ says both of them are part of Iman. And on the other hand, the Prophet ﷺ says: obscenity, and being loud and speaking out all the time and not respecting others in your speech and when you deal with others and when you show your behavior towards others — it is part of hypocrisy.

And another hadith of the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2009)

Hayaa' is from Iman, and the place of Iman is paradise. And the opposite of Hayaa' — immodesty and obscenity — the Prophet ﷺ said: it is from rudeness and roughness and arrogance. And the place of rudeness and roughness and arrogance is hellfire.

The Prophet ﷺ also said in another hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Umar:

(Al-Mustadrak, Imam al-Hakim; attributed to Ibn Umar)

Hayaa' and Iman — they are linked and connected to each other. When one of them is taken away, the other one is also taken away. If one is removed, the other one is also removed. Meaning: if you do not have Hayaa', you do not have faith, you do not have Iman. If you do have Hayaa', you do have Iman.

A Message from All the Prophets

Another hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Umar. The Prophet ﷺ says:

One of the messages that mankind has received from the previous prophecy, from the previous prophets and messengers of Allah — this is the message that every single prophet of Allah has conveyed to his people, along with the Tawheed of Allah. Yes, Tawheed was the main message of every single prophet, but there were some other messages common, and this is one of them. The Prophet ﷺ says: from the messages that mankind has received from the previous prophets is: if you have no Hayaa' left, then do whatever you like. Meaning, if you boast yourself by being rude and arrogant towards someone, then do it — it means you have no Hayaa' left and you can do anything and everything.

Rectifying Ourselves

My dear brothers and sisters, the point is that we have to rectify ourselves. We have to rectify our mistakes. We have to correct our behavior, and especially when dealing with others. You have to be respectful. You must respect others. Show respect and receive respect. Show shyness and face shyness. Show modesty and you will see modesty. Hayaa' is part of the religion. Hayaa' is the distinctive quality of our religion.

And on the other hand, my dear brothers and sisters, be careful. If you boast yourself by committing sins, and being rude, being arrogant, being bad in your behavior, and not showing any type of shyness and modesty in your akhlaq, in your lifestyle, in your clothing, in your speaking, in your seeing, in your hearing, in your dealing — if you have no shyness, you have no Hayaa' — then remember this hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, reported by Imam al-Bukhari rahimahullah, on the authority of Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah:

All of my ummah will be forgiven by Allah, except those who are mujahiroon. And then the Prophet ﷺ explained it. The word mujahiroon is from jahar, meaning to be out and loud. These are the people who commit sins and disobey Allah in the darkness of the night, when no one can see them. They commit sins in the darkness of the night, and then in the morning they boast themselves and keep telling others: "O so-and-so, last night I have done such and such, I committed such and such sin." You boast yourself on committing sins, you are arrogant in your dealings with others. This is something you have to bear in mind from the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ: Allah will forgive all of my ummah except these types of people who commit sins and then feel no embarrassment — rather they boast themselves on the sins.

My dear brothers and sisters, Hayaa' is part of our faith, Hayaa' is part of Iman, and the place of Iman is paradise. We must show Hayaa' and shyness and modesty in our speech, in our talk, in our hearing, in our sight, and in our dealing with others. And do not be deceived by the whispers of Shaitan that being shy is a sign of being a coward. No — remember the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ: Hayaa' is Iman. The stronger you are in your shyness and modesty, the stronger you are in your Iman. The less Hayaa' you have, the weaker you are in your Iman and faith.

May Allah allow us to rectify ourselves. May Allah enable us to understand His religion the way the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ understood it.

Second Part of the Khutbah

My dear brothers and sisters, since the religion of Islam is from Allah, that is why the distinctive quality of this religion is Hayaa' — because our Lord Allah Himself has Hayaa', He Himself is the One who has shyness, as it befits His Majesty. The Prophet ﷺ says in a hadith reported by Imam al-Tirmidhi rahimahullah, on the authority of Sayyiduna Salman al-Farsi:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3556; Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1488)

Indeed Allah is generous, and He is too shy — when one of His slaves raises his hands in supplication, making du'a to Allah — Allah is too shy to return his hands empty.

He Himself has Hayaa'. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whom Allah has sent to us as a mercy, was — as mentioned in the hadith earlier — more shy than an unmarried virgin girl behind her curtain. And this is something that the Prophet ﷺ also taught his own companions.

Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan — The Man of Hayaa'

One of the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ who was known as a person of Hayaa' — although all the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ we respect and love, and their love is part of our Iman — is Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan, the son-in-law of the Prophet ﷺ twice.

Our mother, Sayyida Aisha Siddiqa, says: The Prophet ﷺ was lying on his bed when someone knocked on the door and sought permission to enter the house. The door was opened, the Prophet ﷺ granted the permission, and the one who entered was Abu Bakr Siddiq. He came in and sat with the Prophet ﷺ, and he conversed with the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ remained in his bed. Then after a while, someone else knocked on the door, and he sought permission. The door was opened, the Prophet ﷺ granted the permission — and the one who entered was Umar ibn al-Khattab. He came in, he sat with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he conversed with the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ remained in his bed.

And then after a while, a third time someone knocked on the door, and he sought permission. The Prophet ﷺ granted the permission — and as soon as he was walking to enter the house, the Prophet ﷺ sat down, and the Prophet ﷺ covered his leg. Whereas when Abu Bakr and Umar had entered the house, the leg of the Prophet ﷺ was uncovered. As soon as this third person entered into the house, the Prophet ﷺ covered his leg. And you know who this third person was? This was Uthman ibn Affan.

Our mother Sayyida Aisha says: I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: O Prophet of Allah, my father Abu Bakr came in and you remained in your place. Umar ibn al-Khattab entered and you remained in your place, you did not move. What about this third person — when he entered, O Messenger of Allah, why did you sit down and cover your leg? The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2401)

O Aisha, shall I not feel shy in front of the person from whom the angels of Allah are also shy?

And this very companion of the Prophet ﷺ is being cursed in these days. Right at the beginning of the new Islamic year, people who claim to be believers and Muslims curse such companions. Uthman ibn Affan — we say openly, my dear brothers and sisters: if someone curses the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ, he has no shyness left. And if he has no shyness, he has no faith, no Iman. Although he claims to be a mu'min, a Muslim — but if he forsakes the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ, insults them, curses them — those people through whom Allah has saved us from misguidance, through whom Allah has shown us His light, the religion of Islam, this Qur'an, this very sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ reached to us — this very sunnah reached to us through the struggles of Uthman ibn Affan.

And you know that Uthman ibn Affan was the first one who migrated in the way of Allah even before our Nabi ﷺ — in the very first hijrah that the Prophet ﷺ ordered his companions, under the leadership of Uthman ibn Affan, who migrated from Mecca to Abyssinia.

Closing Du'a

My dear brothers and sisters, we as Ahlul Hadith and Ahlul Sunnah wal Jama'ah — we love Uthman, we love Umar, we love Abu Bakr, we love Aisha, we love all the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ, and their love is part of our Iman.

May Allah allow us to die on this love. May Allah allow us to be with those companions in paradise. May Allah allow us to follow the footsteps of the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and all his family and companions.