20170113 - Haya - 2nd Khutba- Shaykh Arsalan

Khutbah: Hayā — The Essence of Islam and Faith

In the name of Allah, we praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness, and we ask for His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our actions. Whom Allah guides, there is no misguider for him, and whom He misguides, there is no guide for him.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, no partner for Him. And I bear witness that our master Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, his servant and his messenger, his friend and his companion, delivered the message and fulfilled the trust, and advised the Ummah, and strived in the cause of Allah for the truth of his Jihad, until the certainty came to him.

Indeed, the most truthful hadith is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of our master Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations, and every innovation is a creation, and every creation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims. O you people, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it its mate, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah, with whom you ask for mercy. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.

The Purpose of the Prophet's Mission

Brothers and sisters, the Prophet ﷺ said in an authentic hadith:

— meaning: "I was only sent for the purpose of perfecting the most exalted forms of character."

(Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad, Hadith 8952; al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Īmān)

He ﷺ came to perfect the noblest forms of human character, and he did that in two ways.

The first way was by exemplifying those character traits in his own life, in his own behavior, in his own demeanor — to the extent that Allah Himself testified to the fact that He exemplified the most exalted form of character when He said:

And the second way in which he did that ﷺ was by instruction, by advice, by admonition, by teaching — by teaching his companions about beautiful character. And part of beautiful character, brothers and sisters, is the character of hayā.

What Is Hayā?

The character of hayā. The word hayā is loosely translated as shyness, or modesty, or shame, or bashfulness. We may not have an exact translation of the word in English, but we all know what it is — because hayā is the essence of our deen.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

— "Every religion has an essential quality, and the essential quality of Islam is hayā."

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 4182; al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, Book 47)

So if hayā is so important in Islam that it is its distinguishing quality, we need to ask ourselves: where is hayā in our lives?

Hayā Is Part of Faith

The Prophet ﷺ also said:

He ﷺ said that hayā is part of faith itself, and faith takes you to Jannah — to Paradise. Whereas shamelessness, the opposite of hayā, is part of jafāʾ — wickedness — and wickedness takes you to the Hellfire.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2009; Musnad Aḥmad)

So Rasulullah ﷺ has combined between Islam and hayā in the first hadith by saying that hayā is the essence of Islam. And he has combined between hayā and īmān in the second hadith — that hayā is of īmān, of faith.

So if we call ourselves Muslims — followers of Islam, people who are actively working for Islam, Islamic activists, speakers, writers, media reporters, regular day-to-day engineers, doctors, homemakers, fathers and mothers, children, youth — if we call ourselves Muslim, if we call ourselves believers, then the extent of our Islam and our belief is proportional to the extent of hayā that we have inside of us and that we exhibit outside of us. How much hayā we have is a test of how much īmān we have. How much hayā we have is a test of how much faith we have.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

He said that faith has many branches — 70-plus branches — and hayā is a branch of faith.

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 9; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 35)

Hayā and Faith Are Inseparable

Brothers and sisters, if we are working to spread the deen of Allah on this earth, if we are working to defend Islam and Muslims on this earth, if we are working to propagate the beautiful Islamic values on this earth, if we are trying to normalize Islam in our lands — it cannot come at the expense of what is the essence of Islam. It cannot come at the expense of modesty itself.

If I am an Islamic worker, a Muslim activist, my activism cannot come at the expense of what is the essence of that which I am trying to defend — the faith of Islam. And if that happens, then that is a sign that I am simply a worker, but I lack faith inside of me. That I pretend to be working for the cause of the faith, and yet I don't have it in my own self.

Because the Prophet ﷺ said:

— That hayā and faith are stuck together. They are joined together. They are inseparable. Because he said: if one is absent, then the other one must also be absent. They come together — you can't have one without the other.

(al-Ḥākim, al-Mustadrak; al-Bayhaqi, Shuʿab al-Īmān)

So if we are, in our activism, negligent of hayā — in the way that we speak, in the way that we conduct ourselves, in the way that we dress, in the way that we interact with the opposite sex, in the way that we carry ourselves, in the way that we sit, in the way that we stand, in the way that we walk, in the way that we talk, in the way that we write, in the way that we give interviews — if in all of this hayā is missing, then faith is missing. And we can claim whatever we claim to be defenders and proponents and speakers on behalf of Islam, but īmān is missing inside.

And that's why sometimes there is no fruit in our daʿwah work. Because it is hollow. It's just a shell. And we're calling people to something that we ourselves don't have.

Hayā Is All Good

Sometimes when you talk about hayā, there are people who try to argue and say, "Well, we can't be shy in public. Too much shyness is not good." Well, you know what the Prophet ﷺ said? He said:

— Hayā is good, all of it.

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 37)

He also said ﷺ:

Hayā only brings what is good. It doesn't bring something negative. It doesn't bring something evil. Even if people may perceive it to be negative, in actuality, it is good. Hayā only brings goodness.

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 6117; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 37)

At the time of the Prophet ﷺ, he was passing by a man from the Ansar who was talking to another man, another believer, and was rebuking him for being too modest. The hadith states:

The Prophet ﷺ said to that man who was rebuking the other man for being too modest: "Leave him, because hayā is part of faith."

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 24; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 36)

Hayā as the Restraining System

Hayā is important, brothers and sisters, because when we don't have that feeling of shame, that feeling of modesty, that feeling of hayā inside of us, we can do whatever we want and we can say whatever we want. What's there to hold us back? What's there to restrain us? What's there to keep us in check — the way that we carry ourselves, the way we talk, the way we walk, the way we do things? Hayā is the restraining system.

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

The Prophet ﷺ said that part of the wisdom of earlier prophets that people still carry among themselves is this piece of wisdom, this hikmah inherited from earlier prophets — a phrase that was prevalent at the time of the Prophet ﷺ: "If you feel no hayā, then do whatever you want."

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 3484)

That's why hayā is important — because it keeps us in check. The way that we behave is restrained by that quality of hayā that resides inside the qalb, the heart of the believer.

Hayā — An Attribute of Allah, Angels, and the Prophets

You know, brothers and sisters, hayā is so beautiful that it is actually an attribute of Allah Himself. Allah Himself is attributed with hayā. Rasulullah ﷺ said regarding Sayyidina ʿUthmān:

— "Should I not feel hayā before a man in whose presence even the angels feel hayā?" This indicates that the angels have the quality of hayā, that they exhibit hayā, that they feel hayā. The way that they conduct themselves is full of hayā, full of modesty. It's a quality of angels, it's a quality of Allah, and it's a quality of the messengers of Allah, the Prophets of Allah ﷺ.

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 2401)

The Prophet ﷺ said:

Four qualities are from the qualities of prophets and messengers: the first is hayā, then putting on a good beautiful scent, using the siwāk (brushing your teeth), and getting married.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 1080)

Hayā is a characteristic of prophets, and it is a characteristic of our Prophet ﷺ. Among the things with which Rasulullah ﷺ was described is the quality of hayā. In a hadith related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, it was mentioned:

— "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had more hayā than an unmarried young woman residing in her living quarters."

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 3562; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 2320)

In those days, there were women who were single but older, with a different lifestyle. And then there were young women who had never interacted with a man in their lives — in fact, they wouldn't even interact with married women, because sometimes they might learn habits from married women. They were kept separate. They were considered the icons of hayā in that society — a young girl who had never interacted with a man, living in her own quarters.

The hadith is saying: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had more hayā than the iconic woman of hayā at that time. Rasulullah ﷺ — he's a man — and he is being described in that way. Sometimes we associate hayā with women only. It's not true. Hayā is a quality that men should aspire to as well as women.

The Hayā of the Daughter of Shuʿayb

Hayā is beautiful, all of it, as the Prophet ﷺ said — whether found in a man or found in a woman. Hayā is beautiful when it's found in a man, and yes, it is even more beautiful when it's found in a woman.

The Qur'an talks about a woman who exhibited beautiful hayā — the wife of Mūsā ﷺ, before she became his wife. When Mūsā ﷺ had fled Fir'awn and ran away, tired and exhausted, taking shelter under a tree — he saw two sisters trying to get water for their animals. So he helped them. And then once they got their water, they went home.

Allah says that one of them came back to Mūsā:

One of those two sisters came back to Mūsā, walking with hayā. She's alone. She's going to talk to a handsome man, a strong man, a righteous man, a man full of external beauty and internal beauty. She's alone and she's a young woman. She has to talk to him because her father wants him to come and meet him — her father is old, she has no brothers, she's not married — so she has to come and talk to him. But how does she come? What is the way in which she carries herself? With hayā. عَلَى اسْتِحْيَاءٍ.

And then she talks to him and tells him that my father is calling you to reward you for the help that you provided. And then later on, when she's alone with her father, she gives him a suggestion — the suggestion being: Dear father, why don't you take him as your son-in-law? But look at the way that she gives that suggestion to her father — a way full of hayā, full of modesty. She does not explicitly tell her father, "O father, I want to marry him." But look at what she says:

"Dear father, hire him as your worker, because the best person that you can hire is a person who is strong and trustworthy."

This was a euphemism prevalent at that time — that when a girl asks her father to take someone as a worker and begins to describe his qualities, she is giving her father a sign that she likes the man. But she doesn't say it explicitly and directly. She doesn't say, "Father, I love him, I want to marry him." But she says enough, and her father understands. This is how Allah describes a woman full of hayā in the Qur'an.

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, said that when this woman came to Mūsā ﷺ, she came covering her face with her hand. And then Mūsā ﷺ stood up and said to her:

He ﷺ said: "Walk behind me please and tell me the way — I will walk in front of you — because we are not people who look at the backsides of women."

Look at the hayā of Mūsā ﷺ, and look at the hayā of that lady.

Modesty Is More Than a Headscarf

Brothers and sisters, modesty is more than just a headscarf. Hayā is more than just putting a headscarf on one's head. A headscarf is required for modesty for women in our deen — no doubt about it — but that's not where it ends. Modesty is not just in the headscarf. Modesty is beyond that. And it's not just in a woman — it's also in a man.

Modesty is a sign of faith in a man and a woman, and it is exhibited in the way that one feels inside, in the way that one dresses — yes — and in the way that one carries himself or herself, in the way that one talks, in the way that one walks, in the way that one interacts with people of the same sex and with people of the opposite sex.

The Hayā of Sayyida Fāṭimah

Fāṭimah, may Allah be pleased with her — Sayyida Fāṭimah, the daughter of Rasulullah ﷺ — look at her hayā. She once had a conversation with Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays, the wife of Sayyidina Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, who was previously the wife of Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib. And Fāṭimah was making an observation. She said:

"You know, I have seen the way that funerals are carried, and I don't like it." What don't you like, O Sayyida Fāṭimah? She said, "Well, simply the dead body is put on the bier and it's covered with five pieces of cloth — if it's a lady, five pieces of white sheets — and it's completely exposed. There's no coffin, there's no cover. It's just on a stretcher, carried by four men, carried in public, and all the people are watching. Then they put that body down into the grave, and it's simply a body covered with five sheets of cloth — that's it." She said, "I don't like it. It shows the shape of the body of the lady."

Asmāʾ said, "You know what, when I was in Abyssinia I saw a different kind of practice. What they used to do was they would take that same bier and erect four small poles at each corner, and then drape it with another piece of cloth so that it looked like a tent." So Fāṭimah said, "Please, when I die, you do that for me — and ʿAlī washes me, and nobody else is allowed to come near me when I'm being washed, not even the Mothers of the Believers."

So when she died, her janāzah was draped like that — four poles were erected at each corner and draped with a cloth so that it looked like a tent. ʿĀʾishah came and complained to Abū Bakr, "Dear father, what is this? It looks like a tent that is being taken." And Abū Bakr inquired from his wife, and Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays said, "This was the waṣiyyah — the final request — of Fāṭimah, the daughter of Rasulullah ﷺ." And Abū Bakr said, "Then it must be followed."

Look at the hayā of the one who will be the leader of the women of Paradise — Sayyida Fāṭimah, may Allah be pleased with her — that even after she dies, she is concerned about people looking at her. It's covered with five sheets from head to toe, but even that makes her feel uncomfortable. Because the level of īmān is so high, the level of hayā is also high.

The Hayā of Men: The Prophet ﷺ and Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq

But like I said, brothers and sisters, hayā is not just associated with women — also with men. Rasulullah ﷺ, when Sayyidina ʿUthmān would enter his home, the Prophet ﷺ would cover his body more than he would cover himself in the presence of his wives and his children — because he felt hayā before his son-in-law and his companion. He would cover more of his body.

Rasulullah ﷺ — when he would go to relieve himself, in those days they didn't have toilets or lavatories, they had to do it out in the open — the Prophet ﷺ, when he wanted to do that, would walk far away until he could not even be seen, not even his shadow could be seen — and that's where he would answer the call of nature.

And I'll close with this: Sayyidina Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, once he was giving a khuṭbah and he said, "Yā maʿshar al-Muslimīn, istaḥyū min Allah" — O Muslims, have hayā of Allah. And then he gave an example of hayā. He didn't talk about women; he talked about himself, and this is what he said:

"I swear by Allah, inni la'adhillu ḥīna adhabu al-ghāʾiṭ fī al-faḍāʾ mutaqanniʿan bi-thawbī istiḥyāʾan min Rabbī Azzawajal" — he said: "I swear by Allah that when I go to answer the call of nature — and again there are no bathrooms, there are no built structures, it has to be done in an open field because of the resources they lacked at that time — when I go and do that, I cover myself. I take my garment and I cover my head with it, because I feel hayā from my Lord — because I feel shame, I feel bashful, before my Lord."

And you know, brothers and sisters, the one who does not feel hayā before people does not feel hayā before Allah, as the Prophet ﷺ said. So lest someone says, "Oh, I don't want to be two-faced — if I don't do it for Allah, I don't want to do it in the masjid, I don't want to do it with other Muslims" — that's where it has to start. It has to start somewhere. Once we feel hayā before people, we will feel hayā before Allah. And the one who does not feel hayā before people does not feel hayā before Allah.

May Allah make us among those who listen to the words of admonition and follow the best of them.

Closing Duʿāʾ