The Branches of Faith - 15 - Modesty

In the 15th part of the 22-part series on eeman, Shaykh Yasir focusses on haya. He bases his talk on the famous hadith reported in Sahih Muslim: "Faith has over seventy branches, the uppermost of which is the declaration: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah; and the least of which is the removal of harmful object from the road, and modesty is a branch of faith. This makes us understand that Allah loves Haya. Ibn Al-Qayyim mentions that just like the body has its life, the life of the heart is its modesty and bashfulness. Therefore Haya is one of the main characteristics of Iman. Muslims should possess both an inner and outer modesty. This is reflected in behavior, speech and appearance, and includes being mindful of God at all times. Modesty in Islam is known as haya, a word, which describes both shyness and a deeper modesty that is based on faith. A sense of haya should affect a Muslim’s conduct before God, before others and even when one is alone. Citing numerous ahadith, Shaykh Yasir expounds on one of the most beautiful topics in Islam which when embedded in an individual automatically raises him in humbleness and eeman - haya.  May Allah (Glory be to Him) to help us doing the righteous deeds and to grant us sincerity in words and actions and always set an example of Haya.