Modesty in Islam As Per Traditions Of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
After the word of Allah Almighty in the form of Quran, it is the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that serve as a secondary source of guidance for Muslims. In addition to being a source other than Quran, the traditions also complement Quran and the Muslims use it to understand the message of Quran as well.
When it comes to the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), they are as diverse and encompass the activities and parts and parcel of life in the same way as does Quran. This post, by The Quran Tutoring School, is one of the series of the major traditions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) upon which He stressed emphatically.
One of the prime character attributes stressed upon by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is modesty. The lines below discuss the traditions of Prophet (PBUH) with regards to modesty and the different ways in which it can be conceived and applied as per Prophetic (PBUH) traditions.
A Core Of Islam:
Pertaining to modesty, Prophet (PBUH) said in His hadith:
“Every religion has a character and the character of Islam is modesty.” (Muwatta)
In this hadith, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) makes it clear that modesty is a core of Islam and if Islam is to be personified and given a character, then the characteristic attribute it will have is modesty. This modesty is not to be there only when it comes to bashefullness, rather the modesty has to be there in every aspect of life, whether it is eating, sleeping, thinking, behaving, conducting business or giving decisions and so on. Therefore, modesty is not a single aspect in Islam, rather it is and it must be present in all the aspects of Islam.
Inhabitants of Heaven:
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) mentioned in His hadith:
“Shall I tell you about the inhabitants of Paradise? They are all modest persons.” “Shall I tell you about the inhabitants of Hell? They are all ignoble, rude and proud ones.” (Bukhari)
From this hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) it is clear that the dweller of heavens will all be the people who are modest. This modesty helps people fear Allah, stay good with fellow humans and progress towards goodness, whereas those, who are ignorant or proud, they stray from the right path and hence they will find hell as their final resting place in the world hereafter.
A Stem of Faith:
It is narrated that once Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) passed by two brothers, where the one was scorning the other on his being modest and bashefull and that he should stop being so. On this Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Leave him as he is; for modesty stems from faith.” (Bukhari)
Further to that, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in another hadith in the following way:
“Faith (Belief) consists of more than sixty branches (i.e. parts) And Haya is a part of faith.” (Bukhari)
Thus, from both these hadiths it is clear that being modest is a part of faith, hence the one who is modest should not consider it a flaw or something that needs to be changed, rather it is a part of faith and one should stick to it.
Modesty In Front Of Allah Almighty:
Once Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said to His Companions:
“Be Bashful before God according to His right to modesty before Him.”
The Companions replied:
“O Messenger of God, verily we are shy, praise be to God.”
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
“That is not it. Modesty before God according to His right to modesty is that you protect your mind in what it learns; your stomach in what it ingests. And remember death and the tribulations attached to it; and whoever wishes for the Hereafter, leaves the adornment of this life. So whoever does all that is truly bashful before God according to His Right to modesty.” (Tirmidhi)
This hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) clearly explains that being modest is not only being bashful or shy, rather it is about being protective and caring about everything else in life as well. One needs to be modest in terms of learning as well so that one learns the best things and avoids the extremity of any kind whether it is associated with worldly or religious deeds. Similarly, one needs to be modest in terms of eating as well and see what the body is being fed, which indirectly refers to the idea of balanced diet which the science of today gives to people. Similarly, remembering death in this life is modest and it also gives encourages modesty as well. Therefore, only being bashful should not be considered as modesty, rather it should be a part of modesty.
Bottom Line:
In a nutshell, Muslims need to understand that besides the mandatory obligations of the religion Islam, they also need to understand and incorporate other elements mentioned in the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Therefore, a Muslim needs to understand that modesty is one of the integral components of Islam and a Muslim should incorporate modesty into his or her character and it should be practiced in every matter of life.
