Haya, or Modesty in Al-Islam

Assalamu Alaikum,

Haya, or modesty in Islam is a huge, huge topic for me. I believe its so important that we sometimes over look it. Haya means modesty in arabic. Prophet Muhammad said, "Haya is half of faith"...Without haya, then you're inclined to do whatever you like.

I am a big believer in modesty because it prevents you from committing many sins that you may otherwise do.

When you think of haya, you may think about the hijab, or niqab. Actually, I believe haya goes further than just his. Haya means being conscious of what you do and what you say. When you're out and about...you should be mindful of your speech and where you place your feet-metaphorically. Its the truth. Sometimes we're not mindful of what we do and how we do it.

This is just a huge subject, but insha'allah, I will break it down further.

Haya is the difference between you and the Jahiliya(time of ignorance).

The Jahiliya was a time in which haya, or modesty wasn't observed, but Allah brought us out of that and gave us the Qur'an and the Sunnah to guide us.

The Pagan Arabs committed the most lude acts, but Allah tell us in the Kitab to lower our gaze and to guard our modesty. When we're told that, we're told that for a reason. We're told to restrain ourselves from evil acts and to be persistent in following the haqq-the Truth.

In the Jahiliya, we forget about the Haqq, and we do things we shouldn't do because we forget about haya....

In the Qur'an and Sunnah, we're given Strict codes of ethics to abide by so we don't fall back into the Jahiliya!!

Insha'allah, I hope you remember to be modest, and mindful of what you say and do.

Assalamu Alaikum!!