“A woman’s best jewellery is her shyness.” ~ Sayyidah Fatimah (radiallahu anha)
With everyone trying to slay, live
their best life and be a boss, shyness seems to be an underrated and
undervalued characteristic these days. In
fact it is portrayed as something to be overcome and set aside if we are to be
successful in life.
Yet shyness or hayah (modesty), are
such valued and liked qualities in Islam – being closely associated with faith:
Narrated
by Abu Huraira (radhiallahu ‘anh): The
Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Faith (Belief) consists of
more than sixty branches (i.e. parts). And Haya is a part of faith."
(Bukhari)
Abdullah
ibn Umar (radhiallahu ‘anh) narrated that the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa
sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Indeed haya
(modesty) and Iman are Companions. When one of them is lifted, the other leaves
as well." (Baihaqi)
Our modesty or shyness is considered to save us
from many sins, both for men and women.
Narrated on the authority of Anas bin Malik (radhiallahu ‘anh),
the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) said: When lewdness is a part of
anything, it becomes defective; and when haya is a part of anything it becomes
beautiful. (Tirmidhi)
There is an interesting point made
here about modesty:
“Scholars have said that the word (حياء) shyness in the Arabic
language is derived from the word (حياة) life, therefore shyness gives life to a person’s heart, and without it,
our hearts would be dead”
I find this statement so eye-opening. What does it say about the world
we live in and what it aspires to?
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