HAYA (SHYNESS)
With Special Reference to "Hijab"
By Zahra Abdul-Haseeb
The Revival of Islamic Dawah Publications
With Special Reference to "Hijab"
By Zahra Abdul-Haseeb
The Revival of Islamic Dawah Publications
What is Haya? Haya itself is derived from the word hayat which means life. But that is something that we will get into later on in this essay. This term covers a large number of concepts. In English, it may be translated as modesty, shyness, self-respect, bashfulness, shame, honor, etc. The original meaning of Haya according to a believer's nature, refers to a bad and painful feeling accompanied by embarrassment, caused by one's fear of being exposed or censured for some unworthy or indecent conduct.
Islamically Haya is an
attribute which pushes the believer to avoid anything distasteful or
abominable. It keeps him/her from being neglectful in giving everyone what is
due upon them, and if for any reason he/she is not able to keep up with his/her
commitment then they will feel extremely bad and ashamed about this. The reason
being that he/she will have displeased Allah by breaking a commitment.
Haya plays a huge role in the lives of Muslims because it is a very important part of our eeman (faith/belief). If we do not have any form of haya in us then it is most likely that our eeman is very weak. For as it states in the following hadith:
Narrated by Abu Huraira (ra):
The Prophet SAW said, "Faith (Belief) consists of more than sixty
branches (i.e. parts). And Haya (This term "Haya" covers a large
number of concepts which are to be taken together; amongst them are self
respect, modesty, bashfulness, and scruple, etc.) is a part of faith."
(Bukhari)
We also learn from the Prophet SAW the importance of having haya and how it is not something to be ashamed about, but instead one should be ashamed if they do not have it.
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar (ra): The Prophet SAW passed by a man who was admonishing his brother regarding Haya and was saying, "You are very shy, and I am afraid that might harm you." On that, Allah's Apostle SAW said, "Leave him, for Haya is (a part) of Faith." (Bukhari)
Now the above hadith is also a form of proof that "shyness" is not just something regarding women but also an attribute that believing men should have, for it is an indication if their fear of Allah and an indication of the value of their deen.
Now to discuss the different types of haya. How many types of haya are there?
Haya' is of two kinds: good
and bad;
The good Hayâ' is to be
ashamed to commit a crime or a thing which Allah and His Messenger (saw) has
forbidden, and bad Hayâ' is to be ashamed to do a thing, which Allah and His
Messenger (saw) ordered to do.
Firstly, to talk about the
types of Good haya. For example, anyone who is believer, he/she should build
their personalities and their character with the good dimensions of haya. The
most important is that he/she must be shy of doing ANYTHING displeasing to
Allah (azw), with the belief that he/she will have to answer to all their
deeds. If one develops a sense such as this one, it will help the believer to
obey all of Allah's command and to stay away from the sins. Once the believer
realizes that Allah (azw) is watching us all the time and we will have to
answer to very move we make in this dunya, he/she would not neglect any order
from Allah or His Messenger (saw). So the stronger this sense of haya becomes,
the more it motivates one to make sure that Allah (swt) doesn't see him/hr
doing anything forbidden. The way to develop this haya is that one must keep
learning and absorbing more and more knowledge of our deen.
Another type of haya is more
of a social aspect concerning others besides Allah (swt). Normally these things
often come in regard with ones relationship with family. For instance a child
not wanting to do something displeasing to his mother, or a wife not wanting to
do something displeasing to her husband or even a student who is careful about
saying something incorrect infront of his teacher (dai'i). Last but not least
is the type of haya in which the believers become shy of themselves. This is
when they have reached the peek of their eeman. What this means is that if they
do, or say, or see, anything wrong or even commit the tiniest sin, they start
to feel extremely bad and embarrassed or they feel extreme guilt in their
heart. This builds a high degree of self-consciousness and that is what
strengthens the believers commitment to Allah (azw).
After discussing the various
types of "beneficial" haya, it is time to discuss the type of haya
which is not only against the teachings of our Prophet (saw) but it is also
solid proof of the weakness of someone's eeman. This negative aspect revolves
around a person's shamefulness or shyness of doing something that Allah (swt)
has ordered us to do through the Quran or our Prophet's (saw) sunnah.
This constitutes the shamefulness
or embarrassment of doing a lawful act or something that is ordered upon us
from Allah (azw). Meaning for someone not to follow an obligation of Islam, due
the fact of being shy infront of others about it. This is totally forbidden
because then one is giving the people of this dunya more respect than the One
who Created this whole universe. It also means if someone is shy or afraid to
seek knowledge of Islam for worldly reasons, because they do not want others to
see them or to know of their ignorance. This once again goes contrary to what
Allah (swt) has told us in the Quran, which is to seek knowledge and preach it
to others. In this society there are many examples. People will go out an get
degrees in law schools, or science, or engineering and they will put four to
six years of their lives studying for this stuff that will only benefit them in
this world. Why? You ask? Well most likely, in this society people including
Muslims, choose their careers according to how much money they will make and
what status they will have in this society as to being a lawyer or a doctor
etc. They do not realize that in Islam the BEST stature of a Muslim is that of
a "dai'i" or a teacher of Islam. These Islamic teachers and scholars
are even higher in the eyes of Allah (azw) then one who only sits at home and
preaches or does ibaadah. If they want to study law, why not Islamic Shariah?
If they want to study science, why not Islamic Science? So this explains how
people consider the worldly careers to be of higher value and are embarrassed
to even express an interest in Islamic Studies. Only because they will not be
considered as high as the other "educated" people. This is having the
bad haya or "shame" of something that is encouraged to us by Allah
(azw) and His Messenger (saw).
Another proof of bad haya is
that which is extremely popular amongst our sisters in this western society.
That is what the rest of this essay will be focused on. One of the most
important aspects of haya, for women, is that of guarding their chastity and
their modesty. To do this they must follow the order from Allah (azw) telling
them to keep hidden themselves and their adornments from all men unlawful to
them in marriage. Now this order involves all the aspects of haya for those who
do follow it. The believing and following women are ashamed of disobeying Allah
(swt). They are shy of the opposite gender in this society because of what they
might experience if strange men look at them and lastly they have haya because
they are ashamed of going out in public and committing this grave sin of
displaying their beauty is public. There are many women in this society who
claim that they have haya but to follow the order of hijab is backwards and
that women in this society shouldn't have to cover, is obviously disbelief. For
if someone really had haya they would never contradict ANYTHING that Allah
(swt) has ordained upon us even if they did not exactly like the idea. A
women's haya comes from her modesty and her shyness and her fear of Allah, so how
can she have haya if she walks around in public un-veiled? Proof lies in the
following hadith.
Abdullah ibn Umar (ra)
narrated that the Prophet (saw) said: "Indeed haya (modesty) and Iman are
Companions. When one of them is lifted, the other leaves as well."
(Baihaqi)
There are many verses in the
Quran and many ahadith explaining the reasons behind observing Hijab. The
Islamic Shariah has not stopped at giving the Commandments of Hijab, it has
also clarified every such thing which directly relates to these commandments
and, with the slightest carelessness, may result in vulgarity and immodesty. In
other words such things have also been forbidden in order to close the doors to
indecency and lewdness, in return providing a stronger pillar for haya.
Modesty (haya) and
maintaining one's honor are of primary importance in preserving the moral fiber
of any society. This is why modesty has been called the ornament of a woman,
which protects her from many sins and which prevents ill-intentioned men from
daring to have bad thoughts about her. This haya has been made a part of her
nature to safeguard her from being abused by immoral men.
Narrated on the authority of
Anas bin Malik (ra), the Prophet (saw) said: When lewdness is a part of
anything, it becomes defective; and when haya is a part of anything it becomes
beautiful. (Tirmidhi)
So it is only obvious that Hijab plays and extremely important role in regards to Haya. For Hijab prevents lewdness and Haya backs this up and then person's eeman becomes even stronger. So both things work together in a partnership. At the time of our beloved Prophet (saw) as soon as the verses of Hijab were revealed, all the Quraish and Ansar ran home to their wives and daughters and close female relatives to tell them to cover themselves. The ones who had veils used them and the ones who did not have veils made some right away. For instance the following hadith tells us: Narrated by Aisha (ra): May Allah have mercy on the early immigrant women. When the verse "That they should draw their veils over their bosoms" was revealed, they tore their thick outer garments and made veils from them. And when the verse "That they should cast their outer garments over themselves" was revealed, the women of Ansar came out as if they had crows over their heads by wearing outer garments. (Abu Dawood)
This indicates that all these women wanted to guard their modesty which is why they followed out the orders of Allah. Yet, another verse talk about the level of modesty in Aisha (ra): Narrated Aisha (ra): "I used to enter my house where Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) was and take off my garment, saying that only my husband and my father were there; but when Umar was buried along with them, I swear by Allah that I did not enter it without having my clothes wrapped round me owing to modesty regarding Umar." (at-Tirmidhi and Ahmed)
If women in today's society
choose not to wear the veils, but some belief in their hearts, than they might
be categorized as Muslim women but not Mumineen. The truth is that Haya is a
special characteristic of a Mu'min. People who are ignorant of the teachings of
the Prophet (saw) do not concern themselves with Haya and Honor. Haya and Iman
are interdependent; therefore either they both exist together or they both
perish. Thus, the Prophet (saw) has said in one hadith, "When there is no
haya left, then do as you please."
Today
vulgarity and all its ingredients have become a common place even among
well-known Muslims in the zeal of imitating the non- believers. It is these people who have been struggling to bring
Muslim women out of Hijab into immodesty "be'hayai" and indecency.
They have adopted the lifestyles of the Christians more than the traditions of
the Prophet (saw). Such people are in a dilemma. On the one hand, they desire
to freely look at the half-clad bodies of the wives and daughters of other
Muslims on the streets; and on the other hand, they do not have the courage to
deny the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Prophet (saw). Neither can they
say they have given up Islam, nor can they bear to see Muslim women wear Hijab
and showing some Haya. Actually the fact is, indulging in indecency for so long
has killed the sense of modesty (haya) which Islam had commanded them to
preserve. It is this natural desire of maintaining one's honor which compels
men to protect the respect and honor of their women. What these men and women
do not understand is that if the women do not observe Hijab and do not develop
Haya inside of them, they will be entertaining those who have taken the path of
shaitaan. Such as the following hadith: Malik b Uhaimir reported that he heard
the Prophet (saw) saying that, "Allah (swt) will not accept any good deeds
or worship of an immodest and vulgar person." We asked "Who is a
vulgar and immodest person?" He replied, "A man who's wife entertains
Ghair-mehram men."
Now the word
"entertains" implies that she is showing off her beauty instead of
keeping herself covered up. If the Muslim brothers of today's society knew the
benefits of haya and hijab they would definitely not tolerate the opposite. At
the time of our beloved Prophet (saw) the husbands could not even imagine their
wives leaving the houses un-veiled let alone go out and beautify themselves for
other men to get "free looks". The following hadith shows this fact
clearly: Narrated by Al-Mughira: Sa'd bin 'Ubada said, "I will not
hesitate killing my wife with a sword if I see her with another man." This
news reached Allah's Apostle who then said, "You people are astonished at
Sa'd's Ghira (self-respect, honor). By Allah, I have more Ghira than he, and
Allah has more Ghira than I, and because of Allah's Ghira, He has made unlawful
shameful deeds and sins done in open and in secret. And there is none who likes
that the people should repent to Him and beg His pardon than Allah, and for
this reason He sent the warners and the givers of good news. And there is none
who likes to be praised more than Allah does, and for this reason, Allah
promised to grant Paradise (to the doers of
good)." 'Abdul Malik said, "No person has more Ghira than
Allah." (Sahih Bukhari)
So this should be enough to understand why Hijab is so important for women to establish Haya in themselves and live the lives of true mu'mineen. Sometimes the situation becomes a such that people will have done wrong/sins for such a long period of time that they will not be able to differentiate between right and wrong. Another way to put this is that, a person's exceeding indulgence in indecency results in the loss of wisdom and the ability to see good deeds from bad deeds. As the Prophet (saw) said: "I have a sense of Honor ( a part of haya). Only a person with a darkened heart is deprived of Honor."
So one wonders…..what if this
observing of Hijab and maintaining Haya is so important then how come we have
nothing to show us the merits? Well the answer to that question clearly lies in
the Quran and ahadith. There are many merits of Haya if one wants to know. Here
are some just to list a few.
Firstly Allah loves Haya. We
know this by the following hadith: " Surely Allah (is One who) has haya
and is the Protector. He loves haya and people who cover each others
faults."(Bukhari)
Secondly, Haya itself is a
Greatness of Islam as our Prophet indicated: "Every way of life has a
innate character. The character of Islam is haya." Or "Every deen has
an innate character. The character of Islam is modesty (haya)." (Abu
Dawood)
Thirdly, Haya only brings
good and nothing else. Our Prophet (saw) said: "Haya does not bring
anything except good." (Bukhari)
Fourthly, Haya is a very
clear indication of our eeman. As the Prophet (saw) had mentioned to the Ansar
who was condemning is brother about being shy: "Leave him, for Haya is (a
part) of Faith." (Bukhari)
Fifthly, last but not least,
Haya leads us to PARADISE . As the Prophet
(saw) told us: "Haya comes from eeman; eeman leads to Paradise .
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