Haya' (modesty and shame)
الحياء
The disposition that restrains a person from ugly deeds; in Abu Masud al-Badri's hadith in al-Bukhari: 'what people have retained of the speech of the first prophethood: if you feel no shame, do as you wish' — 'the speech of the first prophethood' meaning, for Ibn Rajab, what was handed down from the earlier prophets and inherited by people generation after generation until it reached the first of this community, one route adding 'nothing of the speech of the first prophethood reached people except this'; 'if you feel no shame, do as you wish' has two readings — not an imperative but censure: either threat and warning like 'do as you wish, for He sees what you do' and the hadith 'whoever sells wine, let him then carve up the pigs', the choice of a group including Abu al-Abbas Tha'lab, or an imperative in form carrying a statement — whoever lacks shame does whatever he wishes, shame being the only check on ugly deeds, like 'whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire' — the choice of Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam, Ibn Qutayba and Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi, Abu Dawud reporting from Ahmad what indicates the same.
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Global / Diaspora
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
The long-form text for this entry has not been written yet. The facts and connections below come from the museum's data.
Connections
People and things also explored
Ghadab (anger)Goodness of Islam — leaving what does not concern oneHusn al-khuluq (good character)Sabr (patience and steadfast endurance)Prophetic adab (proper conduct)Iman (faith)Arba'un 15 — speak good or keep silentAbu Masud al-Badri
Sources
- Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Haya' (modesty and shame)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/haya/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.