IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL
INTRODUCTION
This is the month of Rajab, which one of the sacred months that has been described by Allah in the Qur’an, surah 9 verse 36:
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهورِ عِندَ اللَّهِ اثنا عَشَرَ شَهرًا في كِتابِ اللَّهِ يَومَ خَلَقَ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضَ مِنها أَربَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ۚ ذٰلِكَ الدّينُ القَيِّمُ ۚ فَلا تَظلِموا فيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُم ۚ
“Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred, (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein…”
So, Allah Advised us “not to wrong ourselves”, meaning try and minimise our disobedience to Allah. We are of course not angels. We will be succumbed to sins and temptations. Even our souls have been made in such a way that it is inclined to disobey Allah, as described by Allah in the Qur’an, surah 12 verse 53:
إِنَّ النَّفسَ لَأَمّارَةٌ بِالسّوءِ إِلّا ما رَحِمَ رَبّي ۚ إِنَّ رَبّي غَفورٌ رَحيمٌ
“…Verily, the (human) self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy (upon whom He wills). Verily, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Therefore, there is inclination to disobey Allah. We are given the freedom of choice to plan our journey in this life, but we have to know the consequences of each of our actions. Constantly we seek Allah’s Guidance in order to help us lead a life which serves to please Allah. Allah has Given us Guidance such as the Qur’an and also by sending us the very best prophet, our beloved Rasulullah Muhammad (peace be upon him). We have been given the opportunity to communicate with Him NOT LESS THAN 5 times a day, with the hope to seek His Guidance. Allah has also explained to us the benefits of our salah:
إِنَّ الصَّلاةَ تَنهىٰ عَنِ الفَحشاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ
“…Verily, As-Salat (the prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha’ (i.e. great sins of every kind, unlawful sexual intercourse, etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil wicked deed, etc.)…” 29: 45
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “All of the children of Adam are sinners, and the best sinners are those who repent.” (al-Tirmidhī 2499)
Allah also informed us of one of the qualities of a Muttaqoon (a person with Taqwa, who are God conscious at all times):
وَالَّذينَ إِذا فَعَلوا فاحِشَةً أَو ظَلَموا أَنفُسَهُم ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاستَغفَروا لِذُنوبِهِم وَمَن يَغفِرُ الذُّنوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَم يُصِرّوا عَلىٰ ما فَعَلوا وَهُم يَعلَمونَ
“And those who, when they have committed Fahishah (illegal sexual intercourse etc.) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; – and none can forgive sins but Allah – And do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.” 3: 135
So, in other words, human beings are never perfect. We will continue to disobey Allah. However, we must quickly rectify our disobedience to Allah by first repenting to Him sincerely and subsequently correct ourselves by NOT repeating the same sins again, inshaAllah.
Perhaps we can take comfort in the following hadith, BUT don’t use this hadith as an excuse to deliberately commit sins:
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “A servant committed a sin and he said: O Allah, forgive my sin! Allah Almighty said: My servant has committed a sin and he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds him accountable. Then the servant returned to his sin and he said: O Allah, forgive my sin! Allah said: My servant has committed a sin and he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds him accountable. Then the servant returned to his sin and he said: O Allah, forgive my sin! Allah said: My servant has committed a sin and he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds him accountable, so do what you will for I have forgiven you.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 7068, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2758
If we fall into shortcomings and disobey Allah continuously, we do need to understand the consequences of our disobedience.
REASONS FOR DISOBEDIENCE TO ALLAH
وَلَقَد عَهِدنا إِلىٰ آدَمَ مِن قَبلُ فَنَسِيَ وَلَم نَجِد لَهُ عَزمًا
“And indeed We made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found on his part no firm will-power.” 20: 115
CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE TO ALLAH
Ibn Al-Qayim described the consequences of disobedience.
Learning these consequences will help us resist committing sins in shaa Allah. Print them out and hang them in your room, next to your computer screen, and in any place you frequently disobey Allah.
These are the consequences of disobedience:
“I complained to Wakee’ about the weakness of my memory, so he ordered me to abandon disobedience. And informed me that the knowledge is light. And that the light of Allah is not given to the disobedient.”
وَأَن لَوِ استَقاموا عَلَى الطَّريقَةِ لَأَسقَيناهُم ماءً غَدَقًا
لِنَفتِنَهُم فيهِ ۚ وَمَن يُعرِض عَن ذِكرِ رَبِّهِ يَسلُكهُ عَذابًا صَعَدًا
“If they (non-Muslims) had believed in Allah, and went on the Right Way (i.e. Islam) We should surely have bestowed on them water (rain) in abundance.
That We might try them thereby. And whosoever turns away from the Reminder of his Lord (i.e. this Qur’an, and practice not its laws and orders), He will cause him to enter in a severe torment (i.e. Hell).” 72: 16-17
Muhammad (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and the Rebuilding of the Kaaba
The modesty of the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was the most prominent trait of his personality. Even from an early age, his sense of shame in an open society of the Arabs prior to Islam was remarkable. In one instance, after the treasures had been stolen from inside, the people were rebuilding the the Kaaba with a roof in order to prevent thieves from entering it again. Muhammad, while, still a young man, took part. He went with his uncle, al-Abbas, to carry blocks of stone. His uncle told him to put his sarong around his neck to protect himself from the sharp edges of the heavy rocks.
As he moved to comply with this sensible advice, he was overcome with dizziness, and he collapsed in a dead faint. His eyes gazed fixedly skywards as he lay on his back on the ground, his sarong loosened but still covering his privates. A few moments later, he came round, yelling, “My clothing – my clothing!”
Hastily, he (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) wrapped his sarong securely around himself again. Never again in his life would anyone outside the family ever even catch a glimpse of his loins.
The story above was told by one of the Prophet’s companions, Jabir bin Abdullah, and shows Mohammad’s (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) strong sense of shame and propriety about his body was ingrained, even before prophethood. He was known to be more modest than a cloistered virgin both before and after receiving revelation from God.
Moses and the Mockers
Another story about Moses, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, demonstrates that he was as equally bashful and shy about his own body as young Muhammad. He never appeared in front of anyone without fully covering himself, which led some of his people (the Children of Israel) to disparage him hurtfully. They said, “He covers his body in this way only because of some defect in his skin, either leprosy or scrotal hernia, or he has some other defect.”
God wished to clear Moses of what they said about him. One day, when Moses had taken off his clothes and put them on a stone while in seclusion, he started taking a bath. When he had finished the bath, he moved towards his clothes in order to take them and put them on again, but the stone took off with his clothes and fled. Despite his nakedness, Moses picked up his stick and ran after the stone saying, “O stone! Give me my clothes!”
But the stone continued to flee until it reached a group of Israelites, where it stopped. That is how they were able to see him naked, finding in his form the best of what God had created.
Thus God cleared him of what they had accused him of. Moses, however, was rather upset. He took his clothes and hastily put them on, and then started hitting the stone with his stick. The Prophet of Islam, the one who narrated the story, swore that the stone still had some traces of the hitting, even today; three, four or five marks. That was what God refers to in His Saying:
“O you who believe! Be not like those who annoyed Moses, but God proved his innocence about that which they alleged. And he was honorable in God’s Sight.” (Quran 33:69)
This story shows how shy Moses was about letting his body be seen in public. In fact, only his anger at being deprived of the barrier between his body and the world led him to allow the whole of his body to be seen, the exposure of which was by God’s Will in order to clear him of the slander applied by his detractors. Of course, he could not hold that exposure against God, so he took it out on the rock – the means by which his exposure was engineered, and hence his innocence was established from what his slanderers alleged.
Muhammad (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and the Garden Well
What is respectable to view between people of course varies. How much of a woman’s body can be exposed to a husband is different from what she can expose to her brother, which in turn differs from what can be seen by a complete stranger, and vice-versa. This is true concerning what is permissible to see between people of the same sex, too. What a father, brother or son can respectably view of each other is different from what a man outside the family circle is permitted to see, as what a mother, daughter or sister can of each other in contrast to a strange woman.
Once, when the Prophet (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) went into a garden, he asked his companion, Abu Musa al-Asharee, to guard its gate. In the garden was a well, and he sat upon its wall dangling his legs inside it. After a while, Abu Bakr came by, wanting to enter the garden. Abu Musa went to tell the Prophet that his father-in-law wanted to share the garden with him, so the Prophet said, “Tell him the good news that the gardens of Paradise await him, and let him in.”
So Abu Bakr, Aisha’s father, went into the garden and sat beside the prophet, whose sarong was pulled up to just above his knees, and dangled his legs in the well with him. A little later, Umar al-Khattab turned up. He wanted to relax in the garden, too. Again Abu Musa sought the Prophet’s permission for him, informing him of another of his father-in-law’s presence at the gate. He said, “Tell him the good news that the gardens of Paradise await him, and let him in.”
Umar, Hafsa’s father, took the free place beside the Prophet, and dangled his legs in the water next to him.
Both of these men had had the sensitivity to sit next to the prophet, and thus the prophet was able to preserve propriety without having to pull his lower garment over his knees.
Some time after that, his son-in-law, Uthman al-Affan, whom his daughter Ruqayyah had married, also sought entrance to the garden. When Abu Musa transmitted the Prophet’s message by saying, ‘The gardens of Paradise await you after some trials,’ and let him in, Uthman observed that the only free spaces on the wall were on one of the three walls that the Prophet and his fathers-in-law were not occupying, which meant he might see more of the Prophet’s legs than they. As he hesitated, the Prophet pulled his sarong down over his knees, so Uthman took the place opposite him.
Islam teaches that there are some parts of the body that should not be revealed in public, and the closer these parts are to one’s privates, the more they are prohibited to reveal. Although all three men who sat with him had close family ties with him, which is why he let his knees be seen, when the Prophet’s thighs were threatened by exposure, he took steps to hide them.
Modesty and shyness play a special part between the affairs of the Creator and the created. All prophets and Messengers encouraged modesty, as the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said:
“Indeed from the teachings of the first prophets which has reached you is, ‘If you do not have shyness, then do as you please.” (Al-Bukhari)
Modesty as a sense of shame or shyness in human beings is a shrinking of the soul from foul conduct, a quality that prevents one from behaving badly towards others or encouraging others to behave badly towards you. Islamic ethics considers modesty as more than just a question of how a person dresses, and more than just modesty in front of people; rather it is reflected in a Muslim’s speech, dress, and conduct: in public in regards to people, and in private in regards to God. Any talk of modesty, therefore, must begin with the heart, not the hemline, as the Prophet of Mercy said, ‘Modesty is part of faith,’ and that part of faith must lie in the heart.
Take reservation in speech. As with everything in Islam, speech should be moderate. Raising one’s voice in venting anger simply shows one lacks the ability to contain it, and only damage will ensue from it. Uncontrolled anger, for example, can lead one to verbally abuse and physically assault another, both of which take off the veil of bashfulness one is endowed with, exposing the shameful ego within. The Prophet said:
“A strong person is not the person who throws his adversaries to the ground. A strong person is the person who contains himself when he is angry.” (Saheeh al-Bukhari)
A strong person who believes feels shy in front of God and His creation, since God knows and sees everything. He feels shy to disobey his Lord and feels shame if he sins or acts inappropriately, whether in private or public. This type of modesty is acquired and is directly related to one’s faith, where one’s awareness of God increases one’s “shyness” in front of Him.
Islamic morality divides modesty into natural and acquired. Modesty is a quality inherent in girls and boys, a certain type of modesty that is natural in human beings. If manifests itself, for instance, in a natural human urge to cover one’s private parts. According to the Quran, when Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the forbidden tree, they became aware that their private parts were exposed, and they began to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise, a natural result of their modesty.
Islamic scholars consider modesty to be a quality that distinguishes human beings from animals. Animals follow their instincts without feeling any shame or a sense of right or wrong. Hence, the less modesty a person has, the more he resembles animals. The more modesty a person has, the closer he is to being human. Islam has mandated certain legislations which induce this sense of modesty within humans. These legislation range from seeking permission before entering any room and distancing one from others while relieving oneself, to mandating certain manners of dress for men and women alike. Another way that modesty may be attained is by associating with modest people – people in whose presence a person feels embarrassed to do anything shameful – as the Prophet said:
“I advise you to be shy toward God, the Exalted, in the same way that you are shy toward a pious man from your people.”
Being shy of a stranger’s gaze is one of the driving forces behind modesty in dress. This can be seen in children, who naturally shy away from strangers, sometimes hiding from them in their mother’s skirts or behind their father’s legs. In Islam, screening most of your body off from the gaze of a stranger, especially of the opposite sex, is actually mandated as a means to avoid falling into conduct that may lead to extra-marital or pre-marital sex. God says,
“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! God is Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their chests, and not to reveal their adornment.” (Quran 24:30)
The verse then mentions the people before whom one is exempted from veiling; the ones who cannot be called ‘strangers’. Also, the command is relaxed as one matures: an aged woman who has no hope of marriage can discard the overcoats that screen what they are wearing underneath.
As seen from this verse, Islamic ethics view modesty not as a virtue for women only, but for men as well. Thus, men must also dress modestly, being careful to wear loose flowing and opaque clothes through which the area between their waist and knees be totally covered. Tight pants or translucent clothing is prohibited. This modesty is reflected upon Muslim male clothing throughout the world, long shirts reaching below the thighs, and loose flowing trousers.
It may still seem, however, that women bear the main brunt of ‘dressing modestly’. When one reflects, however, about the predator and the prey in illegal relations between the sexes; the prey which is hidden escapes being a victim. Besides, another verse says modesty in dress actually identifies one as being a believing woman, a ‘target’ which the devout Muslim, or any decent man, would be motivated to protect rather than abuse.
The way to develop modesty is to think about whether he or she would do the sin they are contemplating in front of their parents. A person with a shred of shame in their heart will not commit any lewd act in front of their parents. So what about doing so in front of God? Is not God much worthier that such acts not be done in His sight? Thus, Islam considers that the modesty of a believer in front of God must be greater than in front of people. This is manifest in the saying of the Prophet when a man asked him about remaining naked in the house while alone. The Prophet responded:
“God is more deserving than other people of shyness.” (Abu Dawood)
Early Muslims used to say, “Be shy toward God when you are in private in the same way you are shy in front of people when you are in public.” Another one of their sayings is, “Do not be a devoted slave of God in your public behavior while you are an enemy to Him in your private affairs.”
Modesty can therefore be seen as the means by which morals and ethics in society are maintained and pursued. Shyness from people and society may be a reason to be modest, but this modesty will not remain due to the fact that what is immodest one day in a secular society may be totally acceptable in another. Thus, the key to modesty is knowing that God is aware of what you do and shying away from that which He forbids. God only desires what is best for us. So to seek what is best for us is to submit to what He has in mind for us. The only way to properly know what that is, is to believe in what he sent down to us through His Prophet, Muhammad, and to embrace the religion (Islam) that His Messenger brought us.
May Allah Guide us to submit to Him completely and Forgive us for our numerous shortcomings.
