Modesty is often spoken of as a matter of clothing, and this site has a page for the clothing itself, the hijab and the verses that command it. But in the books in my library, modesty is first a quality of the heart and the character, before it is a question of dress. The Arabic word is al-haya [modesty and shyness before Allah and before people], and the scholars treat it as a part of faith itself, something that shows in how a person walks, speaks, and acts, in men and in women. This page gathers what they say about modesty as a character, in their own words.
The gathering rests on one chapter: Chapter 84 of the Book of Manners in Imam an-Nawawi’s Riyad as-Salihin, “Bashfulness: virtues and encouragement towards it,” in Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s explanation of that book. The chapter’s hadiths report that the Prophet ﷺ told a man who was correcting his brother over his shyness to leave him alone, because modesty is part of Iman [faith]; that shyness brings nothing except good; that Iman has sixty or seventy odd branches, and shyness is one of them; and that the Prophet ﷺ himself was shier than a virgin behind her veil. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s explanations of those hadiths are quoted below, word for word. One passage from Shaykh as-Sa’di’s tafsir [explanation of the Qur’an] is added at the verse of the garment of piety. Everything else on this page is my own summary of what they say, and the references at the end show where each passage stands.
What Modesty Is
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen opens the chapter by placing bashfulness among the praiseworthy traits of a person, and he defines it like this:
Bashfulness is an innate character that drives the individual to act in a beautiful and elegant manner and avoid ignominious and shameful acts.
He then shows it working in two directions at once. When a person acts against good manners, he is shy of people. When he falls into an unlawful act, or fails to perform an obligatory one, he is shy of Allah. So modesty, in his explanation, is not embarrassment in company. It is an inborn trait that holds a person back from what is shameful, before the people who see him and before Allah who sees him always.
A Branch of Faith
The chapter’s hadiths put modesty inside faith itself. The Prophet ﷺ counted it among the branches of Iman, between the highest branch, the testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and the lowest, removing something harmful from the road. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen counts bashfulness among the actions of the heart, and he explains the two directions of it like this:
Having bashfulness towards Allah and bashfulness towards people are from the aspects of Faith. Being bashful towards Allah drives the servant to give obedience to Allah and avoid whatever Allah forbids while bashfulness towards people compels the servant to behave respectably and only give actions that will grace and attract him to the people while eschewing blemishing and detractive behaviours. So, bashfulness is from the aspects of Faith.
That is why the scholars do not treat a loss of modesty as a small matter of manners. A person whose shyness before Allah weakens loses the thing that was driving him to obedience, and a person whose shyness before people weakens loses the thing that was keeping his conduct clean in front of them. The site’s page on the twentieth of the Forty Hadith, “Modesty Is from Faith,” carries Shaykh al-Fawzan’s explanation of the warning that stands at the other side of this: the one who feels no shame does as he wishes.
Modesty in Walk, Speech and Conduct
Because it is a trait of the heart, it shows on the outside. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen describes the modest person’s walk and speech:
When a person is modest, you find him walk in a gentle way; being neither culpably hasty nor despicably sluggish. Likewise when he speaks, you notice that he never made any other than good and pleasant utterances, in a nice manner and with lofty expressions as much as he can.
And at the end of his explanation of the branches hadith, he draws the same picture from the side of reputation and bearing:
Bashfulness is a branch of Iman, Faith. So when an individual is bashful, he does not utter or do whatever will tarnish his reputation before people. You find him dignified, calm and composed. These are from the signs of Faith.
The chapter also carries the report of Imran ibn Husayn, that the Prophet ﷺ said shyness does not bring anything except good. The modest walk, the guarded tongue, and the calm bearing above are what that good looks like in daily conduct, for a man and for a woman alike; the chapter is in the Book of Manners, and it is addressed to the believer, not to one sex.
The Prophet ﷺ, the Most Modest of People
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah was even shier than a virgin behind her veil, and that when he saw something he disliked, it could be perceived on his face. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen explains that his modesty never made him silent about what he disliked, and he draws the lesson for the believer:
This is how the believer should be; reserved and not coarse; he would not engage in any ignominy or dispraised thing. But when he hears or sees what he dislikes, he reacts.
So the Prophet’s ﷺ modesty was not softness about wrong. He was the most bashful of people in the matters that do not violate anyone’s rights, and he was not shy of saying the truth. Modesty and firmness stand together in his example: reserved in conduct, and clear when something disliked has to be answered.
The Garment of Piety
The Qur’an joins the outer garment to an inner one. In Surah al-A’raf, Allah tells the children of Adam that He bestowed garments on them to cover their private parts and as an adornment, and then says that the garment of piety is best. Shaykh as-Sa’di explains the comparison:
But the garment of piety is best. That is, better than physical clothing, for the garment of piety lasts and does not wear out or vanish; it is the beauty of the heart and soul.
But if there is no garment of piety, then his inner ‘awrah becomes uncovered, which results in disgrace and shame.
The ‘awrah [the parts of the body that must be covered] is what outward clothing hides. As-Sa’di’s point is that a person can be covered on the outside and uncovered on the inside, and that the inward covering, piety, is the one that lasts. The clothing rulings themselves, the verses of Surah an-Nur and Surah al-Ahzab and their explanations, are gathered on this site’s hijab pages, and this page does not repeat them.
Where Modesty Does Not Apply
The same chapter sets a limit, and it is part of the teaching, not an exception to it. Modesty must not stop a person asking about his religion, above all about the matters that are obligatory on him. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen states plainly that Allah is never shy of the truth, and he sets the limit like this:
Not asking about the religion especially in the mandatory issues is not from the aspects of bashfulness; it rather constitutes weakness.
He brings the example of the women of the first generation. A’aishah praised the women of the Ansar [the Prophet’s ﷺ helpers in Madinah] in words the book records: “The women of the Ansar are so good; bashfulness never prevents them seeking to understand the religion.” And Umm Sulaym came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him, openly, whether a woman must perform the ritual bath if she has a wet dream, a question a person might shy away from in a gathering. Holding back from asking about what one is obliged to know is not modesty at all, in the Shaykh’s words; it is weakness and timidity. In matters that carry no obligation, being bashful is better than showing otherwise.
References
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 4: Darussalam, 2018, ISBN 978-603-500-418-3 (Book of Manners, Chapter 84: Bashfulness, its virtues and encouragement towards it, printed pp. 45-55).
Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 3 (Juz’ 7-9): International Islamic Publishing House, English Edition 1, 2018, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Surah al-A’raf 7:26, printed pp. 213-214).
Further Reading
- Hadith 20: Modesty Is from Faith: Shaykh al-Fawzan’s explanation of the hadith “If you feel no shame, then do as you wish,” and what the loss of modesty opens the door to.
- Why Do Muslim Women Wear the Hijab?: the verses of covering and Shaykh as-Sa’di’s explanations of them, gathered on one page.
- Hijab and Modesty: the doorway to the site’s pages on the obligation of the hijab, clothing in practice, and modesty beyond clothing.
- Social Rulings and Conduct (Adab): lowering the gaze and guarding conduct between men and women, from the explanations of Riyad as-Salihin.
- How Can a Muslim Increase His Iman?: the branches and causes of faith, of which modesty is one branch.
Verified on 2026-10-24 against the books listed above.