Modesty: An overview

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"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.  


After waiting for a long time in the queue, being only two females among all the males, someone finally helped them, and they were able to take their flock of sheep and goats home

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After waiting for a long time in the queue, being only two females among all the males, someone finally helped them, and they were able to take their flock of sheep and goats home. 

Their father was old, and they had no brother to do their outside chores.   Being one of the most onerous of tasks, drawing water from the well in order to water one’s livestock was one performed by men; a lucky day for them to come home early with the drove freshly watered. 

The father was surprised about their early return, and when he inquired into the occurrence, his daughters told him that a man who seemed a traveler had helped them.  The father asked one of them to seek the man out and invite him home. 

Upon returning to the well, the lady approached him shyly.  When she was in earshot, she gave him her father’s invitation so that he might recompense him for his help.  He kept his gaze low to the ground as he replied to her, saying that he had done it for the sake of God alone, and required no compensation. However, realizing that this was God sent help, he accepted the invitation. 

As she was walking ahead of him, the wind blew her dress, which revealed part of her lower legs, so he asked her to walk behind him and point out the way he should follow when he reached a fork in the foot path.

Once they arrived at the house, the father presented him with a meal and asked where he was from.  The man told him that he was a fugitive from Egypt.  The daughter who had brought him home whispered to her father:

“O Father, hire him, because the best of the workers is one who is strong and trustworthy.”


He asked her: “How do you know he is strong?”


She said: “He lifted the stone lid of the well that cannot be removed except by many together.”


He asked her: “How do you know that he is trustworthy?”


She said: “He asked me to walk behind him so that he couldn’t see me as I walked, and when I conversed with him, he kept his gaze low with shyness and respect.”


This was Prophet Moses, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, who had run away from Egypt after killing someone by mistake, and the father of the girls was a God fearing man from the tribes of Midian; a man who was sonless, but had had these two daughters.

The verse in the Quran that tells us this story stresses upon the manner of her approaching Moses:

“So one of the two (daughters) came to him walking modestly...” (Quran 28:25)

Both the way Zaphorah approached Moses and his care about not seeing more of her than was needful at the time describe acute senses of propriety.  Neither had a chaperone, nor could people see what they did, yet both conducted themselves with the utmost decorum.  This was done out of fear of the One who sees everything. 

The outcome was that when her father proposed to Moses that he marry one of his daughters, Moses considered them a suitable marriage prospect.  He and his daughters also saw in him all the virtues a man needs as a mate for a woman to consent to his guidance and nurture through life.  Moses accepted, and also ten years hire as a shepherd.

Allah 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)

As seen from this verse, Islamic ethics view modesty not as a virtue for women only, but for men as well...

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.

(By Imam Mufti, Islamic religion)

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