By: Dr. Ibraheem Mohammad Qasim
(A teacher at Al-AzhrUniversity)

For the sake of the good manners, Islam pays a great attention to two main characteristics: reinforcing the self-esteem in the Muslims� hearts and discarding the submissiveness and humiliation. At same time, Islam strengthens the significance of some characteristics like the modesty, refusing others like the arrogance, vanity, ingratitude and injustice. It is clearly noticeable that some Muslims are unable to differentiate between the modesty and submissiveness. One might find him/herself in a disgraceful situation thinking that he/she is humble out of the good manners recommended by Islam, while he/she misuses one of the major fundamental Islamic behaviors. Accordingly, it is suitable to explain the distinct meanings of these two ambiguous terms.

What is modesty?
The modesty means the kindness, flexibility, being away from the arrogance and self-admiration. It was said: �The modesty is the flexibility accompanied by the good morality, obeying to the truth and the kindness. A scholar once said: � The modesty is accepting the truth from whoever by obeying and following him even if he is young or ignorant�. How do the Holy Quran and the Prophetic Hadith tackle with this noble virtue?

Modesty in Quran and Sunnah
No doubt that the modesty is one of the great morals and superior virtues. The Holy Quran and the truthful Prophetic Sunnah significantly care of this great moral. Allah (Mighty and Sublime be He) on praising His slaves of the Merciful say:� �The slaves of the Merciful who walk on earth easily and if they are addressed by the ignorant they reply peacefully�; the modest walk among the people kindly, softly and humbly, no pride, superiority or vanity.

Aslo, Allah says in His Glorious Book: �Do not walk on the earth in a rejoicing way that you will not penetrate the earth nor will reach the mountains height�. In a dialogue between Loqman and his son, Allah says : �And do not give the side of your cheek to the people� ,i.e. a man should not be inferior before the other people. In another verse, Allah teaches us saying, �And do not walk happily on the earth. Allah does not like the prideful and arrogant and walk directly and lower your voice (on speaking to the others) as the most awful voice is the donkey�s voice�.

Similarly, in a Hadith approved by Moslem and narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) Allah�s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: �A forgiving Muslim slave is never giving a recompense but glory, and if a person became humble to Allah, He will sublime him�.

In another Hadith approved by Al-Bazar, Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah�s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: �Blessed be who is humble not out of weakness, spending his good money not in a vice, and having mercy on the people of ignominies and poverty, and mixing with the people of Fiqh and wisdom�.

Does it means to disgrace and offend yourself?
Modesty is useless without the ability. Nevertheless, this does not mean that a man has to disgrace or offend himself/herself. Self-underesteem means that one is more offended by others. The true modesty is a road to the highness and glory. The Prophet (may peace be upon him) praised the humble saying: �Blessed be who acts in modesty and without showing humbleness�. Saying that does not mean that the Prophet�s modesty was out of the disgrace or weakness, declining his prestige or decreasing his importance; modesty is neither a weakness nor disgrace. Therefore, the Islamic senior scholars say:� The honor lies in modesty�.

Accordingly, a man should not go far with the modesty to disgrace. One has to be wise in his/her modest behavior because if a man goes far with it then he/she allows the others to mock, sarcasm and misunderstand him/her.

A Virtue between two vices
The modesty is a virtue between two vices: the submissiveness and arrogance. The submissiveness and humbleness are dispraised just like the haughtiness and arrogance are hated. The most loved acts to Allah are the median ones. Whenever a man is truthful in the modesty, behaving in accordance with a place between the negligence and the immoderation, between the arrogance and the pride, then the modesty will achieve its aims. Everything is recommended as long as it is in its proper place and vice versa.

Some people mistakenly think that the modesty means neglecting the cleanness, either in look or clothes. This is untrue; Islam significantly cares about the look and shape of the Muslims as it cares about the content and essence. In this concern, the Prophet (may peace be upon him) said: �Allah is handsome and loves beauty�. Thus, the cleanness is an integral part of the true faith and there is no contradiction between caring about the look and the modesty.

We ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) to grant us with the virtue of modesty.

Finally, Allah knows best.