Abu Dawud

Benefits and Issues:
Although modesty (haya) is a natural and innate disposition, nevertheless, for its manifestation and application in matters of the Shari‘ah and in a manner prescribed by the Shari‘ah, intention, acquisition, and knowledge are required. For this reason, it has been counted as part of faith (iman).

Explanation:
This same narration from Ibn Shihab appears in Bukhari, Book of Manners. In it, the word «يعاتب» is used in place of «يعظ». This indicates that the Ansari was reproaching him regarding this matter. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said to the Ansari, "Leave him to his state. Modesty (haya) is a part of faith."

The reality of haya is that a person fears having his name associated with evil. It is obligatory to have haya regarding forbidden matters, and it is also necessary to keep haya in mind regarding disliked (makruh) matters. The meaning of «الحياءلاياتي الابخير» is precisely that haya brings nothing but goodness. Some of the Salaf have said: «خف الله على قدرته عليك واستحي منه على قدرته قربه منك۔» "Develop fear of Allah in proportion to His immense power over you, and have shyness before Him considering how close He is to you." The purpose is that the fear of Allah should be complete, knowing that He has perfect power over you—He can seize you whenever and however He wills. And shyness and modesty before Him should be due to the thought that He is closer to you than your jugular vein.

In short, haya and shyness are a natural virtuous inclination in a person, which prevents him from indecency, and by virtue of it, he is saved from committing many sins. It is necessary that by haya is not meant such undue shyness that a person loses all courage to act, and starts seeking excuses of shyness and modesty even in fulfilling his necessary obligations. The Imam of the scholars of hadith (Imam al-Muhaddithin), by narrating this hadith, also wishes to refute the Murji’ah, who consider faith to be only a statement without action, whereas the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) have declared all righteous deeds and evil habits to be parts of faith. As is evident from the above hadith, even a pure habit like modesty and shyness is included in faith.

Hadith Commentary:
➊
In human morals and habits, the status of modesty (haya) is very high.
It is that trait which prevents a person from many crimes.
Modesty is not only towards people, but the greatest modesty should be towards Allah Ta’ala.
On this basis, the most shameless and unfortunate person is the one who does not feel ashamed before Allah when committing a sin.
This is why there is a very deep connection between faith (iman) and modesty (haya).
➋
Modesty (haya) is the impression that arises within a person at the thought of committing an evil act.
In other words, its definition is that trait which motivates a person towards goodness and prevents him from evil—that is modesty.
In it, there is a kind of cowardice and chastity, and both play their respective roles.
Cowardice prevents from evils, and chastity brings one towards good deeds.
From this clarification, it is evident that those who act with modesty in matters of the Shari’ah, calling it modesty is incorrect; rather, it is a weakness of their nature, which is not right to conceal by calling it modesty.
This is such cowardice (jubn)
from which the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to seek refuge.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Da’awat, Hadith: 6365)
There is a great difference between modesty (haya) and cowardice (jubn).
➌
From some narrations, it appears that modesty is an undesirable and disliked trait, as when Umm Sulaym (radi Allahu anha) said, while asking a question, “Allah does not feel shy of the truth.”
The answer to this is that if virtuous morals are not kept in their proper place, then they become blameworthy.
What Umm Sulaym (radi Allahu anha) meant was that in matters of religious rulings, one should not act with modesty; modesty is good in every respect, provided it is used in its proper place.
If it is used outside its proper place,
then it is disliked and undesirable.
➍
The mention of modesty (haya) has come previously as well, but incidentally; at this point, the importance of modesty is stated independently.
The purpose of Imam al-Bukhari (rahimahullah) is to refute the Murji’ah.
That is, for faith (iman), deeds and morals are necessary.
Without them, faith remains weak.
From this hadith, the desirability of modesty in faith is established.
Similarly, by abandoning modesty, there will be deficiency in faith; thus, it is clear that deeds and morals have an effect on faith.

Hadith Commentary:
Modesty (haya) is a part of complete faith, and modesty is acquired from faith.
Just as faith prevents the believer from disobedience and encourages obedience to Allah, in the same way, modesty restrains from indecencies and evil deeds and motivates one to perform righteous actions.
When a person is devoid of modesty, he becomes shameless and rebels against Allah, exalted is He.

Explanation:
1:
From this hadith, the virtue and importance of modesty (haya) are established.
A person possessing modesty benefits fully from it in his life,
because modesty prevents a person from sins and encourages him towards good deeds.

(1) Modesty (haya) is one of the most magnificent and exalted praiseworthy qualities. Every Muslim should always adorn themselves with the ornament of modesty. There are many hadiths in which encouragement regarding modesty has been transmitted.

(2) "Was scolding"—that you are so modest that you cannot even claim your own right.

(3) "Let it be," because if modesty is lost, then both religion and worldly life will be lost. Religion itself is another name for modesty. In the world as well, one becomes disgraced.

Commentary:
(1)
By modesty (haya) is meant that moral quality due to which a person avoids blameworthy matters and does not fall short in fulfilling the rights of those entitled.

(2)
Modesty (haya) is a virtue of the believer; therefore, it is necessary to avoid every thing or action that incites a person towards immodesty.

(3)
This hadith also proves that faith (iman) has many branches, in which increase and decrease are possible; therefore, faith itself increases and decreases.

(4)
Advising regarding modesty (haya) means that the person was saying that such excessive shyness is not good, but the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) corrected him.

(5)
When one hears something incorrect from someone who believes it to be correct, one should remove their misunderstanding and clarify the correct matter. This is also a form of forbidding evil (nahi 'an al-munkar).

(6)
Some people are naturally shy. If they are given proper upbringing and their inclination is directed towards good deeds, this proves to be more beneficial.

Takhrij:
[بخاري 24],
[ مسلم الايمان/373],
[تحفته الاشراف 388/5] [373/5] [429/9] [42/9] [9/11] [16/11] [11/11]

Vocabulary:
«اَلْحَيَاءُ» Modesty (haya): The nature of refraining from an action out of fear of blame or being considered at fault; this is a characteristic unique to humans. Otherwise, a person would act on every impulse just like animals do. In the Shariah, haya refers to a disposition that keeps a person away from shameful acts and encourages him to avoid negligence in fulfilling the rights of those entitled to them.

Benefits:
➊ On what occasion did the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say these words?
In Sahih al-Bukhari, the complete hadith is as follows: The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam passed by an Ansari who was advising his brother regarding modesty (haya), so he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:
«دعه فان الحياء من الايمان»
"Leave him, for modesty is part of faith."
In Imam al-Bukhari rahimahullah’s book al-Adab al-Mufrad, it is mentioned «يعاتب اخاه» that he was angry with his brother. It appears that the brother, due to his modesty, was unable to fully claim his rights from people, so his brother advised him and was also upset with him, saying that you are harming yourself because of your modesty. Then the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "Leave him, for modesty is part of faith," meaning that if, due to his modesty, he is unable to claim any of his rights, then that right will become a source of reward for him. In some ahadith it is mentioned:
«الحياء كله خير »
"Modesty is all goodness."
And:
«الحياء لا ياتي الا بخير»
"Modesty brings nothing but good."

➋ How is modesty part of faith?
Some scholars have explained that modesty prevents a person from evil, just as faith becomes a barrier for a servant against sin. Due to this similarity, it is called faith. But according to this explanation, modesty is considered similar to faith; it does not clearly indicate that it is from faith.
Therefore, it is better to interpret it in light of another hadith. Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu narrates that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:
«الايمان بضع وستون شعبة والحياء شعبة من الايمان» [صحيح بخاري ح9]
"Faith has more than sixty branches, and modesty is a branch of faith."
From this, it is understood that just as the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, love for the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and other things are parts of faith, similarly, modesty is also a branch of the tree of faith and a part of it.
«الحياء من الايمان» can also mean that your brother’s modesty is a result of his faith, and this quality has arisen in him because of faith.

➌ Types of Modesty:
To refrain from things that Allah the Exalted dislikes is modesty. To refrain from things that are intellectually disliked is modesty, and to refrain from things that people consider bad is also modesty. However, the real modesty is to avoid what Allah and His Messenger dislike. Some people do not perform many good deeds, such as enjoining good and forbidding evil, and say that they feel shy, but this is not modesty; it is cowardice. Modesty is to avoid disliked acts; refraining from good deeds is not modesty.