Dress, Modesty and Guarding the Tongue

Modesty is for everyone: Haya' (حیا, modesty) is not only for women and not only about clothes — it is a quality of the whole believer: how you dress, how you look, how you speak, and how you behave. Allah commands both men and women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty.

Dress and covering: The believer's dress must cover the Awrah — for men, at least from the navel to the knee; for women, the whole body except the face and hands, in the presence of non-Mahram men — and must not be transparent or so tight that it shows the shape of the body. The Quran commands believing women to draw their coverings over themselves (Quran 24:31 and 33:59). — to be checked. Dress is not a fashion contest; it is an act of worship.

Lowering the gaze: The first gaze that falls by accident is forgiven; the second gaze — the deliberate look — is Haram. Lowering the gaze protects the heart from thoughts that lead to sin. The source course lists "paths to Zina" among the Haram acts — because sin rarely begins with the sin itself; it begins with a look, a chat, a meeting.

Guarding the tongue: The tongue is small, but its sins are heavy. Lying is Haram (Al-Kafi, Vol. 2, p. 339). Ghibah — backbiting, speaking about a believer behind his back in a way he would dislike — is Haram (Al-Kafi, Vol. 2, pp. 354–358). Buhtan (slander, accusing someone of what he did not do) and mocking others (Quran 49:11) are also Haram. — to be checked. Whoever controls his tongue controls most of his Deen.

Honesty in every word: A believer's word is a trust. False oaths are Haram (Tawdhih, Issues 2635–2660). — to be checked. Breaking a vow is Haram. Even joking must stay truthful — the Prophet (SAW) only ever spoke the truth, even in jest.

Example

At lunch, Ali's friends begin talking about a classmate who is not there — his marks, his family, his clothes. Ali says quietly, "Let's not — he would not like hearing this." The talk stops, and one friend later says, "You were right." Ali did not preach a sermon — he guarded his tongue, and he guarded his friend's honour with a single sentence.

Key Terms

• Haya' (حیا) — modesty; a quality of dress, gaze, speech, and behaviour
• Awrah (عورت) — the part of the body that must be covered
• Ghibah (غیبت) — backbiting; speaking about a believer behind his back in a way he would dislike
• Buhtan (بہتان) — slander; accusing someone of what he did not do

Quran or Hadith

Quran 24:31 — "Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty, and to draw their coverings over themselves." — to be checked.

Quran 33:59 — "Tell your wives and daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks over themselves." — to be checked.

Quran 49:11 — "Do not mock one another." — to be checked.

Imam al-Sadiq (as) on Ghibah: the prohibition is recorded in Al-Kafi, Vol. 2, pp. 354–358. — to be checked.

Fresh diagram to be drawn: A believer shown from above with three shields — a shield on the eyes ("Lower the gaze"), a shield on the body ("Cover the Awrah"), and a shield on the mouth ("Guard the tongue").