87 — Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Khuzā‘ī narrated to me. Muhammad ibn Abī al-Sarī al-‘Asqalānī narrated to us. Bakr ibn Bishr al-Sulamī narrated to us. ‘Abd al-Hamīd ibn al-Sawwār narrated to us. Iyās ibn Mu‘āwiya ibn Qurra narrated to me, saying:

I was with ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz when modesty was mentioned in his presence. They said, “Modesty is part of the religion.” ‘Umar replied, “Rather, it is the whole of the religion.”

Iyās said: I then said, “My father narrated to me from my grandfather Qurra, who said: I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when modesty was mentioned in his presence. They asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, is modesty part of the religion?’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, ‘Rather, it is the whole of the religion.’

“He then said (peace and blessings be upon him), ‘Modesty, chastity, reticence—reticence of the tongue, not dullness of the heart—and self-restraint are part of faith. They bring increase in the Hereafter and decrease in this world. Avarice, incapacity, and foul speech are part of hypocrisy. They bring increase in this world and decrease in the Hereafter, and what they diminish from the Hereafter is greater than what they add to this world.’”

Iyās said, “So ‘Umar instructed me to dictate it to him, and he wrote it in his own hand. He then led us in the noon and afternoon prayers while it was still in his palm.”