Among them are generosity, bravery, good-naturedness, an open heart, a welcoming face, and many other qualities besides. In short, adab consists of praiseworthy traits a person adopts, and prominent among them is modesty.

Modesty is an inner disposition that impels one to do what is fitting and beautiful and to leave what is base and ugly. Thus, when a person commits something that conflicts with muruʾa (honorable conduct), he feels shy before people; when he perpetrates a forbidden act, he is ashamed before Allah; when he neglects an obligation, he is ashamed before Allah; and when he omits something that ought to be done, he is ashamed before people. Modesty, then, is part of faith.

For this reason Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) related that the Prophet ﷺ passed by an Anṣārī who was admonishing his brother about modesty—meaning he was encouraging and urging him to uphold it—whereupon the Prophet ﷺ clarified that modesty is part of faith. He ﷺ likewise said in another hadith: “Faith comprises more than seventy branches: the highest of them is the declaration, ‘There is no god but Allah,’ the lowest is removing something harmful from the road, and modesty is one of the branches of faith.”