# When Exposing Yourself Is "Empowerment" | Signs of the Hour Ep. 23

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Signs of the Hour
**Published:** 2026-10-27
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/PUaq6dSejTI
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/signs-of-the-hour/when-exposing-yourself-is-empowerment-signs-of-the-hour-ep-23
**Topics:** Afterlife, Faith

## Description
The Prophet ﷺ said that when modesty leaves, faith follows. And he reminded us that his ummah will be forgiven except those who publicise their sins: the person Allah covered overnight who wakes up and tells everyone what he did. Dr. Omar Suleiman defines haya (modesty) well beyond clothing, using...

## Chapters
- 0:00 The loss of haya
- 2:15 What true modesty with Allah is
- 4:51 Shame for Allah vs. shame for the family
- 6:49 Announcing a sin before the digital age
- 9:07 When immorality is open
- 11:24 Clothed yet naked, as a society
- 14:30 The industry behind the industry
- 15:53 Which side of it am I on?

## Transcript
**[0:00]** So what is haya? When you think of haya, where do you immediately go? Clothes, right? It's so much greater than that. How do you even announce a sin before the digital age? Like, you have to really be trying. You've got to wait till the gathering. You don't have phones, you can't call anybody, you can't text, you can't post online.

**[0:16]** But when you have, subhanallah, an algorithm that thrives on quote-unquote authenticity, privileges being vulnerable with yourself, and part of being vulnerable with yourself is openly exposing your sins. In the name of what? In the name of being real. Private sins ruin the soul, public sins ruin society.

**[0:42]** The next side of this is the chapter of the loss of haya, the loss of shame. So, the presence of shamelessness. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said,

**[1:00]** He, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said that modesty and faith are like two inseparable companions. You know, like a qareen? They're two inseparable companions. And so when one of them goes, the other one will naturally go as well.

**[1:16]** So, the loss of haya. He said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "If you have no shame, then do as you will."

**[1:31]** Because if a person loses their haya, then they will do whatever they want. And this is also one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. He said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "And haya is a branch of iman." He also said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,

**[1:51]** And in our deen we have this concept of that the opposite is also true. If modesty brings nothing but good, then shamelessness brings nothing but evil.

**[2:07]** Like the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, "Shamelessness is not found in anything except that it corrupts it." "And modesty is not found in anything except that it beautifies it."

**[2:24]** So what is haya? When you think of haya, where do you immediately go? Clothes, right? It's so much greater than that.  And the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, understood, subhanallah,

**[2:39]** that people have different ideas when they think of haya. When they think of modesty. So he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "That be modest with Allah, azza wa jal,"

**[2:56]** "with the true meaning of haya," "with the true meaning of modesty." And they said, "Ya Rasulullah, we all feel shame before Allah." "We all feel modesty before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." But then they ask, "What is it?"

**[3:11]** "Is it this? Is it that?" And he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "It's none of that." He said, He said,

**[3:34]** He said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "Look how comprehensive this hadith is." "True modesty with Allah" "is that you guard your head and what it contains." What's in your head? Your thoughts, your eyes, your tongue.

**[3:51]** Guard your head and what it contains. Your ears, right? From that which is displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You guard your stomach and what it ingests. So, eating halal and tayyib, right? Eating that which is pure and that which is lawful.

**[4:08]** That you remember death and the decay of the grave. And he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "And whoever seeks the hereafter," "abandons the vanity of this world." And whoever does all of that, has true haya with Allah.

**[4:23]** In another narration, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, "Be modest or be shy in front of Allah," "the way you are shy with a righteous man from your people." How do you act in front of a righteous man from your people? Right? So, when you think of haya,

**[4:39]** when you think of shame, right? Shame is not just represented in clothing. Shame is not represented just in speaking. Shame is not just represented in discussions between people. Shame is being shy of committing a sin in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,

**[4:59]** first and foremost. Whether in private or in public. I'm worried that my Lord will tell me, "Weren't you ashamed of committing the sin in front of Me?"

**[5:14]** Hiding the sin from the people, but then proudly committing that sin in private. Shame. The shame starts with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's not some backwards notion of 'ayb, that you bring shame to the family, and some of the ways that culture has put forth shame.

**[5:30]** Though there are some, by the way, very healthy iterations of shame from culture. I'm saying it's not the way that it's been taken, perhaps to the extreme to where, it's not about the sin with Allah. It's about whether or not a person is going to commit that sin

**[5:45]** in a way that brings shame to the family. Right? So this is what the idea of shame is. So how does this play out in terms of societal elements? Number one, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said,

**[6:00]** "All of my ummah is forgiven," "except for those who publicize their sins." And he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "That from al-mujaharah, from publicizing the sins,"

**[6:15]** He said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "That a person goes to sleep at night, committing a sin,"

**[6:32]** "and Allah protected people from finding out," "or protected him from people finding out about his sin." "And then he spends the night under the veil of his Lord," "and he wakes up, and he tears the veil that Allah, azza wa jal, gave him," "and says, 'Oh so-and-so, I committed this sin last night,'"

**[6:49]** "I committed this sin last night." So Allah, azza wa jal, protected him, gave him sitr in regards to his sin, in hopes that that person would feel shame, and come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and repent.

**[7:04]** But that person instead goes out there and blasts the sins that they commit. You know, I was thinking about, subhanallah, like, how do you even announce a sin

**[7:19]** before the digital age? Like, you have to really be trying. You've got to wait till the gathering. You don't have phones, you can't call anybody, you can't text, you can't post online. Right? But when you have, subhanallah, an algorithm

**[7:35]** that thrives on quote-unquote authenticity, privileges being vulnerable with yourself. And part of being vulnerable with yourself is openly exposing your sins.

**[7:52]** In the name of what? In the name of being real. Right? "I have nothing to hide," or "this is still something I'm working through." "Don't judge me." Right? Then something is not just lost with that person's soul, but something is lost with that society as well.

**[8:09]** And Allah, azza wa jal, mentions: "Inna alladhina yuhibboona an tashiah al-fahishatu" "fi alladhina amanu lahum 'adhabun aleemun fid-dunya wal-akhirah," "wallahu ya'lamu wa antum la ta'lamoon." Indeed, those who love that fahishah, that immorality spreads,

**[8:24]** spreads among the believers. Right? That they will have a painful punishment. Like, we should not want to spread, Al-fahisha amongst the believers. You know what that means? That means protect yourself, With the protective cover that Allah azawajal gave to you.

**[8:40]** Protect others from being exposed to your sins, Because maybe you'll normalize it with them. Protect others from other people's sins as well. You don't have to share everything. Hey, did you hear what happened to that person? Or hey, did you hear that this person did this, And this person did that? The believers should not like,

**[8:56]** That shamelessness spreads, Amongst the people. So Allah azawajal specifically condemns, The idea of loving to spread it. So if you commit a sin, You should be ashamed in front of Allah azawajal. When you're ashamed of your sin in front of Allah, You don't amplify it,

**[9:11]** You don't defend it, You don't normalize it. You repent from it. And you ask Allah azawajal to help you, With it. Right? But don't make these poisons, Whether it's your own poison, Or someone else's poison, Viral, Because this is exactly,

**[9:26]** What the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Mentioned to us. In another long hadith, The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, That, The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned,

**[9:58]** Things that if you are tested, Or if you live to see them, And I seek refuge in Allah, That you live to see them. And that, That immorality never appears amongst the people, To such an extent that they commit it openly, Except that plagues and diseases, That were never known amongst the predecessors,

**[10:13]** Will spread amongst them. And so, Hatta yu'ilinu biha, Is the one that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Is saying here, That fits this particular thing, That private sins ruin the soul, Public sins ruin society. Right?

**[10:28]** And so there's a direct consequence, That comes, As a result of that. The next one, Is one that, We need to spend a little bit of time with inshallah ta'ala, Contextualizing, Because it's within the books of hadith, And it shows up,

**[10:43]** Because it does relate to clothing. The hadith of Abu Hurairah radiallahu ta'ala anhu, That the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, He said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,

**[10:58]** That there are two types of people of the fire, That I have not yet seen. He said, People with whips, And people with cattle, With which they strike the people. So he's talking about oppressors in a very particular way. In a very particular way. Then he said, He said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,

**[11:22]** And women who are clothed, Yet naked, Inclining, And making others incline their heads, Like the humps of leaning camels. And he said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, He said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,

**[11:38]** That they will not enter paradise, Nor smell its fragrance, Though its fragrance can be found, From such and such a distance. This hadith, Is a hadith that can easily, Be taken in one context, But I want to actually broaden it. Let's talk about it,

**[11:54]** In terms of society as a whole. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, I did not mention the wisdom of, Kasiyat 'ariyat. Clothed, but actually naked. And they say that clothing, Is something that Allah gave to us, As-sitr.

**[12:10]** To cover us. Right? When clothing becomes such an accessory, To the point that a person, Is practically not wearing anything, But they're still wearing something. Like it's basically nudity, But it's not called nudity.

**[12:26]** Right? It's basically no clothes, But it's being called clothes. That just shows you, How much a society has, Like this is the extreme, Of Ashab al-Sabt. From Bani Isra'il. Right? This is the extreme of tricking, You know, the nets inside,

**[12:41]** During the Sabbath, And collecting the fish. Like who are you actually fooling? So when Allah azawajal, Gave you clothes for a purpose, And the clothes actually serve, The opposite function. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Is talking about the inverse, Of society.

**[12:57]** And so, Al-Imam al-Nawawi, He says, In the Sharh, Of this hadith, In Sahih Muslim, That it could be, You know, Transparent garments, Or it could be, Tight fitting clothing, That defines the body, All together.

**[13:12]** As he probably offered, Another interesting, Another interesting, Interpretation from this, That's very powerful. He said, Being clothed in, in blessings, but being naked, is in Taqwa. Not having, the best of Taqwa.

**[13:27]** The clothing of piety. So that could also be, naked yet clothed. Right? Or clothed yet naked. You have outward clothing, but you don't have the inward clothing of the soul, of good deeds, and Taqwa. So this is the first thing that it serves, the exact opposite purpose:

**[13:43]** inclined, and making others inclined. And he said, "Their heads like the humps of leaning camels." Ibn Hajar, rahimahullah, he says, inclined away from modesty, al-Haya'. And inclining

**[13:58]** means seduction. Leading others astray as well in that regard. How do we take a hadith like this in the capacity of the signs of the Day of Judgment? Okay? The first thing from this hadith is that it takes a society to fail.

**[14:14]** So it's not just the seduction, but it is partly the seduction. But it's also the economy of the seduction. Right? It is those that consume the fahisha and those that perform for the fahisha.

**[14:29]** It is the standards of society that have decayed to a point that this is the only way to define your own self-worth. It is a society that has led to the destruction or led itself to the destruction of all morals. To where,

**[14:44]** this is where a person can earn in any worldly sense. Right? SubhanAllah, I remember thinking about this and speaking about it with some of the trafficking websites. Right?

**[14:59]** Because there is an entire like there is an industry behind the industry. There is an industry behind the industry. Which is also trafficking, and there is also an evil element of that. There is a whole economy of that, and you have to think about how do I have concern for a person's eyes

**[15:14]** on the screen, and the person that's behind that screen at the same time. Right? And think about what has happened in our society that led it to that way. But then also, again, you do, of course, take the hadith at its own face value,

**[15:29]** you know, when it comes to modesty. And so when Allah, SubhanAllah, says, "Say to the believing men      to lower their gaze and to guard their private parts." And Allah, SubhanAllah,

**[15:44]** mentions the same for the women. There is the lowering of the gaze, which is the first hijab, the hijab of the eyes. And then there is the covering on the outside as well. And we should strive for that as believers. We should strive to make sure that we observe the spirit of what Allah, SubhanAllah, gave to us in terms of the modesty,

**[15:59]** the modesty in our behavior, the modesty in our dress, the modesty amongst ourselves, in every way whatsoever. So again, the Prophet, SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam, is mentioning a societal decline as a whole here. And that means that you have to see Am I on the consumer side, Am I on the consumer side, Am I on the consumer side,

**[16:14]** Am I on the consumer side, Am I on the consumer side, Am I on the consumer side, Am I on the funder side, Am I on the designer side, Am I an exploiter of this, In any way, Whatsoever. How do I, Stay away from, What Allah, SubhanAllah, Is diagnosing here, As societal decay. He said,

**[16:29]** SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, The worst of people, Will remain, That they would, Commit zina, The way that donkeys, Would commit zina, And the hour, Would be established, Upon them. So obviously, This is when, Haya', Completely, Disappears.

**[16:44]** In a society, Where zina itself, Becomes open. And so, Seduction, Inclination, Becomes open, In that regard.

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