. J ࢁ e u (cont.)

Therefore, if any of you is going to wash himself, he should conceal himself." Allah is greatly modest, and He is, for example, shy to refuse someone who stretches out his hands to Him in supplication. But His hayaa' is not related to any fear of anyone's reprisal or rebuke, as it is in the case of many humans. He does not fear anyone and He is not in need of any of His creation. 2 Instead, it is only due to His own attribute of hayaa'. He also has hayaa' when sins are committed and falsehood perpetrated. He is also al-Sateer (_»i...l) and loves for sins to be concealed and not made public and spread about. This is an example of an attribute that Allah loves for His servant to also possess-- although in a form that cannot be considered comparable to Allah's own attribute. lbn al-Qayyim once wrote, Whoever has the same attribute as one of the attributes of Allah [although the nature of the attributes are completely different], that attribute will lead the person by its tight reins; it will allow him to enter upon His lord and bring him closer to His mercy. He will become beloved to Allah. This is because 1 When it is said that it is one of the attributes of Allah, it means in a way that is unique to Allah and befitting His majesty and grandeur. Hence, it is not to say that hayaa' is an attribute of Allah in the same way that a human being may have that attribute. Furthermore, not every attribute can be translated into a name of Allah. There is a difference of opinion concerning whether or not al­ Hayyi should be considered one of the names of Allah. For example, al-Baihaqi and ibn Uthaimeen included this name as one of the names of Allah while ibn Munduh, al-Isbahaani, ibn Hazm, ibn al-Arabi, ibn al-Wazeer and ibn Hajr did not. See Abdullah al-Ghasn, Asmaa Allahu al-Husna (Riyadh: Daar al-Watn, 1417 A.H.), p. 360. 2 Ahmad al-Baihaqi, Kitaab al-Asmaa wa al-Sifaat (Beirut: Daar al-Kutub al-Arabi, 1985), vol. 1 , p. 158. Hadith #20: "If you feel no shame, then . . . " Allah is merciful and He loves those who are merciful; He is generous and He loves those who are generous; He is All­ Knowing and He loves those with knowledge; He is strong and He loves the strong believer who he is more beloved to Him than the weak believer; He is Hayyi [the One with extreme hayaa'] and He loves the people of hayaa'; He is beautiful and He loves the people of beauty; He is odd [the One, being an odd number] and He loves the people who perform the prayer with the odd number ofrakats [the Witr Prayer].1 Having Hayaa · Towards Allah There are many different ways in which hayaa' should show itself. Most importantly, however, one should have hayaa' with respect to Allah. A person should be ashamed to have Allah see him doing something that is displeasing to Allah. He should be ashamed in front of Allah, for example, when he does not perform his prayer in the proper time and in the proper manner. If a person has a complete hayaa' of Allah, he would not perform any act that is displeasing to Allah. He would be too ashamed of ever doing something of that nature. In fact, he should have more hayaa' toward Allah than toward any of the creation. This is because everything he possesses has come to him as a blessing from Allah and He knows that Allah is aware of everything that he does. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has ordered Muslims to have the proper hayaa' towards Allah. He said, "Have hayaa' towards Allah in the correct manner of hayaa'." The Companions said, "O Messenger of Allah, we are bashful towards Allah, and to Allah is the praise." The Prophet (peace be upon him) then told them, "This is not what is meant. The hayaa' towards Allah which is the true hayaa' is for a 1 lbn al-Qayyim, Al-Jawaab al-Kaafi, p. 77. lbn al-Qayyim made that statement in the middle of a passage concerning the evil effects of sins. After stating the above, he said, "If sins and acts of disobedience did not carry with them any other effect than the mere fact that they make the person go against those attributes of Allah, that would be enough of an evil result." Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi person to be mindful of his head and what it contains, 1 and of his stomach and the [bodily parts] close to it,2 and to remember death and disintegration. And whoever desires the Hereafter abandons the beautification of this world.