MCC Tucson Lectures
Muslim Community Center of Tucson
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June 6, 2026·Dhuʻl-Hijjah 20, 1447 AH·9:15 PM·17m·Saturday-Isha

When Shame Disappears, What Remains?

The Hadith of Shame: Understanding "If You Have No Shame, Then Do As You Choose" from Al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah

hadithshameislamic ethicsprophetic traditional-nawawispiritual transformationislamic characterjawami al-kalim
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Summary

This lecture discusses the importance of concise, memorable sayings in Islam, similar to common idioms like "better safe than sorry." Sh. Ali Mashhour explains that the Prophet Muhammad was given the miracle of jawami' al-kalim (comprehensive speech in brief terms), allowing him to convey profound meanings in few words. The lecture focuses on a specific hadith from Al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah (The 40 Hadith of al-Nawawi): "If you have no shame, then do as you choose." Sh. Ali Mashhour explains this hadith can be understood both positively (as a test of one's sincere intentions before Allah) and negatively (as a warning that loss of shame leads to sin). A remarkable story is shared about a student who was transformed by hearing this hadith from the great hadith scholar Shu'bah, which inspired him to become a devoted student of Imam Malik for 20 years.

Transcript

Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.

That are very short. The sentences are short. The words are brief. However, the meaning is all-encompassing and extensive. And most usually with these types of narrations, you can apply it to every single narration. Excuse me, you can apply it to every single situation. They are brief words to live by. They're what we refer to as idioms or songs or what we refer to as sayings. All of us as human beings, when we go to make a decision decision, whether it be a an immediate decision, whether it be a decision that is brief consciously or subconsciously, we always refer to rules of thumb to help us make these decisions. For instance, one of the sayings is one of the sayings that many of us know is better safe than better safe than what? Than sorry. Better safe than sorry, right? This helps a person choose whether safety is the most important choice or pleasure or discomfort or what have you. We have other sayings such as we have things better safe than sorry or don't count your chickens before they hatch, right? Which means deal with the situation as it presents itself. Don't put Don't put your eggs all in one basket, right? We all know these sayings. And these sayings have a profound impact on the way we make decisions. Whether we believe that or not, each one of these sayings, the reason we've memorized them and we say them and oftentimes quote them to each other at critical moments of decision, at decisive moments, the reason is is that these sayings represent an all-encompassing rule. A rule that if you rely on it, you will most likely make the correct decision. That's the point of this. What's sad to see is that many Muslims have not memorized or learned these sayings of the prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam or of the Quran. We have a lot of them, but we have the best idioms, the greatest of Psalms and the best parables. And so when a person reads a verse, many verses of the Quran, you'll notice that they're not really, really long. They're short. Just brief sentences. When you open a book of Hadith, you'll notice that most of the prophet's words and narrations are brief. Why? Because he wants them to be memorized. Because if a person's words are too many, it'd be difficult to memorize them. It'd be difficult to understand them. And so one of his miracles that he was given was a miracle that that he says what jawami' al-kalim. And I have been given the exten- extensive, expansive, most comprehensive word knowledge in the shortest of terms. This is called jawami' al-kalim. Good example of this from the Quran such as for instance. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, "And no soul shall bear the burden of any other soul." This is an idiom. This is something that Allah repeats through the Quran in order to in order that it be committed to memory. and so forth. Here we have one of these narrations. And this is a narration that al-Nawawi placed in his book of 40 Hadith. If you want to ask, "What is a book that compiles these idioms?" a book of narrations that are handpicked to serve exactly this purpose. Just like we have, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Better safe than sorry. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Just between you and you and me and the fence post." Stuff that that we say. What do we have in that vein that is provided by the scholars of Islam? Well, the the book that all of us know that first comes to mind and that was made and written for that purpose exactly is which book? Who knows? Huh? Al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah. The 40 narrations of al-Hafidh al-Nawawi. They were later completed as 50 narrations by al-Hafidh ibn Rajab. And that is the entire purpose of that book. That those 42 narrations, and if you add the eight narrations of Rajab, those 50 narrations, every single ruling in Islam can be rooted back to one of those narrations. This is why it is the first book traditionally memorized by the students of Hadith. And this narration is one of those narrations in the 40 40 narrations. It's on the authority of.

[Arabic recitation]

Al-Ansari. Not to be confused with Ibn Mas'ud. Ibn Mas'ud is a different He is a Muhajir. Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari, he's also referred to as Abu Mas'ud al-Badri. He narrates to us that the prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said,.

[Silence]

These This narration tells us that this statement, this idiom, is just It's five words. This sentence is a wisdom that every prophet has has brought to his people. And we have in the Quran many of that. Surah al-A'la for instance, the meanings of Surah al-A'la are found in the revelations of every single prophet. Every prophet and messenger, especially Ibrahim and Musa alayhim as-salam. The end of Surah an-Najm is this as well. Abu Abu Mas'ud al-Badri narrates that the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa SALLAM SAID, "OF THE sayings of the idioms that the earlier prophets brought and the people had received is the is the statement idha lam tastahi fasna' ma shi't. If you have no shame, then do as you choose. Do as you please. This narration has been collected by Imam al-Bukhari. If you have no shame, do as you please. This narration, ironically, can be understood in the positive and the negative. It could be understood that if in your heart of hearts you do not feel shame in doing this, and had it been public, you would still do it. If that is how you feel about it in your heart of hearts, then it is probably halal. That is only for the Muslim, of course. If a person does a sin long enough, it will become joyous. It will become something that is very common. It will become something that is something to boast about. That's not what's intended here. What's intended is as a Muslim with a pure heart who worships Allah and seeks Allah's approval, if you go to do something and you feel that this thing had it been public, had the prophet himself been watching me as I do this, I would still feel comfortable doing it, then it is most likely okay. And we have a other narrations that support this. The prophet Alayhi Wasallam was once asked about a general definition of evil. What is sinfulness? What is evil? He said, He said evil, sinfulness is what irritates you in your heart and you would hate that people see you do this or say this or believe this. That is sinfulness. This is for the Muslim. Right? So that is one meaning of the narration. Ironically, the exact opposite can be understood from the narration as well. Meaning the last element of faith to depart from a person's heart is shame. And if you have no shame, you'll do anything. Shame is the last barrier between humanity and debauchery. Humanity and complete misguidance. The most foul of things, they occur because shame doesn't exist. When a person had does had does not have shame anymore, this person will delve and and and indulge in every kind of debauchery and sinfulness because they have no shame. An interesting story regarding this narration is that this narration is the only narration that one of the great students of Imam Malik rahimahullah who is referred to as Bundar he is one of the greatest students of Imam Malik. He heard this narration from Shu'bah. Shu'bah is considered to be Imam al-Mu'minin Amir al-Mu'minin fil-Hadith. Shu'bah is Imam al-Bukhari of his time. He's one of the greatest memorizers of Hadith in the entire ummah. Now this student who wasn't a student at the time he was drinking with his friends. And as they were on the street in Baghdad in Baghdad in Iraq they saw a man riding a donkey with thousands of people around him escorting him to the gates of the city. He was leaving. He was going on some some kind of travel. And they observed this and they thought, "Who is this superstar? I mean, he's he's not a king, he's not an emperor, he's riding a donkey. Right? Who is this person?" And so he elbows his way through the crowd and stands right in front of the donkey and stops the entire procession, the entire parade. The amount of gall and arrogance it takes to be that, to to elbow your way into the into the center of the crowd and and draw all attention to yourself and a clown. And so he stands in front of this donkey and who is upon this donkey? Shu'bah. And he says to him, "Who are you? What is all this?" They said to him, "This is Shu'bah." He's one of the great narrators of Hadith. He said, "Who is Shu'bah?" They said, "Muhaddith." A person who narrates. He said, He then haddithna. He said, "Okay, so tell me a Hadith then. If you're a muhaddith, you're a narrator, narrate to me. Let's hear it." And so Shu'bah says to him, Itha lam tastahi fasna ma shi't. If you have no shame, you'll do anything. this. Look at you. And so he was struck by this statement. It cut him deep. He never heard words profound this. In a few words, he completely gave a different perspective on this. He was trying to impress his friends. And after this, the words affected him so deeply that he quit his vices and traveled He asked, "Who is the greatest scholar of our time?" He was told, "Malik ibn Anas." "Where is Malik ibn Anas?" "He's in Medina." He left for Medina and he spent the next 20 years in Medina and became the most prominent student of Al-Hafidh Malik ibn Anas Rahimahullah. And so, as he learned and studied, he started to realize who Shu'bah really is. So, he left after 20 years with Imam Malik back to Baghdad to find Shu'bah. Because as a muhaddith, now he understands that Malik is a student of Shu'bah and he had the source right there. But he was too ignorant to know that. He went back and found that Shu'bah had passed away. Rahimahullah Ta'ala. And so, this is the only narration that he has from Shu'bah. Idha lam tastahi fasna' ma shi'ta.

[Arabic recitation]

Wa karamihi wa judih an yu'allimana ma.

[Arabic recitation]

An taghfiralana wa tarhamana wa tatuba.

[Arabic recitation]

Fitnatan faqbidna ilaik ghaira maftunin.

[Arabic recitation]

Ashabihi ajma'in. Walhamdulillah Rabbil Alamin. Wa iyyak. Let me tell you something.

[Silence]

[Arabic recitation]