Chapter: Al-Ghaira (i.e. honour, prestige or self-respect)

The Prophet, said, "There is none having a greater sense of Ghira than Allah. And for that He has forbidden the doing of evil actions (illegal sexual intercourse etc.) There is none who likes to be praised more than Allah does."

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "O followers of Muhammad! There is none, who has a greater sense of Ghira (self-respect) than Allah, so He has forbidden that His slave commits illegal sexual intercourse or His slave girl commits illegal sexual intercourse. O followers of Muhammad! If you but knew what I know, you would laugh less and weep more!"

I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, "There is nothing (none) having a greater sense of Ghira (self-respect) than Allah." And narrated Abu Huraira that he heard the Prophet (saying the same).

The Prophet; said, "Allah has a sense of Ghira, and Allah's sense of Ghira is provoked when a believer does something which Allah has prohibited."

When Az-Zubair married me, he had no real property or any slave or anything else except a camel which drew water from the well, and his horse. I used to feed his horse with fodder and drew water and sew the bucket for drawing it, and prepare the dough, but I did not know how to bake bread. So our Ansari neighbors used to bake bread for me, and they were honorable ladies. I used to carry the date stones on my head from Zubair's land given to him by Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and this land was two third Farsakh (about two miles) from my house. One day, while I was coming with the date stones on my head, I met Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) along with some Ansari people. He called me and then, (directing his camel to kneel down) said, "Ikh! Ikh!" so as to make me ride behind him (on his camel). I felt shy to travel with the men and remembered Az-Zubair and his sense of Ghira, as he was one of those people who had the greatest sense of Ghira. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) noticed that I felt shy, so he proceeded. I came to Az-Zubair and said, "I met Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) while I was carrying a load of date stones on my head, and he had some companions with him. He made his camel kneel down so that I might ride, but I felt shy in his presence and remembered your sense of Ghira (See the glossary). On that Az-Zubair said, "By Allah, your carrying the date stones (and you being seen by the Prophet (ﷺ) in such a state) is more shameful to me than your riding with him." (I continued serving in this way) till Abu Bakr sent me a servant to look after the horse, whereupon I felt as if he had set me free.

While the Prophet (ﷺ) was in the house of one of his wives, one of the mothers of the believers sent a meal in a dish. The wife at whose house the Prophet (ﷺ) was, struck the hand of the servant, causing the dish to fall and break. The Prophet (ﷺ) gathered the broken pieces of the dish and then started collecting on them the food which had been in the dish and said, "Your mother (my wife) felt jealous." Then he detained the servant till a (sound) dish was brought from the wife at whose house he was. He gave the sound dish to the wife whose dish had been broken and kept the broken one at the house where it had been broken.

The Prophet, said, "I entered Paradise and saw a palace and asked whose palace is this? They (the Angels) said, "This palace belongs to `Umar bin Al-Khattab.' I intended to enter it, and nothing stopped me except my knowledge about your sense of Ghira (self-respect (O `Umar)." `Umar said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you! O Allah's Prophet! How dare I think of my Ghira (self-respect) being offended by you?"

While we were sitting with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), (he) Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "While I was sleeping, I saw a woman performing ablution beside a palace. I asked, "Whose palace is this?' It was said, 'This palace belongs to `Umar.' Then I remembered his sense of Ghira and returned." On that `Umar started weeping in that gathering and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! How dare I think of my self-respect being offended by you?"