Modesty implies sober and proper behaviour, whereby a person turns his eyes from and keeps at bay dislikeable matters. One of the manners of modest behaviour is to lower one’s gaze from something unsavoury and distasteful. It is akin to a shy behaviour. These traits were found in the behaviours of Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless and grant him peace.
Abu Said Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, described the shyness of the Prophet as being more modest than a reclusive virgin girl as the effect of any dislikeable thing was noticeable on his face.
He was a very sensitive person and would not utter any word that a person would not like to hear. He always took utmost care of the modesty of other persons. His wife Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, described the manner in which he would not take the name of a person who used unpalatable words or behaved badly. Instead, he would say, “What do you say about a person who does such a thing or says this?” Otherwise, he would simply forget and forbid that thing, protecting the name of the erring person.
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, described that once a person came with traces of a colour which the Prophet disliked. The Prophet did not utter any word that could frustrate that person. However, when the man left, he asked another person to ask that man to wash off that colour.
Ayesha, mother of believers, may Allah be pleased with her, said that the primary disposition of the Prophet was to ignore and forgive. He never used vulgar words or acted indecently, never shouted in the marketplace, neither did pay evil with evil.
It was his modesty that he avoided staring directly at someone’s face. Even to inordinately persistent persons he would address affectionately as, “father or mother of so and so.”