Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates this statement of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him: "Faith has more than sixty branches, and modesty is a branch of faith."

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) Sulaiman bin Bilal has narrated this tradition in a summarized form; he did not mention the highest and the lowest branches. He sufficed with mentioning only sixty instead of seventy, whereas in the narration, seventy and some branches are also transmitted. And this is such a narration that is detailed and authentic; there is no doubt about its authenticity. The narration transmitted by Sulaiman bin Bilal is brief and not detailed. As for the word "bid‘" (and some), it is a noun that applies to any one of the parts of numbers, because the basis of calculation is on three things: numbers, divisions, and composition. As for numbers, they are from one to nine. As for divisions, they are tens, hundreds, and thousands. As for composition, it is whatever is besides what we have mentioned (that is composition). I kept researching the meaning of this narration for a long time. The reason is this: our religion is that whatever the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, has said, he has said it for some benefit. And in your way, there is nothing whose meaning is unknown. So I started counting the good deeds from faith, and they were much more than this number. Then I turned to the Sunnah and started counting all those good deeds which the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, counted as parts of faith, and they were seventy and some less than that. Then I turned to the speech of the Lord between the two covers (i.e., the Qur'an), I read every verse carefully and counted every good deed which Allah Almighty mentioned in relation to faith, and they were also seventy and some less than that. Then I combined the book with the Sunnah and omitted those things that were repeated among them, so everything that Allah Almighty counted as a part of faith in His Book, and every good deed which the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, counted as a part of faith in his Sunnah, they were nineteen branches. Neither more nor less than that. So I realized that the meaning of this narration of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is: seventy and some branches of faith are transmitted in the Book and the Sunnah. So I have mentioned this issue completely, along with the mention of the branches of faith, in the chapter of the description of faith and its branches. I hope that this will suffice for the person who reflects, and now I do not need to mention this discussion here again. The evidence that there are parts regarding the branches of faith is the statement of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, which is transmitted in the narration from Abdullah bin Dinar: "Faith has seventy and some branches, the highest of which is to testify that there is no god but Allah." So the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned one part of the branches of faith, which is obligatory upon all addressed people in all circumstances, because the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, did not say: that I am the Messenger of Allah, or to believe in the angels, His books, His messengers, or in Paradise, or in Hell, and other such things are among the parts of this branch. Rather, the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, sufficed with only one part among them. He said: Its highest branch is "to testify that there is no god but Allah." This indicates that all these parts belong to this branch; all of them are part of faith. Then he made a conjunction and used the word "wa" (and) and said: The lowest of them is to remove something harmful from the road. So the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned one part of its branches, which is voluntary, and for all addressed people at all times, it is considered voluntary, and this indicates that all the parts that belong to this branch, and among all the branches between these two mentioned parts, each part is mentioned in these two narrations, which are the highest and the lowest ranks of faith. All of these are part of faith. As for the statement of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him: "Modesty is a branch of faith," these are such words whose application to something is by way of allusion to its cause. Its form is such that it is an instinct that exists in a person; some people have more of it, and some have less. So this is clear evidence that faith increases and decreases. The reason is: all people are not at the same level regarding modesty, so when it is impossible for people to be equal in one level of faith, then it is correct that the one who has more of it, his faith will be more, and the one who has less of it, his faith will be less. So his faith will be deficient, and modesty, in its existence, is such a thing that becomes a barrier between a person and that which distances him from his Lord and is related to forbidden things. So it is as if the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, has considered abandoning forbidden things as a branch of faith, and for this, he has used the word modesty, as we have mentioned earlier.