Concealing the faults of your brother/ sister:

Islamic manners:

Concealing the faults of the Muslims and refraining from finding fault in them and pursuing their mistakes and lapses is another example of the refined morals with which our glorious Sharee‘ah is adorned. Verily, the infallible person is the one whom Allah grants infallibility. 

No matter how pious and righteous a Muslim may be, he is still liable to error. 

He might commit a sin; however, he dislikes his neglect in fulfilling the rights of Allah and hates that people be aware of his error and negligence. 

So if a Muslim sees or learns of his fellow Muslim’s faults, he should conceal them rather than expose them, without neglecting the duty of offering him sincere advice and reminding him of Allah.

The virtue of such concealing of faults was reported in the Sunnah. 

It was narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Prophet peace be upon him said: “Whoever conceals the fault of his Muslim brother, Allah will conceal his fault on the Day of Judgment.” [Ibn Maajah]

Meanwhile, pursuing people’s faults is repulsive to the sound human nature as well as forbidden by the Sharee‘ah. Stern warnings against it were reported in the Sharee‘ah texts. 

It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him once ascended the pulpit and called out with a raised voice: “O you who accepted Islam with his tongue while faith has not reached his heart! Do not harm Muslims, nor disgrace them, nor spy on them to expose their secrets. 

For indeed whoever pursues his  Muslim brother’s faults, Allah will pursue his faults and expose him, even if he were in the depths of his house.” 

#Faults #Exposing #Hadith

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