All of my Ummah may be forgiven except those who commit sin openly
Narrator in the source: Abu Hurayrah reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah say:
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "All of my Ummah may be forgiven except those who commit sin openly. One kind of committing sin openly is when one commits something during the night, then the morning comes and Allah has screened it, but he says: 'O So-and-so, last night, I did such-and-such.' Though he spent the night screened by his Lord (none knowing about his sin), in the morning he removes Allah's screen from himself."- Grade in the source
- Authentic
- Reported by
- Agreed upon
- Source entry
- HadeethEnc · 3756 ↗
Original Arabic wording
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: «كُلُّ أُمَّتِي مُعَافًى إِلَّا المُجَاهِرِينَ، وَإِنَّ مِنَ المُجَاهَرَةِ أَنْ يَعْمَلَ الرَّجُلُ بِاللَّيْلِ عَمَلًا، ثُمَّ يُصْبِحَ وَقَدْ سَتَرَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ، فَيَقُولَ: يَا فُلاَنُ، عَمِلْتُ البَارِحَةَ كَذَا وَكَذَا، وَقَدْ بَاتَ يَسْتُرُهُ رَبُّهُ، وَيُصْبِحُ يَكْشِفُ سِتْرَ اللَّهِ عَنْهُ».Understand this hadith
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that it is hoped for the Muslim sinner to be pardoned and forgiven by Allah except for the one who declares his sin out of boastfulness and rudeness. Such a person does not deserve pardon as he sins at night, then, although Allah conceals his sin, in the morning, he tells others of committing such-and-such sin the night before. He spends his night screened by his Lord, but he removes Allah's screen in the morning and exposes himself.
Lessons from the hadith
- The hideousness of publicizing sin after being concealed by Allah Almighty.
- Publicizing sins entails spreading immorality among Muslims.
- Whomever Allah screens in this life, He will screen in the Hereafter, which is a manifestation of Allah's extensive mercy towards His slaves.
- Whoever is afflicted with a sin must cover himself and repent to Allah.
- The terrible guilt of those who publicize sins on purpose and who, therefore, miss the chance of being forgiven.
References (original Arabic)
صحيح البخاري (8/ 20) (6069). صحيح مسلم (4/ 2291) (2990). شرح رياض الصالحين، لابن عثيمين (3/ 15). منار القاري شرح مختصر صحيح البخاري، لحمزة قاسم (5/ 251). بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين، لسليم الهلالي (1/ 329). نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين، مجموعة من الباحثين (1/ 255).