Hadeeth: Whoever Conceals the Faults of a Muslim, Allah Will Conceal His Faults

19-10-2021 | IslamWeb

Question:

As-Salamu Alaikum,My question is about the interpretation of the Prophetic Hadeeth on "Satr". "من ستر مسلما في الدنيا ستره الله في الدنيا و الاخره what exactly the is the definition of "Satr" in this life or dunia? By the grace of ALLAH, I spent a good part of my life financially assisting my brother

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Hadeeth that reads: “Whoever conceals (the faults of) a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults” was reported by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi and Ibn Majah, with different wordings.

The meaning of concealing means covering his sins and not disclosing them. It was also said that he covers the person’s body, meaning he clothed him with a garment that covers his ‘Awrah. There is no objection in interpreting the Hadeeth with both meanings.

Ibn Hajar said in Fat’h al-Baari: “His saying: ‘And whoever conceals a Muslim; i.e., sees him committing a sin, and he did not disclose it to the people.” [End of quote]

Tuhfatul-Ahwadhi reads:

“And whoever conceals a Muslim, that is to say when he did an evil deed, and he does not expose him, or clothes him with a garment, then Allah conceals him; i.e., his sins or his ‘Awrah.” [End of quote]

Tuhfatul-Ahwadhi also reads:

“Whoever conceals a Muslim, that is to say his body or his sin by not backbiting him and by not revealing his sins.” [End of quote]

Besides, Mur’aat al-Mafaateeh reads:

“And whoever conceals a Muslim, that is to say with a garment, or by avoiding disclosing his situation after seeing him committing a sin.” [End of quote]

Moreover, al-Mafaateeh Sharh al-Masaabeeh reads:

“His saying: ‘Whoever conceals a Muslim’, this may have two meanings:

Firstly: That he sees a man committing an evil deed, so he covers him and does not expose him.

Secondly, that is to say to clothe a Muslim with a garment.” [End of quote]

This is the summary of what the scholars have mentioned regarding what is meant by the concealment mentioned in the Hadeeth.

As regards what you have mentioned regarding your help to your brother, then this is one of the best acts of good deeds and keeping ties with kinship. Indeed, the continuation of the Hadeeth that you asked about reads:

“And whoever makes it easy for the one who is indebted to him (while finding it difficult to repay), Allah will make it easy for him in this worldly life and in the Hereafter, and Allah helps His Slave as long as he helps his fellow brother.” [Muslim and at-Tirmithi, and this is the wording of the latter]

Allah Knows best.