Announcing Your Sins

It’s almost amazing how things change. Not only do things cease to remain the same, but before we know it, we are looking at the opposite side of the coin. Many times we feel as though we are not only following, rather closely adhering to a certain set of traditions. When we stop and look at what we are claiming to be upon, and that which we are really doing, we find it is the exact opposite in many ways. This is why we have to be constantly looking at ourselves and evaluating our statements and actions, so that we don’t look up one day and have completely left off and opposed that which we have been bragging about holding onto for so long.

A perfect example of this is how we feel about our sins and transgressions against that which Allah has ordained. Look at what The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) taught his companions about how they should feel about their sins and what they should do with them.

عَنْ سَالِمِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ – صلى الله عليه وسلم – يَقُولُ « كُلُّ أُمَّتِى مُعَافًى إِلاَّ الْمُجَاهِرِينَ ، وَإِنَّ مِنَ الْمَجَانَةِ أَنْ يَعْمَلَ الرَّجُلُ بِاللَّيْلِ عَمَلاً ، ثُمَّ يُصْبِحَ وَقَدْ سَتَرَهُ اللَّهُ ، فَيَقُولَ يَا فُلاَنُ عَمِلْتُ الْبَارِحَةَ كَذَا وَكَذَا ، وَقَدْ بَاتَ يَسْتُرُهُ رَبُّهُ وَيُصْبِحُ يَكْشِفُ سِتْرَ اللَّهِ عَنْهُ »

 رواه البجاري 

On the authority of Saalim bin Abdillah, he said that I heard Aba Hurairah say I heard the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say – “All of my Ummah will be forgiven except those who sin openly. It is a part of sinning openly when a man does something at night, then the following morning when Allah has concealed his sin, he says, ‘O So and so, I did such and such last night,’ when all night his Lord has concealed him and the next morning he uncovers what Allah had concealed.”

[Related by Imaam al Bukhari]

So you see here that the teachings of Islam have instructed us to hide our sins. We are not to be bragging and boasting about them. Making known to the people, even our friends our transgressions is something that is sternly worn against in Islam. Now if we do not do this with someone that we are so called confiding in, how much more should we stay away from doing these things publicly, in public forums, and even on the internet? Do you think that those that we say were upon the clearest of guidance would have done these things you see being a normal practice today? Or do you think they would have clung closely to the practice of hiding the sins they committed which Allah has concealed form the people?

We have been commanded as you see from the aforementioned hadeeth that we should not be taking part in this despicable practice. If we find that Allah has blessed us by not allowing the world to come across our sins, then it is not our place to reveal them to anyone. Rather we should just seek repentance buy leaving that sin and asking that Allah forgive and pardon us for that sin. Look at the advice our esteemed Scholar Sheikh bin Baaz gave on this issue:

Sheikh bin Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said in a set of lectures called ‘Nur aala ad Darb’:

“That which is an obligation upon every Muslim is that they cover the sins that they have committed, which Allah has kept hidden from the people. They are not to display it or announce it to the people. Rather they are to use the covering that Allah has placed over them and seek repentance.”

And the proof from the statement of Allah, that this is the correct practice is where He stated in His book:

{ إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ، وَآمَنَ، وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا، فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ، وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا }

 [الفرقان: 70]

 {Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.}

[25:70]

We ask that Allah continue to guide us all to the straight path and pardon us all for our sins… Allahuma ameen.