Thread: Concealing the faults of others
I begin with the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Today we live in a world where everyone is fast becoming a Ph.D holder. Where Ph.D stands for Pull him/her Down
If you analyze the trends on social media, you will see that those that entail pulling someone down are more frequent & attract more impressions. This is simply because of humans' degeneration such that they enjoy seeing others being dragged even though they dread that themselves
A bad news verified or unverified travels fast & reaches wider audience & viewers than a good one. If you were to report that someone has rescued ten kids from kidnappers it won't make much news as someone reported to have kidnapped ten kids. Some people thrive on negative news..
Some people are watching you and seeing all the good things you are doing but they don't like that, it needles them. The moment any negative news about you surfaces they share it and condemn you to Hell.
Some people or rather majority of people are always quick to affirm a negative news about others but always hesitant to affirm any good news about them. The heart is inclined to evil such that it gets sick when it hears good news about others.
Those that are known for doing good apparently are always the subject of attack by many because their apparent food exposes the evil of others. Pay attention to the choice of words here "apparent good" because only Allah knows the sincere and truthful ones.
Everyday on social media, it is one trend or the other and this has to involve attacking the honor of someone or peddling fake news about someone. These "dragging" as they call it has the potential of pushing the weak minded person into entertaining suicidal thoughts.
Why do people have so much interest in other people's downfall? The answer is a product of the state of mind of such people. If you are good hearted, you won't want to see others humiliated, if you are evil hearted, your survival will then depend on seeing others being humiliated
When someone accuses another person of theft or rape or anything heinous, the mediascape gets inundated with the news. But when the news turns out to be fake, nobody cares anymore. In fact, some will say, it is just a cover up bcs of the person involved. They prefer the fake news
As you desire for others, so will you have.
As Muslims, we pride ourselves with the impeccable teachings of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad peace be upon him. We ought to strive our utmost to reflect his teachings in our lives that we become a personification of excellent character, molded by spitual essence.
It is part of being a good Muslim to step in when the honor of your brother is put under disrepute especially if it involves what cannot be proven or has not been proven yet.
The Prophet SAW said: "Whoever conceals (the faults of) a Muslim, Allaah will conceal (his faults) in this life and the Hereafter." Narrated by Muslim.
None of us is without a fault, hence we should not be at the forefront of disclosing to the public the faults of others with the intention of humiliating them.
The Prophet SAW has emphasized much on this impeccable teaching of concealing the faults of others. For example in the Sunan of ibn Majah he was reported to have said:
"Whoever conceals his brother Muslim's private affairs will have Allaah conceal his private affairs on the Day of Resurrection.....
And whoever uncovers his brother Muslim's private affairs will have Allaah uncover his private affairs, to the point that He will expose what occurred in his house." This hadith has corroborative evidences hence it has been declared Sahih by al-Hilali (Eeqaadh) & al-Albani
Again, the Prophet SAW saod: "O gathering who believe with their tongues but faith has yet not entered I to their hearts, do not backbite the Muslims. And do not search for their private matters.......
Whoever searches for their private matters will have Allaah follow up his private matters. And whose private matters Allaah follows, He will expose him even (if his act were done) in his house. " Musnad of Ahmad declared Sahih by al-Albani in Sahih al-Jaami
One of the early scholars said: "I came across a people who had no (known) shortcomings. However, they would mention the shortcomings of the people and so then the people mentioned the shortcomings they had......
"I came across another people who had (known) shortcomings but they refrained from speaking about hre shortcomings of the people. Therefore, because of that, their shortcomings wwere forgotten." Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali quoted this in Jaami...
Brothers and sisters, if a person made a mistake, it is not good that his sin be told to everyone and he be made a spectacle. When a person is happy with such events, it is a sign that his faith has a shortcoming.
Malam @DrIsaPantami is not perfect but please kindly avoid spreading and concluding on unverified news that affect his honor and personality. If you can't pray for those that have been tested with power and authority then don't plunge them further into the pit of trial.
