The Meaning of "Ma'afay" in the Hadith: "All My Ummah Is Pardoned Except Those Who Commit Sins Openly"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, the commentator mentioned, regarding the hadith "Cursing a Muslim is open sinfulness," the hadithSahih al-Bukhari 6069. What is the meaning of "ma'afay" here?
Answer:
It means he is pardoned. "Ma'afay" means he is pardoned. If he covers himself, feels shy of Allah, and conceals his actions, then Allah pardons him. But if he commits the sin openly, that is evidence of his taking it lightly, and that Allah will not pardon him. It is also permissible—indeed, it is permissible—that this person who commits sins openly be reported to the people of hisbah (those who enforce religious norms) and the authorities, so that they can take action against him. In fact, this is obligatory, because this falls under forbidding what is wrong.
Honorable Shaykh, the commentator mentioned, regarding the hadith "Cursing a Muslim is open sinfulness," the hadith
All the sins of my followers will be forgiven except those of the Mujahirin
كُلُّ أُمَّتِي مُعَافًى إِلاَّ الْمُجَاهِرِينَAnswer:
It means he is pardoned. "Ma'afay" means he is pardoned. If he covers himself, feels shy of Allah, and conceals his actions, then Allah pardons him. But if he commits the sin openly, that is evidence of his taking it lightly, and that Allah will not pardon him. It is also permissible—indeed, it is permissible—that this person who commits sins openly be reported to the people of hisbah (those who enforce religious norms) and the authorities, so that they can take action against him. In fact, this is obligatory, because this falls under forbidding what is wrong.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب الرهب من مساوئ الأخلاق — islamhouse.com (1:12:11)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.