What is the criterion for the sin that stirs in the chest?

The questioner : I would like to speak about the hadith that says: Is this hadith authentic?

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : But I mean, are there no criteria? Because the sin that stirs in the soul, in my soul, it might be different for others; perhaps no one else’s sin stirs in me.

The Shaykh: Perfect.

The questioner : So what are the criteria for one to know about sin? It is possible that this is in the heart of a believer, but what about us? We used to do things in the past that we did not consider sins, but now we consider them sins.

The Shaykh : This evidence is a sign of good news that the Muslim is in a state of continuous elevation toward a perfection that has no end for human beings. In reality, sin is a relative matter, just like the acts of obedience explicitly mentioned in the Sunnah. In the recent past, we would dwell on the hadith and say that this hadith, regarding that Companion and his like, is sufficient for them to be among the successful on the Day of Resurrection. But for the Muslims of today, it is not sufficient for them to limit themselves to the obligatory acts. We brought a hadith in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So we distinguished between the person who performs the obligatory acts as Allah has legislated them and another person who does not perform these obligatory acts as Allah has legislated them. We tell these people: increase in voluntary acts so that you may make up for what you have missed of the perfection of the obligatory. Now, this issue or this question is related to such a detail. The sin that stirs in the soul and one hates for people to know about it—this is the meaning of sin. It means the sin for which the Muslim may not be held accountable; the Muslim is not held accountable for it, but he asks himself, "Do you think this is a sin or not?" This questioning is proof that this questioner has strong faith, and therefore such a questioning has occurred in his heart regarding some matters. Here comes another hadith, which is a well-known authentic hadith: And the other hadith is So to whom is this address directed? And the rest of the address mentioned in the hadith referred to earlier, which is is for a selected elite of people, not for the general public.