The Qur'an condemns those who conceal themselves from people when committing sins, and the Sunnah commands veiling oneself and not being open about them; how are these reconciled?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace.
The questioner : May Allah forgive you, O Shaykh. The Noble Qur'an condemns those who conceal themselves from people when committing sins:[An-Nisa 4:108], and the Sunnah commands veiling oneself and not being open about them. How are these reconciled?
The Shaykh : The reconciliation is that this refers to the hypocrites. When the hypocrites are together, they plot what does not please Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but when they are with people, they display the best of themselves and claim to be Muslims.
As for the believing sinner, if he is afflicted with a sin, it is better that he not be open about it and not tell anyone, but rather veil himself with Allah's veil and repent to Allah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 6069. Those who are open about their sins are those who commit evil deeds and then, in the morning, talk to people about what they did. So whoever commits any of these filthy acts, let him veil himself with Allah's veil, let him repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and let him not tell anyone.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace.
The questioner : May Allah forgive you, O Shaykh. The Noble Qur'an condemns those who conceal themselves from people when committing sins:
They conceal [their evil intentions and deeds] from the people, but they cannot conceal [them] from Allah
يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلا يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِThe Shaykh : The reconciliation is that this refers to the hypocrites. When the hypocrites are together, they plot what does not please Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but when they are with people, they display the best of themselves and claim to be Muslims.
As for the believing sinner, if he is afflicted with a sin, it is better that he not be open about it and not tell anyone, but rather veil himself with Allah's veil and repent to Allah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: