Explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "

The reciter: The author (may Allah be pleased with him) quoted in: "The Chapter on Scrupulousness and Avoiding Doubtful Matters:
From al-Nu'as ibn Sim'an (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said:

Righteouness is good behaviour, and sin is what fluctuates in your chest, and you would hate that the people discovered it about you.

البر حسن الخلق والإثم ما حاك في نفسك، وكرهت أن يطلع عليه الناس

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2389Sahih (Darussalam)

Narrated by Muslim.
And from Wabisa ibn Ma'bad (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said:

Have you come to ask about righteousness and sin, Wabisa?” When he replied that he had, he joined his fingers and striking his breast with them said, “Ask yourself for a decision, ask your heart for a decision (saying it three times). Righteousness is that with which the soul is tranquil and the heart is tranquil, but sin is that which rouses suspicion in the soul and is perplexing in the breast, even if people give you a decision in its favour.”

جئت تسأل عن البر ؟ قلت: نعم، فقال: استفت قلبك، البر: ما اطمأنت إليه النفس، واطمأن إليه القلب، والإثم ما حاك في النفس وتردد في الصدر وإن أفتاك الناس وأفتوك

Mishkat al-Masabih 2774

, a good hadith, narrated by Ahmad and al-Darimi in their Musnads ".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
The author, al-Hafiz al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin* in: "The Chapter on Scrupulousness and Avoiding Doubtful Matters: From al-Nu'as ibn Sim'an (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said:

Righteousness is good character and sin is what gnaws at your conscience and that which you dislike for other people to become aware of.

البر حسن الخلق والإثم ما تردد في نفسك، وكرهت أن يطلع عليه الناس

Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 14:37

": So his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): : means that good character is part of righteousness, which falls under the saying of Allah the Exalted: , and good character exists in the worship of Allah, and it exists in dealing with the servants of Allah. So good character in the worship of Allah is that a person receives the commands of Allah with an open chest and a settled soul, and he does so with complete submission, without hesitation, without doubt, and without grumbling. He performs the prayer in congregation, submitting to it; he performs the ablution on cold days, submitting to it; he gives charity from his wealth in the form of zakah, submitting to it; he fasts in Ramadan, submitting to it; he performs Hajj, submitting to it.
And as for dealing with people, it is that he performs dutifulness to parents, maintaining family ties, good neighborliness, and giving sincere advice in dealings, and other such things, while his chest is open and his mind is broad. He does not feel constrained by them and does not grumble about them. So if you know from yourself that you are in this state, then you are among the people of righteousness.
As for sin, it is that a person hesitates about something and doubts it, and his soul does not find comfort in it. This applies to one whose soul is settled and satisfied with the Shari'ah of Allah. As for the people of open sinfulness and lewdness, they do not hesitate about sins. You find a person among them committing a sin with his chest open to it, may Allah protect us from that, and he does not care about it. But the person of good who has been granted success in righteousness is the one who hesitates about something in his soul and does not find peace in it, and it nags at his chest. This is sin. And the position of a person regarding this is to leave it and abandon it for something in which his soul finds peace, and in which there is no distress in his chest. This is scrupulousness. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: : even if a scholar gives you a ruling that this is permissible, but your soul does not find peace in it and does not open to it, then leave it. For this is from good and righteousness. Except if you know that there is a sickness in your soul of obsessive doubt and hesitation regarding what Allah has made lawful, then do not pay attention to that. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is addressing people, or speaking, in the manner that is free from sicknesses, meaning: there is no sickness in the heart of the person. For righteousness is what the soul finds peace in, and sin is what nags at the chest and what one dislikes for people to see about it. And success is from Allah.