Chapter on the Prohibition of Spying: Allah the Exalted said: “And do not spy.”

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He said, may Allah have mercy on him: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Investigating People. Allah the Exalted said:

And do not spy.

ولا تجسسوا

And He said:

And those who harm believing men and believing women for [something] other than what they have earned have certainly born upon themselves a slander and manifest sin.

والذين يؤذون المؤمنين والمؤمنات بغير ما اكتسبوا فقد احتملوا بهتانا وإثما مبينا

[Al-Ahzab 33:58]

From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the falsest of speech. Do not probe, do not spy, do not compete, do not envy, do not hate, do not turn away from one another, and be the servants of Allah as brothers, as He has commanded you. A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim; he does not wrong him, nor does he leave him in distress, nor does he look down on him. Taqwa is here, taqwa is here, and he pointed to his chest. It is sufficient for a person to do evil by looking down on his Muslim brother. Every Muslim is forbidden to another Muslim: his blood, his honor, and his wealth. Indeed, Allah does not look at your bodies, nor at your appearances, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds.

إياكم والظن فإن الظن أكذب الحديث ولا تحسسوا ولا تجسسوا ولا تنافسوا ولا ولا تحاسدوا ولا تباغضوا ولا تدابروا وكونوا عباد الله إخوانا كما أمركم المسلم أخو المسلم لا يظلمه ولا يخذله ولا يحقره التقوى هاهنا التقوى هاهنا ويشير إلى صدره بحسب امرء من الشر أن يحقر أخاه المسلم كل المسلم على المسلم حرام دمه وعرضه وماله إن الله لا ينظر إلى أجسادكم ولا إلى صوركم ولكن ينظر إلى قلوبكم وأعمالكم

In another narration:

Don't nurse malice against one another, don't nurse aversion against one another and don't be inquisitive about one another and don't outbid one another (with a view to raising the price) and be fellow-brothers and servants of Allah.

لا تحاسدوا ولا تباغضوا ولا تجسسوا ولا تحسسوا ولا تناجشوا وكونوا عباد الله إخوانا

Sahih Muslim 2563c

In another narration:

Do not cut off one another, nor desert one another, nor hate one another, nor envy one another. Be you , O worshippers o Allah, brothers.

لا تقاطعوا ولا تدابروا ولا تباغضوا ولا تحاسدوا وكونوا عباد الله إخوانا

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1935Sahih (Darussalam)

In another narration:

Do not estrange mutual relations and do not intervene into the transaction which is likely to be settled with another person.

ولا تهاجروا ولا يبع بعضكم على بيع بعض

Riyad as-Salihin 1570

Muslim narrated it with all these narrations, and al-Bukhari narrated most of them "

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Investigating People"
Spying is when a person tracks his brother to uncover his private matters, whether that is done directly by going himself to spy in order to find a fault or a private matter, or through the devices used to record sound, or through the telephone. Anything that leads a person to track the private matters and faults of his brother is considered spying, and it is forbidden. This is because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said: Thus, He, Glorified and Exalted is He, prohibited spying.
Since spying is a form of harm to your Muslim brother, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) followed this with what he cited from this verse, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted: Because spying is a harm that the one being spied upon suffers from, and it leads to hatred and enmity, and it leads to a person burdening himself with what is not required of him. You will find the spy, may Allah protect us from that, here once and there once, here once and there once, looking at this and looking at that. He has thus exhausted himself in harming the servants of Allah. We ask Allah for safety.
Also included in this is spying on houses; that is, spying includes spying on houses by standing at the door and listening to what is said in the gathering, then building false suspicions and baseless accusations upon it. Then the author mentioned the hadith of Abu Hurayrah with its narrations, most of which have passed us by, but among the most important of what he mentioned is: This corresponds to the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: But in the verse, Allah the Exalted said: and did not say “all suspicion,” because suspicion based on indications is permissible. It is part of human nature that when one finds strong indications that necessitate a good or bad suspicion, one must submit to these indications, and there is no harm in that. But it is the bare suspicion that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against, saying that it is the falsest of speech. This is because when a person suspects, his soul prompts him, saying so-and-so did such and such, and he is doing such and such, and he intends such and such, and the like. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said that this is the falsest of speech.
Also included in it, which has not passed us by, is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This means that it is obligatory for a person to be a brother to his brother in the exact sense of brotherhood, not to be his enemy. For some people, when a transaction takes place between them and their brother and misunderstanding arises in that transaction, they take him as an enemy. This is not permissible. It is obligatory for a person to be a brother to his brother in love, affection, not exposing him to harm, defending his honor, and other things that are the requirements of brotherhood.
This has also passed us by previously.
And he said: pointing to his chest, meaning in the heart. And if the heart is mindful of Allah, the limbs are mindful of Allah. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Meaning the heart. Some people, for example, are prevented from something, and you say to them, “Let the beard grow; it is forbidden for you to shave it.” They say to you, “Taqwa is here.” Well, where is taqwa? If he were mindful of Allah here, he would be mindful of Allah there. Meaning, if the heart is mindful of Allah, the limbs are mindful of Allah. Some people you advise about the length of the garment, and you find his garment hanging below his ankle. You advise him about that, and he says to you, “Taqwa is here.” Where is taqwa? If you had taqwa in your heart, you would fear Allah the Exalted in your speech and your action. For if the heart is sound, the whole body is sound. But some people, may Allah protect us from that, argue with falsehood, just as the disbelievers argued with falsehood to refute the truth. And yet, their argument with falsehood does not remain with one who has insight, who knows that this argument has no basis, but is false.
And this hadith that the author mentioned with its wording, a person should take it as a path for himself and a methodology to follow and build his life upon, for it is comprehensive of many issues of morals. If a person avoids them, he will attain much good. And success is from Allah.