The Meaning of the Hadith: "Whoever covers a Muslim, Allah will cover him..."
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Question:
What is the meaning of the hadith:Sunan Ibn Majah 2544Sahih (Darussalam)?
Answer:
This is general; "covers" is general, encompassing both physical covering and spiritual covering. Spiritual covering is more important and greater. Physical covering is when you find someone naked and you cover him—you find your brother naked and you cover him—with clothing from your own possession, or with money so he can buy clothing. This falls under the hadith. But greater than that is covering his religious nakedness, which is a sin. You cover it for him and do not expose him, nor do you rebuke him. This is greater than that.
So if you cover for your brother, and you find him in a state of sin, you cover it for him, advise him, and warn him of its consequences, but you do not tell people about it. By doing this, you have gained this great reward. And Allah the Exalted says: [Surat al-Nur: 19].
So covering for your brother, if you find him in a state of suspicion, finding him hiding behind smoking, hiding behind drinking intoxicants, finding him in another sin hiding behind it, so you cover it for him and do not spread it among people by saying: I found so-and-so doing such and such... This is a great reward for you:Sunan Ibn Majah 2544Sahih (Darussalam), but this does not prevent advice. So you cover for him, advise him, direct him to good, and warn him of the consequences of this matter.
What is the meaning of the hadith:
Whoever covers (the sin of) a Muslim, Allah will cover him (his sin) in this world and in the Hereafter.
مَن ستر مسلمًا ستره الله في الدنيا والآخرةAnswer:
This is general; "covers" is general, encompassing both physical covering and spiritual covering. Spiritual covering is more important and greater. Physical covering is when you find someone naked and you cover him—you find your brother naked and you cover him—with clothing from your own possession, or with money so he can buy clothing. This falls under the hadith. But greater than that is covering his religious nakedness, which is a sin. You cover it for him and do not expose him, nor do you rebuke him. This is greater than that.
So if you cover for your brother, and you find him in a state of sin, you cover it for him, advise him, and warn him of its consequences, but you do not tell people about it. By doing this, you have gained this great reward. And Allah the Exalted says:
Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread [or publicized] among those who have believed will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ تَشِيعَ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِSo covering for your brother, if you find him in a state of suspicion, finding him hiding behind smoking, hiding behind drinking intoxicants, finding him in another sin hiding behind it, so you cover it for him and do not spread it among people by saying: I found so-and-so doing such and such... This is a great reward for you:
Allah will cover him (his sin) in this world and in the Hereafter.
ستره الله في الدنيا والآخرة
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.