SECRECY
OF PRIVATE MATTERS (GUARDING SECRETS)
Assembled by Mallam Abba Abana, Kubwa, Abuja,
Nigeria
http://variousislamicdawadocuments.blogspot.com
Emails:gonidamgamiri@yahoo.com;
abba.abana@gmail.com
TO
BE DELIVERED ON
Bismillah
Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah. As-Salaam Alaikum
Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
Praise be to Allaah; we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Allah, the Exalted, says:
"And fulfill
(every) covenant. Verily! The covenant, will be questioned about.'' (17:34)
Hadith No. 685.
Abu
Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah
(PBUH) said, "The most evil of the people to Allah on the Day of
Resurrection will be the man who consorts with his wife and then publicizes her
secret.'' [Muslim].
Commentary:
Islam treats conjugal union as a sacred and
secret act, both in social and moral terms. Indeed, the
sanctity of conjugal rights contributes to the
consolidation of moral norms and social cohesion. Yet, what passes between wife
and husband on the consummation night is usually taken in a light vein in our
societies. In the morning, both of them relate their sexual experience to their
friends respectively. This is moral indecency which is incompatible with human
dignity and civilized behaviour. This Hadith reckons it as a grave sin which
must be eschewed. The bed-experience must be kept private by the married couple
to the exclusion of a third person.
Hadith No. 686.
`Abdullah
bin `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: My father `Umar (May Allah
be pleased with him) said: When (his daughter) Hafsah (May Allah be pleased
with her) became a widow, I met `Uthman bin `Affan (May Allah be pleased with
him) and offered Hafsah for marriage to him. `Uthman said: "I shall
think over the matter.'' I waited for a few days and then `Uthman met me and said: "It occurred
to me that I should not marry at present.'' Then I met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased
with him) and said to him: "If you are willing, I shall marry my daughter Hafsah to
you.'' Abu
Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) remained silent and did not utter any word
to me in reply. I grew more angry with him than with `Uthman. I had waited for
only a few days when Messenger of Allah (PBUH) asked for her hand in marriage
and I married her to him. Thereafter, I met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with
him) who said, "Perhaps you were angry with me when you offered Hafsah to
me and I said nothing in reply.'' I said, "Yes, that is so.'' He said, "Nothing stopped me to respond to your
offer except that I knew that Messenger of Allah (PBUH) had mentioned her and I
could not disclose the secret of Messenger of Allah (PBUH).
Had Messenger of Allah (PBUH) left her, I
would have accepted her.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Commentary:
To keep a secret and not to disclose it to
people is the theme of this chapter as reflected in this
Hadith. The Hadith has also other points which
invite our attention. Firstly, a man can offer his daughter's hand to a righteous
person. Secondly, it is undesirable for parents to send a message to another
party for the wedlock of their daughter when talks with someone else are
already continuing in this regard. Thirdly, if Messenger of Allah (PBUH) wanted
to marry a woman but could not realize his intention for a reason or another,
it was permissible for a Muslim to marry her because, juristically speaking,
such a woman could not be counted as the Prophet's wife.
Hadith No. 687.
`Aishah
(May Allah be pleased with her) reported: On one occasion all the wives of the
Prophet (PBUH) were with him when his daughter, Fatimah (May Allah be pleased
with her) who walked after the style of his father, came there. He (PBUH)
welcomed her saying, "Welcome, O my daughter'', and made her sit on his right side, or on his left
side and then whispered something to her at which she wept bitterly. When he
perceived her grief, he talked secretly to her again and she smiled (with
happiness). I said to her: "Messenger of Allah (PBUH chose you from amongst
all his wives to speak secretly to you and yet you cried.'' When he left, I
asked her, "What did Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say to you?'' She said,
"I will not divulge the secret of Messenger of Allah (PBUH).'' When Messenger
of Allah (PBUH) passed away, I said to her: "I adjure you by the right I
have in respect of you to tell me what Messenger of Allah (PBUH) had told
you.'' She said: "Now (when Messenger of Allah (PBUH) has died), I will
tell you. When he whispered to me the first time, he told me, `Jibril (Gabriel) used
to listen to my recitation of the Qur'an and then recite it back to me once or
twice a year, and this time he has done it twice; and so I perceive that my
death is approaching. Then be mindful of your duty to Allah and be patient and
steadfast, for I shall be an excellent predecessor for you.' On this I wept as
you saw. When he perceived my distress he talked to me secretly the second time
and said, `O Fatimah, are you not pleased that you will be the chief among
the believing women or of this Ummah?' This made me smile as you saw.'' [Al-Bukhari and
Muslim].
Commentary:
This Hadith, too, has an implication for keeping
a secret and concealing it from people. Moreover, we learn that one can
spontaneously weep over hearing a sorrowful occurrence and also that we should
be patient in distress. The Hadith also teaches us not to feel proud upon
receiving a blessing. Above all, the excellence of Fatimah (May Allah be
pleased with her) and the advisability of reading the Qur'an are brought into
our focus.
Hadith No. 688.
Thabit
(May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Anas (May Allah be pleased with him)
said: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came to me while I was playing with the boys.
He greeted us and sent me on an errand. This delayed my return to my mother.
When I came to her, she asked, "What detained you?'' I said; "Messenger of Allah
(PBUH) sent me on an errand.'' She asked, "What was it?'' I said, "It is a secret.'' My mother said; "Do not
disclose to anyone the secret of Messenger of Allah (PBUH).'' Anas (May Allah
be pleased with him) said to Thabit (May Allah be pleased with him): By Allah,
were I to tell it to anyone I would have told you. [Muslim].
Commentary:
Here, too, an emphasis has been laid on keeping
a secret. When Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) told his mother about the
cause of secrecy, she refrained from insisting that the secret should be
disclosed to her. Rather, she lent support to her son's standpoint and advised
him to conceal the secret. To be sure, it is part of moral teaching that we
should keep the secrets of friends in our hearts. Unless we receive a go-ahead
from a friend, we must not make his secret public.
Insha’Allah pass
it on if possible and make effort for this great Deen to spread it’s way forward
and towards Allah’s pleasure.
May Allah (SWT)
make us those who guard secrets
No comments:
Post a Comment