FAMILY
AFFAIRS, PROBLEMS AND THE STATUS OF THE FAMILY IN ISLAM
(Part
6 of 20)
6.0 WHAT IS
THE RULING ON ONE WHO DISCLOSES SECRETS?
What is mentioned in Quaran and Hadeeth about revealing a
secret to someone that was told in confidence?
Secrets are a kind of trust, and thus they are a kind of
contract or covenant which must be kept. It is necessary to be harsh with those
who disclose them, because they are betraying a trust and breaking their
promise; and those who deserve to a ta’zeer punishment should be punished.
Secrets vary.
There are those for which the person who discloses them must be dealt with
harshly, because disclosing them causes widespread harm, such as disclosing
secrets to the kuffaar and enabling them to defeat the Muslims or gain victory
over them. This is what is known in modern parlance as high treason. And there
are secrets that are less serious, such as those in which disclosure causes
harm to individuals. But in all cases disclosure is a betrayal of the trust and
breaking of the covenant.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
ۥۚ
وَأَوۡفُواْ بِٱلۡعَهۡدِۖ إِنَّ ٱلۡعَهۡدَ كَانَ مَسۡـُٔولاً۬ (٣٤)
“And fulfil
(every) covenant. Verily, the covenant will be questioned about”[ Holy Quran
Chapter al-Isra’ 17:34]
إِنَّ
ٱللَّهَ يَأۡمُرُكُمۡ أَن تُؤَدُّواْ ٱلۡأَمَـٰنَـٰتِ إِلَىٰٓ أَهۡلِهَا
“Verily, Allaah
commands that you should render back the trusts to those, to whom they are
due”[ Holy Quran Chapter al-Nisa’ 4:58]
So if keeping secrets is obligatory, then disclosing them is
haraam.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told
a secret to ‘Aa’ishah and Hafsah and entrusted them with it, but they disclosed
the secret, and Allaah rebuked them for that.
Allaah said (interpretation of the meaning):
(٢) وَإِذۡ أَسَرَّ ٱلنَّبِىُّ إِلَىٰ بَعۡضِ
أَزۡوَٲجِهِۦ حَدِيثً۬ا فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَتۡ بِهِۦ وَأَظۡهَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيۡهِ
عَرَّفَ بَعۡضَهُ ۥ وَأَعۡرَضَ عَنۢ بَعۡضٍ۬ۖ فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَهَا بِهِۦ
قَالَتۡ مَنۡ أَنۢبَأَكَ هَـٰذَاۖ قَالَ نَبَّأَنِىَ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ ٱلۡخَبِيرُ
“And (remember)
when the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives (Hafsah),
then she told it (to another i.e. ‘Aa’ishah). And Allaah made it known to him;
he informed part thereof and left a part. Then when he told her (Hafsah)
thereof, she said: ‘Who told you this?’ He said: ‘The All-Knower, the All-Aware
(Allaah) has told me.’”[ Holy Quran Chapter al-Tahreem 66:3]
Then Allaah said (interpretation of the meaning):
(٣) إِن تَتُوبَآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ فَقَدۡ صَغَتۡ قُلُوبُكُمَاۖ
وَإِن تَظَـٰهَرَا عَلَيۡهِ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ مَوۡلَٮٰهُ وَجِبۡرِيلُ
وَصَـٰلِحُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَۖ وَٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕڪَةُ بَعۡدَ ذَٲلِكَ ظَهِيرٌ (٤)
If you two (wives of the Prophet:
‘Aa’ishah and Hafsah) turn in repentance to Allaah, (it will be better for
you), your hearts are indeed so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet likes);
but if you help one another against him (Muhammad), then verily, Allaah is his
Mawlaa (Lord, or Master, or Protector), and Jibreel (Gabriel), and the
righteous among the believers; and furthermore, the angels are his helpers”[
Holy Quran Chapter al-Tahreem 66:4]
Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
withdrew from his wives for a month because of the secret that Hafsah had
disclosed to ‘Aa’ishah. Al-Bukhaari, 5191. Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said concerning this hadeeth: This indicates that the one who discloses a
secret may be punished in a fitting manner.
In the Sunnah we find a warning against seeking out the
secrets of others, and spreading secrets that should not be spread.
For example, it is strongly discouraged to seek out the
faults of others. According to a hadeeth narrated from Abu Hurayrah, the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If a man
were to look into your private affairs without your permission, and you were to
throw a pebble at him and put out his eye, there would be no sin on you.”
Al-Bukhaari, 6902; Muslim, 2158. Ibn Hajar said, commenting on this hadeeth: It
is narrated by Muslim with a different isnaad from Abu Hurayrah: “Whoever looks
into some people’s house without their permission, it is permissible for them
to put out his eye.” And it was narrated with yet another isnaad from Abu
Hurayrah in a version that states it even more clearly; this is narrated by
Ahmad, Ibn Abi ‘Aasim and al-Nasaa’i, and classed as saheeh by Ibn Hibbaan and
al-Bayhaqi. This version says: “Whoever looks into some people’s house without
their permission, and they put his eye out, there is no diyah (blood money) and
no qisaas (retaliatory punishment).” And according to one report through this
isnaad, “… and it is worthless.”
Similarly there is the warning against the one who
eavesdrops on the secrets of others. It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever eavesdrops
on the conversation of other people when they do not want him (to listen), or
they move away from him, molten lead will be poured into his ears on the Day of
Resurrection.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7042.
The warning against spreading things that it is not
permissible to spread includes condemnation of the one who spread marital
secrets. He is regarded as being among the most evil of people before Allaah.
It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Among
the most evil of people before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be a man
who is intimate with a woman and she with him, then he spreads her secret.”
Narrated by Muslim, 1437.
According to another report narrated by Muslim, 1437, “One
of the greatest trusts before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be a man
who was intimate with his wife and she with him, then he spread her secret.”
What is meant by “one of the greatest trusts” is one of the greatest betrayals
of trust.
Among the advice given by the Arabs to new brides is: “Do
not disclose his secret, for if you disclose his secret, you will make him hate
you.”
The secrets of the home should not be disclosed, and wise
men and those who are religiously committed advise the one who knows a secret
not to disclose it.
It was narrated from Thaabit that Anas said: The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to me when I was
playing with some other boys, and greeted us with salaam, then he sent me on an
errand. I was late going home to my mother, and when I came she asked, ‘What
kept you?’ I said, ‘The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) sent me on an errand.’ She said, ‘What did he need?’ I said, ‘It is a
secret.’ She said, ‘Never disclose the secret of the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to anyone.’ Anas said: ‘By Allaah if I
were to disclose it to anyone I would have disclosed it to you, O Thaabit.’ Narrated
by Muslim, 2482.
Disclosing secrets is one of the signs of hypocrisy, because
it comes under the heading of betraying a trust.
It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are four qualities,
whoever has all of them is a pure hypocrite, and whoever has some of them has a
characteristic of hypocrisy until he gives it up: when he is entrusted with
something he betrays that trust; when he speaks he lies; when he makes a
promise he breaks it, and when he disputes he resorts to lies and falsehood.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 34; Muslim, 58.
It is not a condition of a trust that the one who speaks
these words must tell his listener that it is a secret that he should not tell
anyone, rather it is sufficient for his manner to indicate that, such as if he
takes him away from others to tell him, or when he tells him he looks around to
see if anyone is listening, etc.
Al-Tirmidhi (1959) narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah that
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If a man tells
you something then looks around, it is a trust.” Classed as hasan by al-Albaani
in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
And it says in Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi:
“Then looks around” means looking to the right and the left
out of caution. “It is a trust” means it is entrusted to the one to whom he
spoke, i.e., it comes under the same rulings as a trust, so he must conceal it.
Ibn Raslaan said: Because his looking around is the signal to the one to whom
he is speaking that he is afraid that someone may overhear him, and that he has
chosen him to tell his secret to. His looking around takes the place of his
saying, ‘Listen to this and keep quiet about it because it is a trust (or a
secret).’”
And Allaah knows best. Source: Islam Q&A, 27190
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