What if the sins we committed were written upon our foreheads?! And what if the sins had smells that emanated from us in as much as our misdeeds?! And what if people knew what Allah Almighty concealed about us?!
He is the Modest One and He does not expose His servant.
when he avowedly disobeys Him.
Rather, He covers him with His concealment.
Indeed, He is As-Sittīr (the Most Concealing) and the Forgiver.
We pause here with one of the beautiful names of Allah, namely: "As-Sittīr, Exalted is His Majesty".
In an authentic Hadīth, Ya‘la (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man bathing in an open area without a lower garment. Thereupon, he mounted the pulpit, praised Allah and glorified Him, and said: "Verily Allah is Modest and Sittīr, and He loves modesty and concealment. So, when any of you bathes, let him conceal himself." [Sahīh Hadīth, narrated by Abu Dāwūd]
As-Sittīr: He is the One Who covers up His slaves and does not disclose them in public. He also loves that His slaves cover up themselves and avoid disgraceful things.
As our Lord conceals faults and disgraceful things, He, Exalted be He, also loves those who shun ugly things.
Our chests harbor thoughts, ideas, objectives, and intentions that no one can hear or see except the All-Wise and All-Knowing, and then He conceals them.
He veils the night with its darkness and covers the sky with its wings. Meanwhile, they whisper and communicate secretly, and no neighbor can hear them, or no household member is aware of them, and nothing is reported about their condition. But the All-Subtle, All-Aware knew, heard, and saw, and then concealed.
Despite His self-sufficiency and needlessness for any of His servants and their obedience and worship, our Lord, Exalted is His Majesty, honors His servant and conceals him. He is too Modest to expose him, unravel his concealment, and hasten his punishment. Instead, He leads him to regret, repent, and pardons and forgives him. {Do they not know that it is Allah Who accepts the repentance of His slaves and accepts their charities and that it is Allah Who is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful?} [Surat at-Tawbah: 104]
There is no god but Allah, As-Sittīr! His sanctities get violated and His commands disobeyed, and many errors and sins are committed, and despite all that, He accepts repentance, forgives, pardons, shows forbearance, and conceals and eliminates sins.
He knows our weakness and sees our place, and He is Aware of the sneaky glances of our eyes and what our breasts conceal. In addition to His concealment of us, He shows favor upon us, and He, Exalted be He, says: {It is He Who accepts repentance from His slaves and pardons sins, and He knows all what you do.} [Surat ash-Shūra: 25]
When Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked about the private communication, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "A believer will be brought close to his Lord until He grants him His protection. He will say: ‘You did such and such.' He will say: 'Yes.' And He will say: 'You did such and such.' He will say: 'Yes.' So, He will make him confess, and then He will say: ‘I covered it up for you in the life of the world, and I forgive it for you today.'" [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri]
Remember that the most hateful person in the sight of Allah is the one who passes the night in sins while Allah conceals him, and then in the morning, he removes the cover put by Allah over him.
In a Sahīh Hadīth, Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: "All of my Ummah may be forgiven except those who sin openly. One kind of sinning openly is when a man commits something during the night, then comes in the morning and Allah has concealed it, but he says: 'O so-and-so, I did such and such last night.' He spent the night concealed by his Lord, and in the morning he removes Allah's concealment from himself." [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri - this is his wording - and Muslim]
‘Uthmān ibn Abi Sawdah said: "No one should violate the concealment of Allah Almighty." It was said: "How can one violate the concealment of Allah?" He said: "A man commits a sin, and Allah conceals it, but he declares it among the people."
Allah loves that we act according to His names. He is Generous and loves those who are generous, and He is Sittīr and loves concealment. He commanded us to conceal the faults of His servants and refrain from violating their privacy and pursuing their faults. It is narrated in "Musnad Collection of Imām Ahmad" that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O people who have believed with their tongues, but Imān (faith) has not yet entered their hearts, do not backbite the Muslims, and do not pursue their faults. Indeed, whoever pursues their faults, Allah will pursue his faults, and whoever Allah pursues his faults, He will expose him inside his house." [Sahīh Hadīth]
It is narrated in "the Two Sahīh Collections" that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever conceals the fault of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his fault on the Day of Judgment." Falling under this are all reprehensible, immoral, or erroneous things that are found via communication tools. Whoever conceals them and does not disseminate them, Allah Almighty will conceal his faults.
- Concealment should be observed even from the eyes of the jinns. ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The concealment between the eyes of the jinns and the private parts of the children of Adam when one of them enters the bathroom is provided by saying: Bismillāh (In the name of Allah)." [Sahīh Hadīth, narrated by At-Tirmidhi]
- The difference between "As-Sittīr" and "As-Sattār": Both indicate excessive concealment, as Allah Almighty often conceals the faults of His servants. Yet, the names of Allah must be taken as they are. There is no room for using our minds concerning them. So, we should only call Allah Almighty by the names whereby He called Himself or His Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) called Him.
The wording reported in the Sunnah: "Indeed, Allah is Modest and Sittīr." [Sahīh Hadīth, narrated by Abu Dāwūd]
O You Who conceals me in a beautiful way
Will you accept me if I show regret?
You supported me, showed mercy to me, and concealed me
out of bounty, for You protect he who hopes for Your grace
I sinned and then saw that Your forgiveness is vast
and Your concealment is always covering me
All praises and laudations are due to You
O You Who are the One people seek and ask from
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to make this supplication in the morning and evening: "Allahumma ’ustor ‘awrāti wa āmin raw‘āti" (O Allah, conceal my private defects, and set at ease my dismay). [Sahīh Hadīth, narrated by Ibn Mājah] It means: Conceal my faults and shortcomings and all that I dislike others to know about.
O Allah, conceal our shortcomings, set at ease our dismay, pardon our sins, make righteous acts the end of our deeds and life, and forgive us, our parents, and all the believers.