for many matters pass between a person and his Lord—matters known to none but Him. If no one else becomes aware of them, the veil that Allah has cast over the servant remains in place; should the servant then repent and turn back to his Lord, his state improves and no one ever uncovers his flaw.

But when someone—Allah protect us—goes about tracking the Muslims’ private faults, constantly asking, “What did so-and-so say? What did he do?”, and whenever a fault is mentioned he sets out to spy, either declaring it outright or hinting at it: “They say that so-and-so said such-and-such, or did such-and-such,” and then spreads whatever he has picked up among the people—Allah forbid—

the Prophet ﷺ warned against this, saying: “O community of those who have professed faith with their tongues while faith has not yet entered their hearts, do not harm the Muslims and do not pursue their hidden faults. Whoever pursues the fault of his brother, Allah will pursue his fault; and if Allah pursues a person’s fault, He will expose him even inside his own house.” We ask Allah for safety. This is perfect requital: just as a person stalks the Muslims’ faults to disgrace them, Allah stalks his fault until He lays him bare—may Allah grant us wellbeing—and no walls or curtains will avail him.

The same principle appears in the report from Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him). A man whose beard was dripping with wine was brought before him; the man had been drinking in secret, yet certain people had spied on him until they dragged him out in that state. Ibn Masʿūd made it clear that whoever makes his fault or sin manifest to us we will hold him accountable, but whoever remains under Allah’s veil we will not reproach. This also proves that spying is unlawful.