This chapter is about hifz as-sirr, guarding what is said in confidence and keeping private matters private. Trust is fragile, and what people share with us in closeness is left in our hands as something to protect, not to spread.
Notice how the lesson is shown through real people who kept their word. The intimacy between spouses is to be shielded, a confidence about marriage is held even at personal cost, and the Prophet's secrets are kept by a daughter and a young servant. Across these reports, faithfulness to a trust is treated as a mark of good character.
Hadith 684
Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
عن أبى سعيد الخدرى رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "إن من شر الناس عند الله منزلة يوم القيامة الرجل يفضي إلى المرأة وتفضي إليه ثم ينشر سرها" ((رواه مسلم)).
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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].
In plain words
The Prophet warned that among the worst before Allah is a man who shares intimacy with his wife and then exposes her private matters. What passes between spouses is to be kept private.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 684 In-book reference : Book 1, Hadith 5
Hadith 685
'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:
وعن عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما أن عمر رضي الله عنه حين تأيمت بنته حفصة قال: لقيت عثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنه ، فعرضت عليه حفصة فقلت: إن شئت أنكحتك حفصة بنت عمر؟ قال: سأنظر في أمري. فلبثت ليالي، ثم لقيني فقال : قد بدا لي أن لا أتزوج يومي هذا. فلقيت أبا بكر الصديق رضي الله عنه، فلم يرجع إلى شيئاً! فكنت عليه أوجد مني على عثمان، فلبثت ليالي، ثم خطبها النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فأنكحتها إياه. فلقيني أبو بكر فقال: لعلك وجدت حين عرضت على حفصة فلم أرجع إليك شيئاً؟ فقلت: نعم. قال: فإنه لم يمنعني أن أرجع إليك فيما عرضت على إلا أني كنت علمت أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ذكرها، فلم أكن لأفشي سر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، ولوتركها النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم لقبلتها . ((رواه البخارى)).
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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) had mentioned her and I could not disclose the secret of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Had Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) left her, I would have accepted her." [Al-Bukhari].
In plain words
When his offers of marriage for his widowed daughter met silence from Abu Bakr, Umar was upset, until Abu Bakr later explained he had stayed quiet only because he knew the Prophet was considering her and could not reveal that confidence. A trust is kept even at the cost of being misunderstood.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 685 In-book reference : Book 1, Hadith 6
Hadith 686
'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
وعن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: كن أزواج النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم عنده، فأقبلت فاطمة رضي الله عنها تمشى، ما تخطئ من مشية رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم شيئاً، فلما رآها رحب بها وقال: “مرحباً بابنتى” ثم أجلسها عن يمينه أو عن شماله، ثم سارها فبكت بكاء شديداً، فلما رأى جزعها سارها الثانية فضحكت، فقلت لها: خصك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من بين نسائه بالسرار، ثم أنت تبكين ! فلما قام رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم سألتها: ما قال لك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ؟ قالت: ما كنت لأفشي على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم سره. فلما توفي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قلت: عزمت عليك بما لي عليك من الحق، لما حدثتني ما قال لك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم؟ فقالت: أما الآن فنعم، أما حين سارني في المرة الأولى فأخبرني “أن جبريل كان يعارضه القرآن في كل سنة مرة أو مرتين، وأنه عارضه الآن مرتين، وإني لا أرى الأجل إلا قد اقترب، فاتقى الله واصبرى، فغنه نعم السلف أنا لك” فبكيت بكائى الذى رأيت. فلما رأى جزعى سارنى الثانية، فقال: "يا فاطمة أما ترضين أن تكونى سيدة نساء المؤمنين، أو سيدة نساء هذه الأمة” فضحكت ضحكى الذى رأيت" . ((متفق عليه)) ((وهذا لفظ مسلم)).
On one occasion all the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) were with him when his daughter, Fatimah (May Allah be pleased with her) who walked after the style of her father, came there. He (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ 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 (ﷺ) say to you?" She said, "I will not divulge the secret of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." When Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) had told you." She said: "Now (when Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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].
In plain words
Fatimah wept, then smiled, at things the Prophet whispered to her, and she refused to reveal them while he lived, sharing only after his passing. She guarded his confidence faithfully.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 686 In-book reference : Book 1, Hadith 7
Hadith 687
Thabit (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
وعن ثابت عن أنس، رضي الله عنه قال: أتى على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأنا ألعب مع الغلمان، فسلم علينا، فبعثنى في حاجةٍ، فأبطأت على أمي. فلما جئت قالت: ما حبسك؟ فقلت: بعثنى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لحاجة، قالت: ما حاجته؟ قلت: إنها سر.قالت: لا تخبرن بسر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أحداً. قال أنس: والله لو حدثت به أحداً لحدثتك به يا ثابت. ((رواه مسلم، وروى البخارى بعضه مختصراً)).
Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ)." 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].
In plain words
Sent on an errand by the Prophet, young Anas kept it secret even from his mother, who herself told him to protect the Prophet's confidence. Keeping a trust was honored even by a child.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 687 In-book reference : Book 1, Hadith 8