Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,“Whoever sees a defect in a Muslim and overlooks it is like one who saves a young girl who has been buried alive.”
(Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Ahmad).
The encouragement the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) provides to keep other people’s faults secret is such that he likens it to saving a poor girl buried alive from certain death. The Arabs in pre-Islamic days used to bury young girls alive, for fear of poverty or shame. Islam put an end to this abhorrent practice. Saving such a girl is highly commendable. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) likens overlooking other people’s faults to such savior.
We should add here that Abu Ayoub (may Allah be pleased with him), a companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), used to travel to meet other companions to ask them about a Hadith they might have heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
This Hadith is one of these. It is reported that Abu Ayoub (may Allah be pleased with him) traveled to Egypt to meet Uqbah ibn Amir (may Allah be pleased with him), the first reporter of this Hadith. When he arrived at the home of Maslamah ibn Makhlad, the governor of Egypt, he came out to receive him and hugged him assuring him of a warm welcome. He then asked him about his business in Egypt so that he might facilitate it for him. Abu Ayoub said, ‘I have come to meet Uqbah ibn Amir and ask him about a Hadith. He and I are the only survivors among those who heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying it. Could you please send someone with me to guide me to his home.’
The governor did that, and when Uqbah heard of Abu Ayoub’s arrival, he came out to give him a very warm welcome. Abu Ayoub said:“I have come to ask you about a Hadith concerning keeping secret other people’s errors. You and I are the only survivors of those who heard it.”Uqbah said:“Indeed, I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as he said, ‘Whoever keeps secret a shameful deed done by a Muslim, God will grant him His cover on the Day of Judgment.’”Abu Ayoub said,‘This is true.’
Abu Ayoub thus finished his business in Egypt and started on his return journey to Madinah. The governor inquired after him, but he was told that he had already left. He sent some of his men with a gift, but they did not catch up with him until he reached El-Arish. This gives us an idea about the care early Muslims took to ascertain the reporting of every Hadith.
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