The Secret Sin

O people: Whoever truly knows Allah, the Exalted, watches over Him in private and in public, and fears Him in the unseen and the visible. Such a person does not disobey His commands nor commit what He has prohibited. And if he slips, he hastens to repent and seek forgiveness. He fears his sin and hopes for the pardon of his Lord, Glorified and Exalted be He. As Allah says:
“You can only warn those who fear their Lord unseen.” [Fatir: 18]
And among the authentic prophetic supplications is:
“O Allah, I ask You to grant me fear of You in the unseen and the visible.” (Narrated by al-Nasa’i)

This necessitates being cautious of secret sins, for Allah is aware of His servant even in solitude:
“Indeed, Allah is ever an Observer over you.” [An-Nisa: 1]
A person cannot hide from His knowledge and His encompassing awareness. Falling into secret sins indicates weakness of faith, for it shows heedlessness of Allah’s gaze upon the individual and His knowledge of what he conceals. It also resembles the behavior of hypocrites, who show what contradicts what they conceal:
“They seek to hide from people, but they cannot hide from Allah, and He is with them when they plot by night what is displeasing to Him. And Allah is encompassing of what they do.” [An-Nisa: 108]
Ibn Kathir commented:
“This is a rebuke to the hypocrites for hiding their shameful deeds from people to avoid rebuke, yet they dare to commit them openly before Allah, who is aware of their secrets and knows what is in their hearts.”

Among the seven types of people whom Allah will shade on the Day of Judgment, as mentioned in the authentic hadith, is:
“A man who is seduced by a woman of status and beauty, but he says: ‘Indeed, I fear Allah.’”
He is alone with her, and she desires him and invites him to sin. She is beautiful and desirable, and her status might embolden him and remove his fear of consequences from others—yet nothing prevents him except his fear of Allah in private, his awareness of Allah in the unseen, which deters him from committing a secret sin.

Ibn Rajab said:
“Fear of Allah in private only arises from strong faith and a determined struggle against one’s self and desires. For desires call toward sin in solitude, which is why it is said: ‘One of the rarest qualities is piety in private.’”
What prevents a person from committing secret sins is fear of Allah. Whoever reaches that level has attained the station of Ihsan (excellence), for he worships Allah as if he sees Him—and if he does not see Him, surely Allah sees him.

It was narrated from Abd al-Salam ibn Ubayd from a Bedouin who said:
“One night, during deep darkness, I encountered a woman who looked like a radiant signpost. I propositioned her, and she replied: ‘Woe to you! Do you not have any sense of restraint from your mind if not from your religion?’ I said to her: ‘Come on, by Allah, none sees us but the stars.’ She replied: ‘Then where is the One who placed the stars?’”

And Ibrahim ibn Sufyan said:
“When fear settles in the heart, it burns away the places of desire and drives the worldly distractions away from it.”

O Muslims:
In our time, the means of committing secret sins are more accessible than ever before. Smart devices, which hardly anyone can live without, are filled with things that tempt the ears and the eyes. Whoever becomes addicted to them will find their filth settling upon his heart and corrupting it.
Whoever surrenders himself to these devices is moving from the world of reality to a world of illusion, opening upon himself doors of evil known only to Allah. Add to that the ease of falling into immorality, being invited to it, and publicizing it. So nothing remains to deter a person except fear of Allah, and that is the highest station. Whoever attains it, attains Ihsan, and overcomes severe trials with good choices.

This era, with all its openness to evil and ease of committing immorality, perfectly fits the words of Allah:
“So that Allah may make evident those who fear Him in the unseen.” [Al-Ma’idah: 94]
And it is in line with the words of the Prophet ﷺ:
“…For after you will come days of patience, during which holding onto religion will be like holding onto hot coals. The one who acts in those days will have the reward of fifty men who do the same deeds as you.”
They asked: “O Messenger of Allah, fifty of us or fifty of them?”
He said: “Rather, fifty of you.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood and al-Tirmidhi who graded it as Hasan Ghareeb, and it was authenticated by Ibn Hibban)

So congratulations to the one who holds firmly to his religion, protects his hearing, sight, tongue, and private parts from the unlawful, and safeguards himself, his family, and children from what leads to sin. Congratulations to him for earning the pleasure of the Most Merciful and attaining the Gardens of Paradise.