132 - Righteousness and sinful action

عن النَّوَّاس بن سَمْعانَ رضي الله عنه قال: سألتُ رسولَ الله ﷺ عن البِرِّ والإثمِ، فَقالَ: «البِرُّ حُسْنُ الخُلُقِ، والإِثْمُ ما حاكَ في صَدْرِكَ، وَكَرِهْتَ أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ عليه النَّاسُ».

An-Nawwas bin Sam'an (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated:

1. I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) about virtue and sin  2. and he replied, “The essence of virtue is (manifested in) good morals (Akhlaq)  3. whereas sinful conduct is that which turns in your heart (making you feel uncomfortable), and you dislike that it would be disclosed to other people.” 

Related by Muslim, 2553.

Related Quranic Verses


Righteousness does not consist of turning your faces towards the East and the West. But righteous is he who believes in Allah, and the Last Day, and the angels, and the Scripture, and the prophets. Who gives money, however cherished, to relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the homeless, and the beggars, and for freeing slaves; those who perform the prayers, and pay the obligatory charity, and fulfill their promises when they promise, and patiently persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and in the time of conflict. These are the sincere; these are the reverent.

(2: 177)

Hadiths projects