As-Sittir

The Concealer of Faults

Your Past Is Gone, Allah Already Covered It

Class 32 · Shaykh Mikaeel Smith · Qalam Institute · 62 min

From the class · summarised by AI. Watch for the Shaykh's own words

Al‑Muṭīʿ means “the One who conceals our faults and covers our sins,” showing that Allah does not expose our mistakes but hides them, revealing only the good we do.

Allah sees the good in us and hides our sins; He is not a cosmic cop looking to catch us.
When we recognize our own weakness, we can trust that Allah has the way out and will cover our errors.
Calling upon Al‑Muṭīʿ changes our perception of Allah from a judge to a merciful protector of our secrets.
We are encouraged to embody this attribute by covering the faults of others rather than exposing them.
Exposing a fellow believer removes the divine veil Allah placed over them, harming both parties on the Day of Judgment.
Anxiety over past sins fades when we truly accept that Allah has already concealed them.
Practicing this name in family and community life means praising good, quietly overlooking mistakes, and giving people a fresh chance.

Live by it

Whenever you notice a loved one’s slip, choose to keep it to yourself and instead highlight their good deeds.

From the book · Names of Allah Series by Dr. Jinan Yousef · shared with permission

Allah’s Beautiful Name: As-Siteer

In order to develop a close relationship with someone, one has to know him or her very well. Many of us feel distant from Allah (swt) at times, and fail to see, in every situation, the manifestations of His Names and Attributes. Sheikh Muhammad Ratib an-Nabulsi, a Syrian scholar, has done extensive research on Allah’s Names, from their linguistic meaning to examples of how these Names are relevant to us and our everyday lives.

I have translated excerpts from his research on Allah’s Name As-Siteer. This name appears in the hadith (narration) of the Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him): “Verily, Allah the All-Mighty and Majestic is Forbearing, Modest and Concealing (Sitteer); and He loves modesty and concealment. Therefore, when any of you bathe, let him conceal himself (i.e. from the sight of people).”1

Linguistically, As-Sitteer (derived from the root word sitr) is one who conceals something. However, being a hyperbolic form of its root, it means the one who veils a million scandals, as well as the greatest scandals. When a name is in hyperbolic form, it aggrandizes the word qualitatively and quantitatively. A similar example would be Allah’s Name Al-Ghaffar, which indicates that He forgives the greatest of sins and an infinite number of sins.

As-Sitteer has another meaning: the one who prevents and keeps something away. `Aisha radiallahu ‘anha (may Allah be pleased with her) says in an authentic hadith:

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‘A lady approached me along with her two daughters asking (for charity), but she found nothing with me except a date. I gave it to her and she divided it between her two daughters, not eating anything herself. Then, she stood up and left. When the Prophet ﷺcame in, I informed him of what happened. He said, “Whoever is entrusted with these daughters and treats them with benevolence, they will act as a shield (sitr) for him from Hell-Fire.’ [Agreed upon]

Thus, whoever raises two daughters (and in some narrations it is sufficient to raise one daughter), and takes care of her, teaches her the mannerisms of Islam, ensures that she wears hijab, and chooses for her a believing husband, it is enough for him to enter Paradise.

Therefore, sitr also means to keep something away, and raising a righteous daughter keeps one away from Hellfire.

A Story on Sitr

I am not in the habit of telling stories based on dreams, but this story, in particular, is striking. About five years ago, one of the khutaba’ (sing. khateeb; one who delivers sermons) of Damascus saw the Prophet ﷺin a dream. He was very affected by this vision, as Abu Hurayra (ra) said “I heard the Prophet ﷺsay, “Whoever sees me in a dream will see me when he is awake because Shaytan cannot take my form.”2

In his dream, the Prophet ﷺtold him, “Tell your neighbor so-andso near the mosque that he will be my companion in Paradise.” The khateeb was deeply pained, [thinking]: ‘Was this glad tiding for me or him?’ So he went to his neighbor, who was a humble vendor from among the laymen, and knocked on his door. He entered his house, greeted him, and said, “I have glad tidings for you from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but I won’t tell you until you tell me what you’ve done for your Lord.” The man refused, and the khateeb persisted, saying, “By Allah, I will not relay the message unless you tell me what you’ve done for your Lord.” The man finally relented and told his story:

“I had proposed to a lady and then married her. In [what was supposedly] her fifth month of pregnancy, she was nine months pregnant. This clearly meant it was not my child. I could have exposed her, divorced her, destroyed her, but I wanted her to repent to Allah (swt) through me. I brought home a midwife, and she gave birth in the darkness of the night. I took the child that was not mine, hid him under my cloak, and entered a mosque in Sanjaq Dar…”

He entered after the imam began praying fajr, put the newborn behind the door, and joined the prayer. No one noticed him. When the prayer was finished, people surrounded the child, all in shock. He came over, as if he didn’t know of the situation, and asked, “What is going on?!” They replied, “Come look.” He said, “I will look after this child. Give him to me.” So he took the child in front of everyone as if he was an abandoned child. He took on his rearing, and returned him to his mother, and indeed she repented to Allah [for her sin].

Allah, the Exalted, says: “Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct […]” (Qur’an, 16:90)

Justice [in this case] could have been to divorce her, but Allah (swt) has ordered us to treat others with benevolence. When this man did so, he saved her from humiliation and from going astray. Not every situation is resolved through justice, and more often than not, benevolence is a better alternative.

Allah, the Exalted, is Sitteer, and He loves those who conceal the faults of others. This is why the Prophet ﷺdescribed the believing woman as sitteera, and a woman who sits and complains about her husband to others as scandalous. Allah (swt) does not look at a woman who constantly complains about her husband, but Allah loves a woman who is sitteera. A woman who is sitteera is a believing woman.3

Allah (swt) says: “And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them […]” (Qur’an, 7:180]

No doubt, we must pause at the words “so invoke Him by them,” because one of its meanings is to grow closer to Allah (swt) by embodying His Divine attributes. Thus, you can grow closer to the Most Merciful by becoming merciful yourself, and you can grow closer to the Just by becoming fair, and you can grow closer to As-Sitteer by concealing the faults of others.

1. Reported by Abu Dawud, An-Nasa’i, al-Baihaqi, Ahmed, and graded as authentic. 2. Reported by Ahmad, Bukhari, and Tirmidhi. 3. Complaining here does not mean seeking legitimate help from others if the situation calls for it, but is meant in the context of backbiting and revealing secrets and bad habits of one’s spouse.