Character
Hadith 27 of 42
Title
Righteousness and sin defined
Arabic
الْبِرُّ حُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ، وَالْإِثْمُ مَا حَاكَ فِي صَدْرِكَ وَكَرِهْتَ أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ عَلَيْهِ النَّاسُ.
Translation
Righteousness is good character, and sin is what flutters in your chest and you would hate for people to know about.
Narrator
al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān
Source
Muslim 2553
Commentary
A portable test: if my heart wavers and I would be ashamed for this to be public, it is sin. The conscience of a believer is calibrated; when its needle tilts, that itself is data.