Am I allowed to keep secrets in Islam?
2
-
Salam and welcome to IslamSE the Q&A site about Islam. Your question title includes more information than the content of your post. Without more input the answer might be subjective which means the question is a bad fit for our site without a focus or more details.– Medi1Saif ♦Oct 8, 2020 at 19:52
-
In what sense is secret-keeping a type of cheating? Sure, some secrets (e.g. not entirely informing the buyer about the product in business) could be cheating, but not all secrets.– The ZOct 9, 2020 at 2:34
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
It depends on the details. A secret should not be kept which harms the rights of another innocent person. Otherwise keeping secrets is not forbidden, rather there are secrets which are commanded, recommended or permissible to keep.
It is proven from the Quran that the Jacob, Joseph, the mother and sister of Moses, the companions of the cave, Muhammad ﷺ etc. kept secrets. Also it is recommended for the believers to keep their charity a secret. And it is permitted for an oppressed person to keep his faith a secret.
Similarly in ahadith you may find that the Prophet would keep his war plans secret and he would confide secrets to some of his companions such as Fatimah and Anas who then guarded the secrets entrusted to them, and he emphasized guarding other people's secrets as a trust and condemned revealing secrets of one's spouse.
