36/20. Chapter:
Sunan Ibn Majah 4007 — Fear of People Should Not Stop Truth
Enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil
Hadith About Speaking the Truth Without Fear of People
Sunan Ibn Majah : 4007
Sunan Ibn MajahHadith Number 4007
حَدَّثَنَا عِمْرَانُ بْنُ مُوسَى، أَنْبَأَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ زَيْدِ بْنِ جُدْعَانَ، عَنْ أَبِي نَضْرَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَامَ خَطِيبًا فَكَانَ فِيمَا قَالَ " أَلاَ لاَ يَمْنَعَنَّ رَجُلاً هَيْبَةُ النَّاسِ أَنْ يَقُولَ بِحَقٍّ إِذَا عَلِمَهُ " . قَالَ فَبَكَى أَبُو سَعِيدٍ وَقَالَ قَدْ وَاللَّهِ رَأَيْنَا أَشْيَاءَ فَهِبْنَا .
Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri Narrated from:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up to deliver a sermon, and one of the things he said was: “Indeed, fear of people should not prevent a man from speaking the truth, if he knows it.” Then Abu Sa'eed wept and said: "By Allah, we have seen things that made us scared (and we did not speak up)."
[1] Al-Mā'idah 5:78-81.Reference : Sunan Ibn Majah 4007In-book reference : Book 36, Hadith 82English translation : Vol. 5, Book 36, Hadith 4007
Summary of Sunan Ibn Majah Hadith 4007
This Hadith about speaking the truth is simple and powerful. During a sermon, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that fear of people should not stop a man from saying the truth when he knows it. Abu Sa’eed then cried and admitted that they had seen things that made them afraid. The narration is honest about human weakness. It does not pretend that speaking truth is always easy. It teaches that fear of people can become a barrier between a person and the duty to say what is right. The related search phrase, speak the truth in Islam, fits this Hadith well because the message is about courage, knowledge, and moral duty.
What we learn from this hadith
- Truth should be spoken when a person knows it and has a duty to speak.
- Fear of people is named as a real barrier in the narration.
- The Companion’s reaction shows the seriousness of staying silent out of fear.
- The Hadith encourages moral courage without adding details beyond the text.
