45/41, 42: Chapter
Sunan an-Nasai 4832 — No One Bears Another's Sin
Can Anyone Be Blamed For The sin Of Another?
Hadith About Personal Accountability in Islam
Sunan an-Nasai : 4832
Sunan an-NasaiHadith Number 4832
أَخْبَرَنِي هَارُونُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ بْنُ أَبْجَرَ، عَنْ إِيَادِ بْنِ لَقِيطٍ، عَنْ أَبِي رِمْثَةَ، قَالَ أَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَعَ أَبِي فَقَالَ " مَنْ هَذَا مَعَكَ " . قَالَ ابْنِي أَشْهَدُ بِهِ . قَالَ " أَمَا إِنَّكَ لاَ تَجْنِي عَلَيْهِ وَلاَ يَجْنِي عَلَيْكَ " .
Abu Rimthah Narrated from:
I came to the Prophet with my father and he said: 'Who is this with you?' He said:' my son, I bear witness (that he is my son). He said: 'You cannot be affected by his sin or he by yours.
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 4832In-book reference : Book 45, Hadith 127English translation : Vol. 5, Book 45, Hadith 4836
Summary of Sunan an-Nasai Hadith 4832
This hadith teaches a clear message about personal accountability. Abu Rimthah came to the Prophet with his father. When the Prophet asked who was with him, the father said that he was his son and bore witness to that. The Prophet then said that the father could not be affected by the son's sin, nor the son by the father's sin. This hadith about no one bearing another's sin is simple and powerful. It shows that blame is not passed from parent to child or from child to parent in the way mentioned here. Each person is treated with his own action, not the guilt of another person.
What we learn from this hadith
- A father is not blamed for the son's sin in this statement.
- A son is not blamed for the father's sin in this statement.
- The hadith teaches personal responsibility without inherited blame.
