حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي عُمَرَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ عَنْ مُجَاهِدٍ عَنْ أَبِي مَعْمَرٍ عَنْ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ اخْتَصَمَ عِنْدَ الْبَيْتِ ثَلَاثَةُ نَفَرٍ قُرَشِيَّانِ وَثَقَفِيٌّ أَوْ ثَقَفِيَّانِ وَقُرَشِيٌّ قَلِيلٌ فِقْهُ قُلُوبِهِمْ کَثِيرٌ شَحْمُ بُطُونِهِمْ فَقَالَ أَحَدُهُمْ أَتَرَوْنَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَسْمَعُ مَا نَقُولُ فَقَالَ الْآخَرُ يَسْمَعُ إِذَا جَهَرْنَا وَلَا يَسْمَعُ إِذَا أَخْفَيْنَا وَقَالَ الْآخَرُ إِنْ کَانَ يَسْمَعُ إِذَا جَهَرْنَا فَإِنَّهُ يَسْمَعُ إِذَا أَخْفَيْنَا فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَمَا کُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَنْ يَشْهَدَ عَلَيْکُمْ سَمْعُکُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُکُمْ وَلَا جُلُودُکُمْ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَی هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ
جامع ترمذی · Hadith 3248
Narrated Ibn Mas'ud: Three men whose bellies were fat, but whose hearts had little understanding, were arguing at the House. Two of them were from Quraish and one was from Thaqif - or two from Thaqif, and one from Quraish. One of them said: 'Do you think that Allah can hear what we are saying?' Another said: 'He can hear if we are loud, but He can not hear when we are quiet.' Another said: 'If He can hear when we are loud then He can hear when we are quiet.' So Allah, the Mighty and Sublime revealed: And you have not been hiding yourselves, lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should testify against you (41:22).
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020