No one besides Allah can look into a person’s heart. No one can understand a person’s intentions or actions besides Allah, The All-Knowing. In Ustadha Noura’s class we learned about the close family of the Prophet . One of the people he loved dearly was his adopted grandson. However, being a part of his family did not mean that one was less accountable for one’s actions. One of the hadiths that shows that even family members were corrected in their manners as follows:

Usama ibn Zayd (the Prophet’s adopted grandson) killed an idolater in battle after the the idolater had said: “There is no god but Allah” (la ilaha illallah).

When news of this reached Allah’s Messenger, he condemned Usama in the strongest terms and he said to him: “How can you kill him after he said La ilaha illallah?”

He replied: “But he said it with the sword hanging over his head-”

The Prophet said again: “How can you kill him after he said La ilaha illallah?”

He replied: “O Messenger of Allah, he said it in dissimulation (taqiyyatan).”
The Prophet said: “Did you split his heart open (to see)?” and he did not cease to reprove him until Usama wished that he had not entered Islam until after he had killed that man so that he might have been forgiven all his past sins through belief.

Another story from the Seerah that emphasizes how we should not be quick to judge one another because we are not fit to judge. Only Allah can judge our actions and intentions, he is al-Hakam and al-’Adl.