Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:
One of Allah's names is Sitteer, meaning the Concealer of sins; in this world and the Hereafter, He conceals the sins of many of His servants.
By Allah's help, among them.
Ameen.
There is a well-known saying: "One commits theft and then acts arrogantly on top of it."
If a person commits a sin, he should keep it concealed and feel ashamed.
He should repent to Allah, not go around telling everyone that he committed such-and-such sin; this is shamelessness and brazenness.
This hadith is also among the ahadith of attributes; in it, the shoulder/upper arm (katif) is affirmed for Allah, just as hearing (sam‘), sight (basar), hand (yad), eye (‘ayn), face (wajh), etc.
The Ahl al-Hadith do not interpret (make ta’wil of) this, and this is the correct position. Those who make ta’wil say that by "shoulder" is meant the veil of mercy, i.e., Allah will conceal him in His shade of compassion, but this interpretation is not correct; the meaning of katif is "shoulder/upper arm."

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
In one narration, it is mentioned that when Allah, the Exalted, will make him confess his sins, he will be certain that he is doomed. At that moment, Allah, the Exalted, will not only conceal his sins but will also give him glad tidings of forgiveness from Himself. Furthermore, in order to save him from disgrace before the people, only the record of his good deeds will be given to him. In contrast, the disbeliever and the hypocrite will be publicly humiliated, and those who testify against him will say:
"These are the ones who used to fabricate lies against their Lord. Behold! The curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Al-Mazalim, Hadith: 2441)

(2)
Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah, after considering all the ahadith, has presented a comprehensive discussion that among the believers, there will be two types of sinners:
One, those whose sins pertain only to the rights of Allah (huquq Allah), and the other, those who have been negligent in the rights of the servants (huquq al-‘ibad).
Those whose sins pertain only to the rights of Allah (huquq Allah) are further divided into two categories:
First, those whose sins Allah, the Exalted, had concealed in the world; they will be forgiven.
Second, those who publicized their sins; they will not be forgiven.
Those whose sins pertain to the rights of the servants (huquq al-‘ibad) are also of two types:
First, those whose evil deeds outweigh their good deeds; they will be cast into Hell.
After receiving their punishment or through intercession, they will come out of Hell.
Second, those whose good and evil deeds are equal; after retribution is taken from them, they will be permitted to enter Paradise, as is explicitly mentioned in a hadith.
(Fath al-Bari: 10/600, and Sahih al-Bukhari, Al-Mazalim, Hadith 2440)

(3)
In any case, a person should not expose his own sins. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:
"Avoid the evils from which Allah has forbidden you. If anyone commits them, he should not publicize them, but rather conceal them under Allah’s covering."
(Al-Mustadrak lil-Hakim: 4/272)

Hadith Commentary:
By bringing this chain of narration, Imam Bukhari rahimahullah intends to establish explicitly that Qatadah heard from Safwan, and thus any break in the chain is negated.
The relevance of the hadith to this chapter is that it mentions Allah, the Exalted, whispering to His servant.
The correspondence between the hadith and the chapter is evident. After this, where are those people who claim that Allah’s speech is an ancient, intrinsic attribute (qadim nafsi sifah), in which there is neither sound nor letters?
Tell me, how does this ancient attribute become contingent (hadith) according to the situation and occasion?
If they say that its connection is contingent, just as hearing (sam‘) and sight (basar) and so on are, then the thing heard and the thing seen are other than the Divine Essence.
Therefore, the connection can be contingent. But here, speech (kalam) is itself His attribute, not something other than Him.
If in His speech there is neither sound nor letters, then why did the Prophets hear His speech? And in the mass-transmitted (mutawatir) hadiths, it is mentioned that He spoke to other people as well, and especially that He will speak to the believers in the Hereafter. So, when this speech has neither sound nor letters, how is it understood and how can it be?
It is regrettable that these (mutakallimun) people, after studying so much knowledge, then act foolishly in this matter, and who knows what kinds of interpretations (ta’wilat) they make.
Such interpretations are, in reality, a denial of the attribute of speech. Then why do they not simply say outright that Allah, the Exalted, does not speak at all, just as Ja‘d ibn Dirham—who was rejected—did?
Even today, most naturalists, Westernized, so-called Muslims say similar things.
May Allah guide them to the straight path.

Hadith Commentary:
➊
This explicitly states that Allah, exalted is He, will converse with His servant in a manner of confidential whispering.
The purpose of bringing him close and covering him is so that no one else hears this conversation, thus protecting the servant from humiliation and disgrace. This conversation will be real and composed of actual words and letters.

➋
Imam al-Bukhari rahimahullah intends to refute those who hold the view that Allah’s speech is an eternal, internal attribute (sifah nafsiya qadima) in which there is neither sound nor letters.
If Allah’s speech were such, then how would the servant be able to hear this confidential whisper? Allah, exalted is He, will also converse with the inhabitants of Hell, as is mentioned in the hadith that He will say to a disbeliever who is receiving the lightest punishment:
“If you were given the world and all its possessions, would you offer it as ransom to save yourself from this punishment?” He will reply, “I am prepared for that.”
Allah, exalted is He, will say,
“When you were in the loins of your father, I asked you for something much easier than this: that you not associate anything with Allah. But you persisted in associating partners (shirk) with Him.”
(Sahih Muslim, Sifat al-Munafiqin, Hadith: 7083(2805))

➌
Imam al-Bukhari rahimahullah has mentioned another chain of narration at the end of the hadith so that it is explicitly established that the narrator of the hadith, Safwan, heard it directly from Qatadah, and thus the possibility of a break in the chain is eliminated.
And Allah knows best.

Hadith Commentary:
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has brought this hadith in the Book of Usurpation (Kitab al-Ghasb) because in the verse where it is mentioned that the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers, the wrongdoers (zalimun) referred to are the disbelievers (kuffar). If a Muslim commits oppression (zulm), then he is not included in this verse.
Although retribution for oppression will certainly be taken, he cannot be considered accursed (mal'un).

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
The meaning of "najwa" is a whispered conversation, which Allah, the Exalted, will have with His servant on the Day of Resurrection. This will be His special grace and favor, that He will inform the servant of his sins in private and have him acknowledge them, then He will forgive them. The sins mentioned in this hadith refer not to the rights of people (huquq al-‘ibad), but rather to those sins which are known only to Allah and His servant, which Allah, the Exalted, will forgive. Furthermore, in the noble verse, the "wrongdoers" (zalimun) refers to the disbelievers and hypocrites; if a Muslim commits wrongdoing, he is not included in this verse. The recompense for wrongdoing will certainly be taken, but he will not be declared accursed.
(2)
From the collection of ahadith, it is understood that one category of sins are those which were concealed in the world; on the Day of Resurrection, Allah, the Exalted, will also keep them hidden and forgive them. Then there are some sins which were committed openly, among which are included the rights of people (huquq al-‘ibad), for which accountability may occur. As for the disbelievers and hypocrites, upon them there will be open and public curse in front of everyone.

Hadith Commentary:
1.
In one narration, it is mentioned that when a servant confesses his sins, he will think to himself that he is doomed. At that moment, Allah, the Exalted, will give him the glad tidings of forgiveness for his sins, and then the record of his good deeds will be handed to him.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Mazalim, Hadith 41.24)
As for the disbelievers who used to prevent others from the path and sought to make it crooked, and who also denied the Hereafter, regarding them, Allah, the Exalted, has said:
"These people could not frustrate Allah on earth, nor did they have any protector against Allah. The punishment will be doubled for them, for they neither listened to the truth nor did they themselves perceive anything."
(Hud: 11.20)
2.
They will be given double punishment because, firstly, they themselves went astray, and secondly, they left this legacy of misguidance for their children and other followers, so a share of the punishment for their followers is also added to their account.
And Allah knows best.

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah states:

Sinful Muslims are of two types:

(1)
Those Muslims whose sins pertain to the rights of Allah,
they are of two categories.

(a)
Those whose sins Allah concealed in this world,
their sins will also be concealed in the Hereafter.

(b)
Those whose sins became apparent before people in this world,
their sins will not be concealed.

(2)
Those Muslims whose sins pertain to the rights of the servants (huquq al-‘ibad),
they too are of two categories.

(a)
Those whose evil deeds
are greater than their good deeds,
they will enter the Fire,
then, after serving their punishment or through intercession, they will be taken out of Hell.

(b)
Those Muslims whose good and evil deeds are equal,
they will settle accounts with one another,
and then enter Paradise.

(Takmila, vol. (6), p. (40))

Commentary:
(1)
From this hadith, the attribute of speech (kalam) of Allah Almighty is established. The position of Ahl al-Sunnah on this issue is that Allah Almighty speaks whenever He wills, to whomever He wills, and whatever He wills, and the addressee hears this speech. This is not possible except with letters and sounds, as will be clarified further ahead. The scholars of truth do not interpret away (ta’wil) those verses and hadiths in which the speech of Allah is mentioned; rather, they take it upon its reality. However, they do not liken (tashbih) Allah’s attribute of speech to the speech of the creation.

(2)
Allah’s speech can also occur in such a manner that only a single individual hears it, as is mentioned in this hadith; that is why it is referred to as a whisper (sargoshi). Or, as is stated regarding Musa (alayhis salam): ﴿وَقَرَّبْنٰهُ نَجِيًّا﴾ (Maryam: 56) “We brought him near for private conversation.” And it can also occur in such a manner that more people hear it, such as when, in Paradise, Allah Almighty will say to all the believers that He will never again be angry with them.

(3)
In this, there is mention of the great mercy of Allah, due to which the believer hopes for forgiveness from Allah. Likewise, the disgrace of the criminals is also mentioned, due to which the believer fears Allah, because both hope and fear are included in faith (iman).