The meaning of the hadeeth, “Whoever taunts his brother with a sin” and how sound it is

 

Hadhrat Muaaz (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:


"Whoever taunts a brother (Muslim) with a sin (which the Muslim has committed), will not die until he the taunter) commits the same sin."


Could you please xplain this Hadith in further detail?

Praise
be to Allaah.

This hadeeth was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, (Kitaab
Sifat al-Qiyaamah wa’l-Wara’, 2429), where the wording is, 
“Whoever shames his brother for a sin will not die until he does it
too.” 

Shaykh al-Albaani described this hadeeth in Da’eef
al-Jaami’ (5710) as mawdoo’ (fabricated). 

If a hadeeth is da’eef (weak) and mawdoo’ (fabricated),
it cannot be taken as a basis for rulings or be acted upon. 

With regard to the meaning of the hadeeth, Shaykh al-Mubaarakfoori
said:

“ ‘Whoever shames’ means whoever criticizes or condemns.
‘his brother’ means his brother in faith. ‘For a sin’ means one from
which he has repented, according to the way in which Imaam Ahmad explained
it. ‘will not die’ – the subject of this verb is ‘whoever’. ‘Until he
does it too’ means, the sin for which he criticizes his brother. It
is as if the one who criticizes his brother will be forsaken by Allaah
until he commits the sin for which he criticized his brother, if that
criticism was accompanied by self-admiration for being free of that
sin.” 

(Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 7/173) 

The fact that this hadeeth is da’eef (weak) does not mean that it is
permissible to criticize those who have fallen into sin, for those who
fall into sin are of different types. 

Some of them repent and turn back to their Lord, or else
the punishment (hadd) is carried out on them. So it is not permissible
to criticize them because their souls have been purified by their repentance
or the punishment. The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who repents
from sin is like one who has never sinned.” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah,
4240; classed as saheeh by al-Busayri in al-Zawaa’id, commentary
on Sunan Ibn Maajah). 

Imam Ahmad said that the punishment mentioned in the
hadeeth is for the one who criticizes a person who has repented from
his sin, as al-Tirmidhi narrated from him.  After narrating this
hadeeth, he said: Ahmad said: from a sin from which he has repented. 

Some of them commit sin but they do not do it openly.
Anyone who comes to know of that has to advise the person and cover
his faults. 

And some of them commit sin openly. They should also
be advised, and others should be warned against them to whatever extent
is appropriate. 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It may be that what he meant is that your criticizing
your brother for his sin is an even greater sin than his, because it
means that you feel pride in your obedience and you are praising yourself
for that, and claiming to be free from sin, whereas your brother has
fallen into sin. But it may be that his feeling humble because of his
sin and what has happened to him, such as his feeling humble and submissive,
thinking less of himself, ridding himself of pious pretensions, arrogance
and self-admiration, standing before Allaah with his head bowed, his
gaze lowered and his heart broken – it may be that all of that is better
for him than your feeling proud of your obedience, thinking that you
are doing much good, believing that by doing so you are important, and
reminding Allaah and mankind of that. 

How close this sinner is to the mercy of Allaah, and
how close this conceited one is to the wrath of Allaah! A sin that leads
to humility is more beloved to Him than an act of obedience which fills
a person with conceit. If you sleep all night then wake up feeling regret
(for not having prayed qiyaam al-layl), that may be better for you than
if you were to pray all night and wake up in the morning filled with
self-admiration. For the deeds of the one who admires himself are not
accepted. Perhaps your laughing whilst admitting to shortcomings is
better than your weeping with piety but being filled with conceit. The
groaning of the sinners is more beloved to Allaah than the tasbeeh of
the conceited. It may be that by means of this sin, Allaah has caused
him to drink the medicine that will cure a fatal disease which you also
have, but you do not realize it. Allaah has reason for what He does
to both those who are obedient and those who sin, which are known to
no-one except Him, and which no one recognizes except those who have
insight, and then only within the limits of human understanding; beyond
that there are reasons which are not even known to the honourable scribes
(i.e., the recording angels). The Prophet said: “If the slave woman
of any one of you commits adultery, let him carry out the punishment
on her and not criticize.” And Yoosuf (peace be upon him) said: “No
reproach on you this day” [Yoosuf 12:92 – interpretation of the meaning].
For the scale is in the hand of Allaah, and the ruling is His. The point
is to carry out the punishment (prescribed by Allaah) and not to shame
and criticize. No one feels safe from what has been decreed for them
and from the power of His decree except those who are ignorant of Allaah.
Allaah said to the one who had more knowledge of Him than anyone else
and was closer to Him: “And had We not made
you stand firm, you would nearly have inclined to them a little”[al-Israa’
17:74 – interpretation of the meaning]. And
Yoosuf said: “Unless You turn away their plot
from me, I will feel inclined towards them and be one (of those who
commit sin and deserve blame or those who do deeds) of the ignorant”[Yoosuf
12:33 – interpretation of the meaning]. One
of the ways in which the Messenger of Allaah used to swear was “No,
by the One who turns hearts.” And he said, “There is no heart which
is not between two of the fingers of the Most Merciful. If He wills
He guides it aright and if He wills He sends it astray.” Then he said,
“O Allaah, the one Who turns hearts over, make our hearts steadfast
in adhering to Your religion. O Allaah, musrif al-Quloob, sirf our hearts
to obey You.” 

Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/177, 178) 

And Allaah knows best.