[Anckzxik]

Doctor Saheb.

I thought 'pushing it under the rug' was what our Beloved Rasoolullah taught us to do.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said,
"Allah will cover up on the Day of Resurrection the defects (faults) of the one who covers up the faults of the others in this world".
[Muslim].

There is whole chapter in Riyad As Saliheen of Imam Nawawi on 'Covering the faults of Fellow Muslims.'

Sidi 'Amr. Your understanding of the ahadith on this issue is partially flawed and partially right. As a matter of fact you have stepped unwittingly into the field of ta'rrud al adilla(reconciliation of source texts). Following your conclusion reached upon your understanding of these ahadith one will land up ultimately with a contradiction with those ahadith that speak of correcting the faults of our fellow Muslims. After all this Din is sincere nasiha and a believer is the mirror of another believer. What these ahadith are speaking of is targeting someone by name in public, shaming him and dishonoring him for his faults. If you look at the article I posted, it speaks in a very general sense of the "saudi syndrome" without targeting individuals. Per chance some brother who is suffering from the same disease of regionalism may read it and be guided. I hope that the direction from which I approached this matter is somewhat clearer now. And thanks for the reference to Riyad al Saliheen.

A_T.