One night, the second Caliph was surveying the streets to ascertain the general state of affairs in the city. In the course of his inspection, he happened to pass by a house from which he heard suspicious noises. He climbed over the wall of the house and looked inside. A man and a woman were sitting together, with a jar of wine placed before them.
Addressing them harshly he said, “You commit sins in solitude in the belief that God shall not make manifest your secret?”
The person turned to the Caliph and said, “Do not be so hasty, for if I have committed one sin, you have committed three. Firstly, God has said in the Qur’an: and do not spy You have been doing just that.Secondly, He has said in the Qur’an: and go into the houses by their doors . You have entered from over the wall. Thirdly, He has said: So when you enter houses, greet your people with a salutation. You have not done so.”
The Caliph asked, “If I were to pardon you, do you resolve to amend your ways?”
“By God! I shall never repeat this act again,” the man replied.
The Caliph said, “Now you can be at ease, for I have pardoned you.”( Pand-e-Taareekh, vol. 5, pg. 29; Al-Ghadeer, vol. 6, pg. 121.)