Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.   Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.   To proceed:   Publicizing sins is from the major sins and great iniquities.  It has been transmitted in the Saheehayn from the hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “My whole ummah will be forgiven”, that is, it is hoped that the whole ummah will be saved from sins, their effects, misfortunes, and dangers in the world and the Hereafter “except”, this is an exception, “ those who publicize their sins.” Who are those who publicize sins? These were indicated by the Prophet (peace be upon him): and these are people who commit sins and Allah the Exalted conceals them during the night, and then such a person removes Allah’s screen from himself, saying, “I did this, I did this and I did this.” He will be saying that he committed adultery or stole, although Allah had screened him, covered his sins, and his defects from the people. This action shows the weakness of faith in a person’s heart, that in his heart there is no reverence for Allah, that in his heart there is no shame from Allah and if there was faith in his heart he would not have publicized his misdeeds. But if such a person performs hajj or fasts on the day of ‘Arafah will his sins be  forgiven? Some scholars said that these good actions do not atone major sins that a person persists on. Thus if a person persists on a sin, even if it is forgiven, he is threatened with punishment for publicizing sins, as long as he continues doing that.  However, if he publicizes his sins once, and is preached to, then he regrets and stops doing it, then this is considered to be one of the sins which falls under Allah’s statement: “Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." (Surah az-Zumar (39): 63)   All praise is due to Allah in Whose Mercy sins disappear, and in front of Whose Mercy and forgiveness evil deeds and sins diminish no matter how large they are. Therefore, no one should despair from the Mercy of Allah, even if he publicizes his sins for a while because he should return to Allah and repent. And Allah the Exalted loves those who repent and those who purify themselves.”