A. (Dr. Zakir): One of the major sins in Islam is slandering and backbiting. Allah سبحانه و تعالى says in the Qur’an,
وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ
“Woe to every slanderer and backbiter.”
(SURAH AL-HUMAZAH, CHAPTER 104, VERSE 1)
And Allah سبحانه و تعالى says in the Qur’an,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it… But fear Allah: For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.”
(SURAH HUJURAT, CHAPTER 49, VERSE 12)
Here Allah سبحانه و تعالى gives an example that a person who backbites, it as though he’s eating his own brother. Now eating the meat of your own brother is ‘haram’. And it further says, “eating dead meat” which is also ‘haram’. So if you backbite, you are committing a double sin, not only eating the meat of your brother, eating the flesh of your dead brother, so it is a very grave sin. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said,
“Do you know what is backbiting? They (the Companions) said: Allah and His Messenger know best. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet ﷺ) said: Backbiting implies you’re talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like. It was said to him: What is your opinion about this that if I actually find (that failing) in my brother which I made a mention of? He said: If (that failing) is actually found (in him) what you assert, you in fact backbited him, and if that is not in him it is a slander.”
(SAHIH MUSLIM, VOLUME 4, HADITH 6265)
So backbiting is a grave sin. There’s another ‘sahih’ Hadith, narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin (may Allah be pleased with her):
“I said to the Prophet (ﷺ): It is enough for you in Safiyyah that she is such and such (the other version than Musaddad’s has:) meaning that she was short-statured. He replied; You have said a word which would change the sea if it were mixed in it…”
(SUNAN ABI-DAWUD, VOLUME 3, BOOK OF MANNERS, HADITH 4857)
Further it is mentioned, narrated Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him):
“The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When I was taken up to heaven I passed by people who had nails of copper and were scratching their faces and their breasts. I said: Who are these people, Gabriel? He replied: They are those who were given to back biting and who aspersed people’s honour.”
(SUNAN ABI-DAWUD, VOLUME 3, BOOK OF MANNERS, HADITH 4860)
This indicates that backbiting is a grave sin. And it is one of the major sins which people should abstain from. And many of us, they do it unknowingly, not realizing that it is a grave sin, we should abstain from it. And the Prophet ﷺ also said,
“A Qattat (i.e. rumour-monger) will not enter Paradise.”
(SAHIH AL-BUKHARI, VOLUME 8, BOOK OF MANNERS, HADITH 6056)
So from these Hadith, we come to know that we have to be careful, we should guard our tongue, especially from backbiting and gossip-mongering.
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