Allah proclaims in the 12th verse of Surah Hujarat (49)
O you who believe! avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? But you abhor it; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, surely Allah is Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful.
We must especially remember this part of the Quranic verse:
وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا
…and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Similarly Allah declares in Surah Homaza (104), verse 1
وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ
Woe to every slanderer, defamer!
Backbiting and slander have been strictly prohibited in Islam. Backbiting means to reveal one’s defects behind his back. If those
defects are actually found in that person then it will be backbiting, but if the defects are not found in the person, then it will amount to accusation (tohmat), and this sin has a very painful chastisement. The biggest drawback of backbiting is that it sows seeds of mistrust and suspicion in society. People become busy in seeking out other people’s defects, and are blind to their own numerous defects. Instead if people were engrossed in searching their own defects and took concrete steps to rectify the same, this society will soon become clean from all defects.
To seek out defects means to search for the dirt and filth in people. If this continues, over a period of time there will accumulate a lot of dirt and filth and will damage the social framework.
Slandering means to convey one’s person’s negative remarks to another person. For instance, to tell Person A what evil Person B has spoken about him, and then to convey Person A’s comments to Person B. This is so serious that one should not indulge in it even jokingly. Slandering gives rise to disputes and spoils relations among the people.
Next: Lies
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