Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

About backbiting and speaking ill of
others ⁽¹⁾

Those who do not commit sins and have been gifted
with safety (from sins) should take pity on sinners and other disobedient people.
Gratefulness should be mostly their indulgence and it should prevent them from (finding
faults with) others. What about the backbiter who blames his brother and finds fault with
him? Does he not remember that Allah has concealed the sins which he committed while they
were bigger than his brother's sins pointed out by him? How can he vilify him about his
sins when he has himself committed one like it? Even if he has not committed a similar sin
he must have committed bigger ones. By Allah, even if he did not commit big sins but
committed only small sins, his exposing the sins of people is itself a big sin.

O' creature of Allah, do not be quick in exposition
anyone's sin for he may be forgiven for it, and do not feel yourself safe even for a small
sin because you may be punished for it. Therefore, every one of you who comes to know the
faults of others should not expose them in view of what he knows about his own faults, and
he should remain busy in thanks that he has been saved from what others have been
indulging in.

⁽¹⁾.
The habit of fault finding and backbiting has become so common that even the feeling of
its evilness has disappeared. And at present neither the high avoid it nor the low;
neither the high position of the pulpit prevents it nor the sacredness of the mosque.
Whenever a few companions sit together their topic of conversation and engaging interest
is just to discuss the faults of their opponents with added colourisation, and to listen
to them attentively. Although the fault finder is himself involved in the faults which he
picks up in others, yet he does not like that his own faults should be exposed. In such a
case, he should have consideration for similar feelings in others and should avoid
searching for their faults and hurting their feelings. He should act after the proverb:
"Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you."
Backbiting is defined as the
exposure of the fault of a brother-in-faith with the intent to vilify him in such a way as
to irritate him, whether it be by speaking, acting, implication or suggestion. Some people
take backbiting to cover only that which is false or contrary to fact. According to them
to relate what was seen or heard, exactly as it was, is not backbiting, and they say that
they are not backbiting but only relating exactly what they saw or heard. But in fact
backbiting is the name of this very relating of the facts, because if it is not factually
correct it would be false accusation and wrong blame. It is related about the Prophet that
he said:
"Do you know what backbiting
is?" People said, "Allah and His Prophet know better." Then he said,
"Backbiting means that you say about your brother a thing which pains him."
Someone said, "But what if I say what is actually true about him?" The Prophet
replied, "It is backbiting only when it is factually true, otherwise you would be
accusing him falsely."
There are many causes for indulging
in backbiting, and because of this a man commits it sometimes knowingly and sometimes
unknowingly. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali has recounted these causes in detail in his book Ihya'
ulumu'd-din. A few of the important ones are:

1)
To make fun of anyone or to make him
appear abased.

2)
To make people laugh and to display
one's own jolliness and high spiritedness.

3)
Expressing one's feelings under the
influence of rage and anger.

4)
To establish one's feelings under
the influence of rage and anger.

5)
To disprove one's connection or
involvement in a matter; namely that a particular evil was not committed by oneself but by
someone else.

6)
To associate oneself with some group
when in their company in order to avoid strangeness with them.

7)
To belittle a person from whom it is
feared that he will expose some fault of one's.

8)
To defeat a competitor in the same
calling.

9)
To seek position in the audience of
someone in power.

10)
To express sorrow by saying it is
sad that so-and-so has fallen in such and such a sin.

11)
To express astonishment, for
example, to say it is wonderful that so and so has done this.

12)
To name the committer of an act when
expressing anger over it.

However, in some cases fault
finding or criticising does not fall under backbiting.

1)
If the oppressed complains of the
oppressor in order to seek redress, it is not backbiting. Allah says about it:
Loveth not Allah open utterance of
evil in speech except by one who hath been wronged.. (Qur'an, 4:148)

2)
To relate anyone's fault while
giving advice is no backbiting because dishonesty and duplicity is not permissible in
counselling.

3)
If in connection with seeking the
requirements of a religious commandment the naming of a particular individual cannot be
avoided, then to state the fault of such person to the extent necessary would not be
backbiting.

4)
To relate the misappropriation or
dishonesty committed by someone with a view to saving a Muslim brother from harm would not
be backbiting.

5)
To relate the fault of someone
before one who can prevent him from committing it is not backbiting.

6)
Criticism and expression of opinion
about a relater of traditions is not backbiting.

7)
If a person is well acquainted with
someone's shortcoming, then to relate such a fault in order to define his personality, for
example, describing a deaf, dumb, lame or handless person as thus, is not backbiting.

8)
To describe any fault of a patient
before a physician for purposes of treatment is not backbiting.

9)
If someone claims wrong lineage then
to expose his correct lineage is not backbiting.

10)
If the life, property or honour of
someone can be protected only by informing him of some fault, it would not be backbiting.

11)
If two persons discuss a fault of
another which is already known to both it would not be backbiting, although to avoid
discussing it is better, since it is possible one of the two might have forgotten it.

12)
To expose the evils of one who
openly commits evils is not back-biting as the tradition runs:
"There is no backbiting in the
case of he who has torn away the veil of shamefulness."


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Forward to Sermon 140.

Back to Sermon 138.