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Sermons
Sermon
139

SERMON 139

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."