بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم
SLANDERING ANOTHER IN ONE'S HEART
Entertaining bad thoughts about others is as haraam(unlawful) as
expressing them. Just as it as haraam to tell another of the failings
of a person, so too it is haraam to speak to oneself of them and
think baldly of him. Allah Most High says,
يآأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ اِثْمٌ
O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion; indeed some
suspicions are sins. 49 :12
Abu Hurairah رضى الله عنه : Allah's Messengerصلى الله عليه وسلم said, ''Beware
of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; and do not look for
other's faults, and do not do spying on one another, and do not practise
Najsh* and do not be jealous of one another and do not practise and do
not desert (stop talking to) one another. And O Allah's worshippers!
Be brothers!'' (Bukhari)
*Najsh means to offer a high price for something in order to allure
another customer who is interested in the thing.
There are many hadiths which say the same, and they refer to an
established conviction or judgement in the heart that another is bad.
As for passing thoughts and fancies that do not last, when the person
having them does not persist in them, scholars concur that they are
excusable, since their occurrence is involuntary and there is no way
to avoid them.
Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ''For those of my Ummah, Allah overlooks the
thoughts that come to mind as long as they are not uttered or acted upon.''
Scholars say this refers to passing thoughts that do not abide, whether
of slander, kufr (unbelief), or something else. Whoever entertains a
passing notice of kufr that is a mere fancy whose occurrence is
unintentional and immediately dismissed is not an unbeliever and is
not to blame.
The reason such things are excusable is that there is no way to take
precaution against them. One can only avoid continuing therein, which
is why persistence in them and the established conviction of them in
one's heart is haraam.
Whenever one has a passing thought of slander, one is obliged to reject
it and summon to mind excuses which explain away the appearances
that seem to imply the bad opinion.
Imam Ghazali (R.A.A) says in the Ihya': ''A bad thought about someone
that occurs in one's heart is a notice suggested by the shaitan (satan),
and one should dismiss it, for the shaitan is the most corrupt of the
corrupt, and Allah Most High says,
يآأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا إِن جَآءَكُمْ فَاسِقُ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُو قَومَا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا
عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ
O you who believe! If a Fasiq (liar, evil person) comes to you
with any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in
ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful for what you
have done. 49 : 6
It is not permissible to believe shaitan, and if the appearance of
wrongdoing can possibly be interpreted otherwise, it is not lawful
to think badly of another. The shaitan may enter the heart at the
slightest impression of others' mistakes, suggesting that one only
noticed it because of one's superior intelligence and understanding
and that ''the believer sees with the light of Allah,'' which upon
examination often amounts to nothing more than repeating the
shaitan's deceit and obscurities.
If a reliable witness informs one of something bad about another,
one should neither believe it nor disbelieve it, in order to avoid
thinking badly of either of them. And whenever one has a bad
thought about a Muslim one should increase one's concern and
respect for him, as this will madden the shaitan and put him not
off, and he will not suggest the like of it to one again for fear
that one will occupy oneself with prayer for the person.
''If one learns of a Muslim's mistake by undeniable proof, one
should advice him about it in private and not let the shaitan
delude one into slandering him. And when admonishing him,
one should not gloat over his shortcoming and the fact that
he is regarding one with respect while one is regarding him
with disdain, but one's intention should rather be to help him
disengage from the act of disobedience, over which one is as
sad as if one had committed it oneself. One should be happier
if he desists because of one's admonishment.'' These are
Ghazali's words.
We have mentioned that it is obligatory for a person with a
passing ill thought of another to dispell it, this being when no
interest recongnised by Sacred Law conduces one to reflect
upon it, for if there is such an interest, it is permissible to weigh
and consider the individual's deficiency and warn others of it,
as when evaluating the reliability of court witnesses or hadith
transmitters, and in other cases (will mention in permissible slander)
InshaAllah will continue in the next part
SLANDERING ANOTHER IN ONE'S HEART
Entertaining bad thoughts about others is as haraam(unlawful) as
expressing them. Just as it as haraam to tell another of the failings
of a person, so too it is haraam to speak to oneself of them and
think baldly of him. Allah Most High says,
يآأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ اِثْمٌ
O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion; indeed some
suspicions are sins. 49 :12
Abu Hurairah رضى الله عنه : Allah's Messengerصلى الله عليه وسلم said, ''Beware
of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; and do not look for
other's faults, and do not do spying on one another, and do not practise
Najsh* and do not be jealous of one another and do not practise and do
not desert (stop talking to) one another. And O Allah's worshippers!
Be brothers!'' (Bukhari)
*Najsh means to offer a high price for something in order to allure
another customer who is interested in the thing.
There are many hadiths which say the same, and they refer to an
established conviction or judgement in the heart that another is bad.
As for passing thoughts and fancies that do not last, when the person
having them does not persist in them, scholars concur that they are
excusable, since their occurrence is involuntary and there is no way
to avoid them.
Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ''For those of my Ummah, Allah overlooks the
thoughts that come to mind as long as they are not uttered or acted upon.''
Scholars say this refers to passing thoughts that do not abide, whether
of slander, kufr (unbelief), or something else. Whoever entertains a
passing notice of kufr that is a mere fancy whose occurrence is
unintentional and immediately dismissed is not an unbeliever and is
not to blame.
The reason such things are excusable is that there is no way to take
precaution against them. One can only avoid continuing therein, which
is why persistence in them and the established conviction of them in
one's heart is haraam.
Whenever one has a passing thought of slander, one is obliged to reject
it and summon to mind excuses which explain away the appearances
that seem to imply the bad opinion.
Imam Ghazali (R.A.A) says in the Ihya': ''A bad thought about someone
that occurs in one's heart is a notice suggested by the shaitan (satan),
and one should dismiss it, for the shaitan is the most corrupt of the
corrupt, and Allah Most High says,
يآأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا إِن جَآءَكُمْ فَاسِقُ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُو قَومَا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا
عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ
O you who believe! If a Fasiq (liar, evil person) comes to you
with any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in
ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful for what you
have done. 49 : 6
It is not permissible to believe shaitan, and if the appearance of
wrongdoing can possibly be interpreted otherwise, it is not lawful
to think badly of another. The shaitan may enter the heart at the
slightest impression of others' mistakes, suggesting that one only
noticed it because of one's superior intelligence and understanding
and that ''the believer sees with the light of Allah,'' which upon
examination often amounts to nothing more than repeating the
shaitan's deceit and obscurities.
If a reliable witness informs one of something bad about another,
one should neither believe it nor disbelieve it, in order to avoid
thinking badly of either of them. And whenever one has a bad
thought about a Muslim one should increase one's concern and
respect for him, as this will madden the shaitan and put him not
off, and he will not suggest the like of it to one again for fear
that one will occupy oneself with prayer for the person.
''If one learns of a Muslim's mistake by undeniable proof, one
should advice him about it in private and not let the shaitan
delude one into slandering him. And when admonishing him,
one should not gloat over his shortcoming and the fact that
he is regarding one with respect while one is regarding him
with disdain, but one's intention should rather be to help him
disengage from the act of disobedience, over which one is as
sad as if one had committed it oneself. One should be happier
if he desists because of one's admonishment.'' These are
Ghazali's words.
We have mentioned that it is obligatory for a person with a
passing ill thought of another to dispell it, this being when no
interest recongnised by Sacred Law conduces one to reflect
upon it, for if there is such an interest, it is permissible to weigh
and consider the individual's deficiency and warn others of it,
as when evaluating the reliability of court witnesses or hadith
transmitters, and in other cases (will mention in permissible slander)
InshaAllah will continue in the next part
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