In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah in whose hand my soul lies in, the One who created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them.
Oh slaves of Allah, take heed of what your tongue says, for that may determine your fate between Jahannam and Jannah. One of the grave problems which is taken very lightly by the Ummah at this present time, are the words that we utter. Never do we think twice before we talk. We indulge ourselves into dirty, flithy and forbidden acts. Among these forbidden things which people take often lightly are gheebah (backbiting), buhtaan (slander) and nameemah (malicious gossip).
Worst of all, we backbite about our very own brothers and sisters in Islam. And I swear by Allah this is such a dirty and deadly sin that we are falling into without even realizing it.
For Allaah subhana wa t’ala says (interpretation of the meaning):
“neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allaah. Verily, Allaah is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful”[al-Hujuraat 49:12]
Gheebah or backbiting means speaking about a Muslim in his absence and saying things that he would not like to have spread around or mentioned. Buhtaan or slander means saying things about a Muslim that are not true, or in other words telling lies about him. Nameemah or malicious gossip means telling one person what another said in order to cause trouble between them.
I do not understand how we even dare to talk about the sins of other people, and indulge ourselves in the discussion of the lives of people, when our life itself is so crooked. People hardly pray, or even if they do, then they pray Fajr at the time of Dhuhr, Dhuhr at the time of ‘Asr, and so forth, and one of their excuse for missing or delaying their Salah is, “I cannot find the time to pray”, but yet we find a lot of time for chit chatting about people.
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do you know what gheebah (backbiting) is?” They said, “Allaah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “Saying something about your brother that he dislikes.” It was said, “What if what I say about my brother is true?” He said, “If what you say is true then you have backbitten about him, and if it is not true, then you have slandered him.” Narrated by Muslim, 2589
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) passed by two graves and said, “They are being punished, but they are not being punished for anything that was difficult to avoid. One of them used to walk about spreading malicious gossip (nameemah), and the other used not to take precautions to avoid getting urine on himself when he urinated.” Then he called for a green branch, which he split in two and planted a piece on each grave, and said, “May their torment be reduced so long as these do not dry out.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 213; Muslim, 292
Know Oh muslims that our tongue will be a witness against us on the day of Judgement. It’s the day where is there no refuge, but except in Allah Subhana wa T’ala. And if Allah Subhana wa T’ala does not look at you, then there is nothing that can save you. And it is a day where if Allah gives your records in your left hand, then everything that will come after that will be bad. Do you want to lose your hard earned good deeds within a few seconds? Do you really want to exchange your salah, saum (fasting) and charity for a big pile of bad deeds? If you do want to, then go ahead and insult people, go ahead and slander against people, for on the Day of Judgement all the people who suffered by your tongue will be rewarded with your good deeds.
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him)reported:
Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa salam) said, "Do you know who is the bankrupt?'' They said:"The bankrupt among us is the one who has neither money with him nor any property".
He said, "The real bankrupt of my Ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with Salat, Saum and Sadaqah (charity), (but he will find himself bankrupt on that day as he will have exhausted the good deeds) because he insulted others, slandered against others, unlawfully devoured the wealth of others, shed the blood of others and beat others; so his good deeds would be credited to the account of those (who suffered at his hand). If his good deeds fall short to clear the account, their sins would be entered in his account and he would be thrown in the (Hell) Fire". [Muslim].
Prophet Muhammed sallallahu alaihi wa salam said: “When the son of Adam gets up in the morning all the limbs humble themselves before the tongue and say: Have taqwa of Allaah for our sake, for we are dependant on you, If you are straight/upright, we are straight and If you are crooked, we are crooked.” Hasan - narrated by at-Tirmidhee, lbn Khuzaymah and Ibn Hibbaan from Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree marfoo'aan and authenticated by al-Albaanee in (( Saheeh ul-Jaami')) [351]
So brothers and sisters control your tongues as much as possible, and do no speak ill of people, either in front of them nor behind them. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa salam said: “If anyone guarantees me whats between his jaws and between his legs, I shall guarantee him Jannah” Saheeh - narrated by al-Bukhaaree from Sahl lbn Sa'd marfoo'aan.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah rahimullah said:
Whoever wrongs a person by slandering him, backbiting about him or insulting him, then repents, Allaah will accept his repentance, but only if the one who was wronged finds out about that, he has the right to settle the score. But if he slandered him or backbit about him and the person did not hear of that, then there are two views according to the scholars, both of which were narrated from Ahmad, the more correct of which is that he should not tell him that he spoke against him in his absence. It was said that he should rather speak well of him in his absence just as he spoke badly of him in his absence, as al-Hasan al-Basri said: the expiation for gheebah is to pray for forgiveness for the person about whom you backbit.
Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 3/291
Remember the wounds of a sword may heal one day, but the wounds of the tongue - they never may, for it may leave a mark in the heart of a person forever. So let me tell you my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, fear Allah as much He should be feared and stay steadfast in your religion. This is a reminder to firstly myself, and then to all of you. Inshallah May Allah Subhana wa T’ala help us control our tongues and maintain unity within ourselves, ameen.
And our Lord the most high knows best
"Indeed Allaah enjoins upon you justice, kindness and the giving of good to relatives and near ones. And He prohibits you from all shameful and evil deeds, oppression and transgression. Thus He admonishes you, that you may take heed and be reminded." [Soorah an-Nahl, 16:90]
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