A Muslim is a person of good manners and high morals. The Quran, our guide, has given us the guidelines by which we are to live our lives as good Muslims. It tells us plainly which behaviors are fitting and which are not. It is important that we remind ourselves constantly of how we SHOULD act.
A few weeks ago, I ran into an old friend. As we caught up, she began to tell me some outrageous stories about other friends of mine. I was shocked by the things she said, it didn’t seem characteristic of these people. We parted ways and once I got to my apartment, I was tempted to spill all I had heard. But fortunately, earlier that week I had read Surah Hujurat and I found myself biting my tongue and keeping those stories to myself.
Surah 49: Al-Hujurat sheds some light on how a Muslim should act in social situations. For this entry, I am specifically focusing on verse 6 and part of verse 12.
Verse 6: “O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly and afterward become full of repentance for what ye have done”
We are told to investigate the accuracy of things we hear instead of spreading them blindly. Every day we hear various stories about people and sometimes tell it to our friend who might tell it to another friend. We tend to spread the news regardless of the truth factor it carries. We are urged to act responsibly and avoid such behavior because the story might be false and could demean and affect the reputation of that person. I do recall that I read somewhere that we are allowed to spread positive stories that enhance a person reputation. We are to protect the reputation of others not destroy it. Verse 12 continues with this general idea.
Verse 12: “…nor speak ill of each other behind their backs…”
Backbiting. Backbiting is wrong. We should not repeat harmful stories we’ve heard to others. It is wrong to speak badly about another in their absence and scourge them without their knowledge and imprint these same negative thoughts in the mind of others.
Verse 12 continues: “…Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay you would abhor it…”
Apart from cannibals, most of us wouldn’t want to eat the flesh of people we know. We see this as a huge deal. A sin! A taboo! An abominable act! Something that just shouldn’t be done! Here Allah is making it clear to us that backbiting is even worse than that. The cannibalism that we view as extremely inappropriate is less important in comparison to backbiting. Backbiting is harmful and sinful.
We should also note that casually listening to a backbiter is also wrong. We should avoid these situations. Either we stop whomever it is or we excuse ourselves from that environment. This is what I should have done when my friend told me those stories. May Allah make it easy for us.
Rumors and false stories distort views of a persons character. A persons character and reputation is extremely important. These malicious stories affect people. It hurts and harms them. We might not be able to physically see this hurt but it is real. We should strive hard to avoid such behavior. It is imperative that we take extra care when dealing with information we get about others. And I say this specifically to myself because I fall into this behavior too often. May Allah forgive us our sins. Amin.
As the weeks pass by, I still have the itch to tell those stories I was told but I keep reminding myself of these verses and how such behavior is unbecoming of a true Muslim. So I avoid it as I would avoid human flesh stew. J
like
ReplyDelete