{"id":2903,"date":"2022-10-07T22:24:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T21:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/?p=2903"},"modified":"2022-10-07T22:24:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T21:24:19","slug":"backbiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/10\/07\/backbiting\/","title":{"rendered":"Backbiting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Allah swt says in\nSurah al-Hujrat (49:12) \u2013 \u2018O you who believe \u2026.. do not backbite one another.\nWould one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it\n(so hate backbiting). And fear Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who forgives and\naccepts repentance, Most Merciful\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside this, Abu\nHuraira (ra) reported that Allah\u2019s Messenger (saws) saying: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Do you know what is backbiting?\u2019 The Companions said: Allah and His\nMessenger know best. Thereupon the Prophet said: \u2018Backbiting implies you are\ntalking about your brother in a manner which he does not like\u2019. It was said to\nhim (saws): \u2018what is your opinion about this, that if I actually find (that\nfailing) in my brother which I made a mention of?\u2019 He (saws) said: \u2018If (that\nfailing) is actually found (in him) what you assert, you in fact have\nbackbitten him, and if that is not in him, then it is a slander (i.e. false\naccusation)\u2019. (Recorded by Imam Muslim)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Brothers\nand Sisters, Backbiting (Gheebah) is a\nsocial evil. The earlier ayah\nprohibits it. In the definition of backbiting the phrase \u2018behind his back\u2019 or\n\u2018in his absence\u2019 appears. The earlier ayah sternly warns against disgracing a Muslim and compares it to\neating the flesh of a human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backbiting is most\nseverely and harshly condemned. It is compared to the eating of the flesh of a\ndead person, thus bringing out the gravity of its unkindness and meanness. It\nis a malicious act and not an act of valour or bravery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wisdom of it\nlies in the fact that, if hurtful things are said to the face of someone, the\nperson being present will be able to defend himself. However, for fear of defence\nnot everybody will have the courage to utter hurtful things to the face of\nsomeone. So they backbite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backbiting is\ncarried out where there is no one to defend the victim, and thus the meanest\nperson would take the courage to backbite the greatest of men. The accusations,\ncomments and attacks are not defended. Generally the words spread, and more and\nmore people get involved which leads to major problems. This will affect\nindividuals, families, societies, groups and nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it is\nthe duty of every Muslim to defend their brother or sister who is being accused\nif they can. If that is not possible, then they should at least abstain from\nlistening to it, because listening to it wilfully and intentionally is like\nbackbiting itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The imam reminded us of a hadith in which Jabir (ra) also\nreported that the Prophet (saws) said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Backbiting is worse than\nadultery\u2019. The noble Companions enquired: \u2018How so?\u2019 The Messenger of Allah\n(saws) replied: \u2018A person may commit fornication, repent for it and his sin is\nforgiven. But the sin of backbiting is not forgiven unless the affected party\nforgives.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how does one\novercome the habit of backbiting. In order to do this, first it is important to\nlook at some of the root causes of backbiting. In todays\u2019 reminder the following\nare some of the causes to backbite a person:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Satisfying\nour anger<\/li>
  2. To make\nor keep others as friends<\/li>
  3. Playing\naround, joking and making fun of others<\/li>
  4. Anger\nfor the sake of Allah<\/li>
  5. Having\ntoo much spare time<\/li>
  6. Conceit\nand lack of awareness of our own faults<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    And so, if we focus on each of these root causes and try and\naddress them today then we can be of those who can eradicate this bad habit\ninsha\u2019Allah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. The strong person is one who can control\nthemselves when they get angry. So conversely, we are weak if we let emotions run\naway with ourselves during times of anger. Seek protection from Shaitaan when\nfeeling angry towards someone and insha\u2019Allah it will prevent the anger\nmanifesting into backbiting. <\/li>
    2. Our friendships will make and break us as\nservants of Allah SWT. If our friendship is dependent upon our habit of\nbackbiting in their presence then maybe it\u2019s worth evaluating the value of this\nso-called friendship compared to the cost on our souls. <\/li>
    3. If backbiting is being done to amuse others,\nthen similarly we need to assess the people we are choosing to be around. Are\nthey bringing us closer to Allah SWT or driving us further away from Him?<\/li>
    4. Sometimes our ego is so advanced that it can\nconvince us that sin is permissible if for the right reasons. Just as we hear\nin this country, \u2018two wrongs don\u2019t make a right\u2019, we need to understand that we\ncannot commit one sin for the sake of a reward from Allah SWT. Backbiting on\nsomeone because of the sake of Allah is an example of this.<\/li>
    5. Backbiting is also something that is just done\nas it\u2019s an easy topic between two people who know a third. It is used often as\nan ice-breaker between two people who both know the third person but either\nreplace it with compliments on the third person or find some other ice-breaker,\nsmall talk conversation that doesn\u2019t weigh heavily on both your souls.<\/li>
    6. Lastly, lack of awareness comes back to previous\nreminders of mindfulness. As muslims, we don\u2019t go through life as zombies. We should\nbe acutely connected with our actions and our words. If backbiting is a habit\nyou recognise in yourself then ask yourself is this is a root cause and try to\nbecome more present in the moment. Step one to this is becoming more aware of\nAllah SWT in the moment and that is achieved through dhikr and thoughtful\nprayers and duas throughout the day. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Dear brothers and sisters, backbiting is a horrible habit\nand a grave sin. Let us use today\u2019s reminder to be mindful of this trap of\nshaitaan and to make a concerted effort to remove it from our personalities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Allah swt says in Surah al-Hujrat (49:12) \u2013 \u2018O you who believe \u2026.. do not 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 Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful\u2019. Alongside this, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"blocksy_meta":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}