Backbiting - Islamic School System - Dawat-e-Islami

ۡ90 Backbiting – A Cancer in our Societybreaks down; or any other misery befalls upon him, then some people rejoice andexpress their joy and slip into this sin.Some, specially those who are very talkative and often non-practising, but they considerthemselves at a ‘higher spiritual status’ often make claims like, ‘See! He hurt me that iswhy this happened.’ As if they know the hidden secrets and they can spiritually find outthe root cause of others misfortunes. Such people should evaluate themselves and considerthis statement of Ḥujjat-ul-Islam, Sayyidunā Imām Muhammad Bin Muhammad Ghazālī, written in Iḥyā-ul-‘Ulūm, ‘It is narrated that, there are some sins that theirpunishment is a faithless demise. We seek Allah’s refuge from such. That sin is a falseclaim of sainthood or of performing a minor miracle.’عَ‏ لَيهِ‏ رَ‏ ‏ْح ‏َم ‏ُةالل ‏ِهالۡ‏ وَا ‏ِلىMadanī! Gunāĥaun kī ‘ādat naĥīn jātīn āp ĥī kucĥ karaynMayn nay koshishayn kī baĥut magar mayrī ḥālat āĥ! Burī raĥīHelp me kick off the habit of sins, my Adorable MasterI have tried but my state remains deplorableIf you cannot act on three then do this...One wise person said that if you are not capable of these three then do these three things:if you cannot do good, then refrain from the evil acts; if you cannot benefit others, thenat least do not hurt them; and if you cannot keep Nafl fasts, then avoid eating the flesh ofothers. (Tanbīĥ-ul-Ghāfilīn, pp. 89)Honour of a Muslim in the sight of the sagesOne sage said, ‘We observed that our pious predecessors considered it a greater degreeof worship to guard themselves from disgracing other Muslims than praying Ṣalāĥ andkeeping fasts.’ (Żamm-ul-Ghībaĥ li-Ibn Abid Dunyā, pp. 94, Raqm 55)Enormous charity and backbitingSayyidunā Waĥb Makkī عَلَيْهِ‏ رَحْمَةُ‏ اللهِ‏ الۡ‏ قَوِی said, ‘Assuming that I owned all the materialisticpossession of this world, from its inception until its culmination, and that I gave it all inthe path of Allah ‏.عَزَّوَجَلَّ‏ I consider giving up backbiting better than committing suchvirtuous deed. Likewise, I consider not to look upon the impermissible things better than