Gossip and Its Adverse Effects on the Muslim Community
Anecdotes on the Condemnation of al-Ghibah (gossip/backbiting) from Shaykh Husayan al-Awaaishah

1 - It is reported from al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man said to him: "You have gossiped about me. He (al-Hasan) said: "You have not reached such a position that you can control my Hasanat!" [Translator's Note: The Islamic teaching is that the Hasanat (rewards) of the one who gossips will be awarded to the victim.]

2 - Someone was told: "So-and-so has gossiped about you" - so he sent him a dish of dates, with the message: "I heard that you had given me your Hasanat as a gift, and I want to return the favour; please excuse me for not being able to pay back in full."

3 - It was reported from Ibn Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "If I were to gossip about anyone, I would gossip about my parents, for they have more right to my Hasanat."

4 - Ghibah is the hospitality of the wrongdoer.

5 - From Amr ibn al-As (radhiallahu `anhu); He passed by a dead mule, and said to some of his companions: "It would be better for a man to eat his fill from the meat of this than from the flesh of his fellow-Muslims." [Sahih al-Targhib at-Tarhib]

6 - A man mentioned something bad about another to his friend. His friend said to him: "Do you go out and fight against the Romans?" He said, "No." His friend asked: "Do you go out and fight against the Turks?" He said, "No." The friend said: "The Romans are safe from you, and the Turks are safe from you, but your Muslim brothers are not safe from you!"

7 - If you are unable to do three things, then you must do three (other) things: if you cannot do good, then stop doing evil; if you cannot benefit people, then do not harm them; if you cannot fast, then do not eat the flesh of the people.

8 - The poet said:

"If a man is wise and fears Allah,
This will keep him too busy to concern himself with the faults of others,
Just as the weak and sick person is concerned with his own pain
To think of the pain of others."

© 1995 Dar Ibn Hazm