"O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad it is, to insult one's brother after having Faith! And whoever does not repent then such are indeed wrongdoers. O you who believe avoid too much suspicion (because) indeed, certain suspicions are sin; neither spy nor backbite one another. Does anyone of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, you would dislike it. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is Relenting, Merciful." (49: 11-12)
The verses of the Holy Qur'an quoted above guide us to the path of peace with our immediate human environment. There are many other vices of this category that rob a man of his peace of mind - anger, avarice, hatred, envy - etc. Here the Holy Qur'an warns against acts usually regarded as innocent, at least not criminal enough to be assiduously shunned.
Defaming and deriding others by word or gesture implies in a man a sense of his superiority, for few of us are qualified to sit in judgment over our own selves.
Even when it is real, it does not behove a man to parade to the face of the person whose feelings it is sure to wound. Moreover the man who mocks at others should know that there may be other gifts that he lacks and others possess. In fact, none of us is complete and flawless, and it is a truth so well known that one ought to feel ashamed if he is ignorant of it.
Defamation very often takes the from of coining a nick-name. Nicknames are sometimes so poetic and artistic that they gain a quick currency and attach themselves to the object of ridicule more firmly and permanently than the names originally given by the parents. It is not difficult to gauge the mental misery of a person so subjected to a galling torment that should last till death.
A nickname thus places the poor fellow's soul in an earthly hell. Authors of such names should, therefore, think of the tortures of the hell in the hereafter before they choose to doom a fellow being to the recurring sting of a nickname.
Then come in spying and backbiting. Both are bad and unsocial. If backbiting is as bad as eating the dead flesh of a brother, spying is no better than forced intrusion into the privacy of another person. Both lead to embitterment of social relations.
Spying when the intruder is himself involved is apt to be subjective and easily lends itself to a misreading of other men's motives and intentions, and misreading of other men's motives leads to acrimonious feelings and retaliatory action, thus creating a feud out of nothing and making a mountain where there was not even a mole hill existing!
Backbiting is still worse and to be guarded against most scrupulously. The Noble Prophet [sallallahu alayhe wa sallam], when asked if a statement of fact against a person in his absence would amount to backbiting, he said that were it not a fact it would then amount to slander and false vilification.
Backbiting is unfortunately freely indulged in table-talks and, more often than not, takes wing to the ears of the reviled man considerably magnified in the process of transmission. Reaction follows reaction and culminates in real wrongs. These little sparks may set the social structure on fire.
One may feel that these injunctions make too heavy a demand. They maybe viewed in such light when there is no appreciation of the good they bring.
Thus imagined a small habitation peopled with practising Muslims who follow these precepts as incumbent duties only next to acts of worship, and you are sure to find that society enjoying the sweetest atmosphere of cordiality.
If the gain is so great the little bits of goodness with which we pave our way in social life should not be deemed any way taxing. Unfortunately, vice is more contagious than virtue, and self-interest usually has the upper hand in its conflict with altruism, but not so with men who follow the divine law!
REMINDER
PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOUR SELF .BE AMBASSADORS OF ISLAM AND CONVEY THE TEACHINGS OF ALLAH IN A GOOD WAY.
The verses of the Holy Qur'an quoted above guide us to the path of peace with our immediate human environment. There are many other vices of this category that rob a man of his peace of mind - anger, avarice, hatred, envy - etc. Here the Holy Qur'an warns against acts usually regarded as innocent, at least not criminal enough to be assiduously shunned.
Defaming and deriding others by word or gesture implies in a man a sense of his superiority, for few of us are qualified to sit in judgment over our own selves.
Even when it is real, it does not behove a man to parade to the face of the person whose feelings it is sure to wound. Moreover the man who mocks at others should know that there may be other gifts that he lacks and others possess. In fact, none of us is complete and flawless, and it is a truth so well known that one ought to feel ashamed if he is ignorant of it.
Defamation very often takes the from of coining a nick-name. Nicknames are sometimes so poetic and artistic that they gain a quick currency and attach themselves to the object of ridicule more firmly and permanently than the names originally given by the parents. It is not difficult to gauge the mental misery of a person so subjected to a galling torment that should last till death.
A nickname thus places the poor fellow's soul in an earthly hell. Authors of such names should, therefore, think of the tortures of the hell in the hereafter before they choose to doom a fellow being to the recurring sting of a nickname.
Then come in spying and backbiting. Both are bad and unsocial. If backbiting is as bad as eating the dead flesh of a brother, spying is no better than forced intrusion into the privacy of another person. Both lead to embitterment of social relations.
Spying when the intruder is himself involved is apt to be subjective and easily lends itself to a misreading of other men's motives and intentions, and misreading of other men's motives leads to acrimonious feelings and retaliatory action, thus creating a feud out of nothing and making a mountain where there was not even a mole hill existing!
Backbiting is still worse and to be guarded against most scrupulously. The Noble Prophet [sallallahu alayhe wa sallam], when asked if a statement of fact against a person in his absence would amount to backbiting, he said that were it not a fact it would then amount to slander and false vilification.
Backbiting is unfortunately freely indulged in table-talks and, more often than not, takes wing to the ears of the reviled man considerably magnified in the process of transmission. Reaction follows reaction and culminates in real wrongs. These little sparks may set the social structure on fire.
One may feel that these injunctions make too heavy a demand. They maybe viewed in such light when there is no appreciation of the good they bring.
Thus imagined a small habitation peopled with practising Muslims who follow these precepts as incumbent duties only next to acts of worship, and you are sure to find that society enjoying the sweetest atmosphere of cordiality.
If the gain is so great the little bits of goodness with which we pave our way in social life should not be deemed any way taxing. Unfortunately, vice is more contagious than virtue, and self-interest usually has the upper hand in its conflict with altruism, but not so with men who follow the divine law!
REMINDER
PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOUR SELF .BE AMBASSADORS OF ISLAM AND CONVEY THE TEACHINGS OF ALLAH IN A GOOD WAY.
