Part 43

Abu Haneefah said: “It is not permitted for any one to take our opinion if he does not know where we derived it from.

Imam Malik said: “I am just a human being; sometimes I am right and sometimes I am wrong in my opinions; so check my interpretation, if it conforms to the Book of Allah (the Qur’an) and the Sunnah of the Prophet, you may then adopt it, and if it does not, you may leave it”.

Al-Shafi‘i said: “Whatever I say; if it opposes the Hadith of the Prophet 38, do not take it but follow the Hadith of the Prophet 4% which comes prior to it; so do not imitate me.”

Imam Ahmad said: “Do not blindly follow my opinion or that of Malik, or al-Shafi‘i, or al-Awza‘I, or al-Thawri, but take (the knowledge) from the source they took it from.”

! Surat al-Nahl, verse 116. ? School of Islamic knowledge founded upon the opinion of a fageeh (scholar). 3 Majority of sholars.

There are many Ahadith about telling lies against the Prophet # and the punishment for that. Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet # said: “Whoever tells a lie against me intentionally, let him surely occupy his seat in the Hellfire’, and the Hadith reported by Ali ibn Abi Talib 2 that Prophet % said: “Do not tell a lie against me, for whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally) will surely enter the Hellfire.”?

Al-Mughira reported that the Prophet 38 said: “Ascribing false things to me is not like ascribing false things to anyone else. Whoever tells a lie against me intentionally, let him surely occupy his seat in Hellfire.”?

Accordingly, it is not permitted for any Muslim to ascribe a Hadith to the Prophet 4 until he is certain of its authenticity.

What types of lies are permitted?

Al-Ghazali said: “It is expedient to speak in order to attain one’s objectives, and any commendable aim can be achieved using both truth and untruth. To tell a lie in order to attain an objective is haram, however if can only be achieved with a lie, and not with truth, then lying is permitted in this case, if attaining the objective is recommended, or can be obligatory if the objective is obligatory. As safeguarding the blood of a Muslim is obligatory, it is permitted to tell a lie to an oppressor so as to protect a Muslim.

Some examples, where telling a lie is permitted, are mentioned in the Hadith reported by Umm Kulthoum when the Prophet said: “He who makes peace between people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar’*, and Muslim added in his narration: Umm Kulthoum said: “And I did not hear him (i.e. the Messenger of Allah %) giving people ‘permission to tell a lie except in (three) matters: concerning war, making peace between people, and in the talk of a husband to his wife, or wife to her husband for the benefit and protection of their marriage.”

' Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. ? Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. > Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. * Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim

16. Preserving one’s tongue from backbiting

Allah 8% said: {Do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat his brother’s dead flesh? No, you would hate it)'.

Abu Bakrah # reported that the Prophet # said: “Your blood, your property, your honour and your skins are as sacred to one another like the sanctity of this day of yours in this town of yours. Be witness that I have conveyed Allah’s message to you.””

Abu Hurayrah ¢ reported that the Prophet # said: “All things of a Muslim are inviolable for his brother in faith; his blood, his wealth and his honour”.

Abu Musa 4s reported that he asked the Prophet 4: “Whose Islam is the best?” He 3 replied: “One who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands.”*

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amru 4s reported that the Prophet 3 said: “A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands; and a Muhajir (emigrant) is the one who gives up (abandons) all that Allah has forbidden.”*

Abu Barzah reported that the Prophet # said: “O community of people, who believed with their tongues, yet belief did not enter their hearts, do not backbite Muslims, nor search for their faults, for if anyone searches for their faults, Allah would search for his fault, and if Allah searches for the fault of anyone, He disgraces him in his house.”*

When the Prophet 3£ ordered the stoning to death of Maiz for his admission of committing adultery, a man said to his companion: “This is like the stoning of a dog.” The Prophet 4 passed by a carcass of an animal, and told the two men: “Snap from this corpse.” They replied: “Do you want us to eat from this corpse?” He 4 answered: “The

' Surat al-Hujurat verse 12.

? Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

3 Recorded by Muslim.

* Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

5 Recorded by al-Bukhari.

6 Recorded by Abu Dawud, with a good chain of authorities.

backbiting you made about your brother is even more bad-smelling that this corpse.”!

Al-Hasan al-Basri said: “O son of Adam, you will not attain true Iman (faith) until you abandon finding any particular fault in people while you have that defect, until you start refining that defect within yourself. If you do that, you would focus upon yourself, and would become one of those people most loved by Allah.”

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab 2 said: “Remember Allah, for it is a healing; but avoid remembering people for that is an ailment.”

Imam Malik reported that ‘Isa (Jesus) the son of Mary #4 said: “Do not speak (too) much without mentioning Allah, for you will harden your hearts. A hardened heart is far from Allah, yet you do not know this. Do not look at the wrong actions of people as if you were lords. Look at your wrong actions as though you were slaves. Some people are afflicted. by wrong actions while others are protected from them. Be merciful to people of affliction, and praise Allah for His protection.”” Abu Hurayrah 2 reported that the Prophet # said: “Do you know who is poor (bankrupt)?” They (the Companions of the Prophet) replied: “A poor man amongst us is one who has neither a dirham with him nor wealth.” He 4 replied: “The poor one of my Ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers and fasting and zakah yet he would find hiniself bankrupt on that day as he would have exhausted his funds of virtues, since he hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others, unlawfully consumed the wealth of others, shed the blood of others and beat others, his virtues would be credited to the account of one who suffered at his hand. And should his good deeds fall short of clearing the account, then his sins would be added to his account, so he would be thrown into the HellFire.’”?

But what is backbiting?

‘Recorded by Abu Dawud. ? Recorded by Imam Malik, in al-muwatta”. + Recorded by Muslim.

The Prophet 48 provided a definition when he asked his Companions: “Do you know what backbiting is?” They replied: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” Thereupon he % said: “Backbiting implies your talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like.” He was asked: “What is your opinion about this that if I actually find (that failing) in my brother which I made a mention of?” He replied: “Tf (that failing) is actually found (in him) as you assert, you in fact backbited him, but if it is not in him it is slander.”

Al-Ghazali stated: “You should know that the extent of backbiting is to remember your brother (in Islam) with things he dislikes; whether you remember him in terms of a defect in his body, lineage, character, action, speech, religion, actions related to his worldly life, garments, home, or means of transport.

Regarding the body, it is referring to boldness, squinting, shortness, tallness, blackness, yellowness, and everything a person would dislike to be described of.

As for lineage, it is to refer to someone’s father as Nabataean, Indian, fasiq (sinful), vile, or as a shoemaker, dutman, or anything else that he may dislike.

As for morals, it is saying for example that a person is ill-natured, mean, haughty, bad-tempered, cowardly, weak, or clumsy, etc.

As for the actions related to one’s religion, it is to refer to someone as a thief, liar, alcoholic, traitor, or as unjust, negligent of performing salah, zakah, or siyam, or as being undutiful towards one’s parents, etc.

As for actions related to one’s worldly life, it is to refer to someone as ill-mannered, indifferent, selfish, talkative, or a gourmand, sleeper, etc.

What is permitted in backbiting

Al-Nawawi said: “Backbiting is permitted for valid legal cases which could only be achieved in that way, of which there are six situations:

* Recorded by Muslim and al-Tirmidhi.

First: in the case of making a complaint, it is permitted for the oppressed person to raise his case before a ruler, judge or any authority capable of returning his right from an oppressor. He would simply say: “I was unjustly treated by so and so.”

Second: to seek help to correct a munkar (reprehensible action) of someone to help him back to the correct path; so he talks to a person who is able to remove that munkar, but should his talk turn into real backbiting and slander then it is certainly not permitted.

Third: Seeking a formal legal opinion, where one would tell the Mufti (a person who gives formal legal opinions in Islam): “I was ill-treated by my father, brother, husband, or so and so with such and such; does he have right to do so? And what is my way out from it to regain my right, and remove this injustice from me?” This is permitted for the necessity, but it is preferable to say: “What is your opinion with regards to a man, husband or any particular person whose matter was so and so”, so he thereby achieves the aim without having mentioned the person, despite the fact that specifying the person is permitted.

Fourth: offering Muslims advice, and warning them against evil. In the field of knowledge, for example, this would be talking about the credibility of the narrators and the witnesses, and this is permitted by the majority of scholars, and even obligatory in times of necessity. It also includes consulting about a person before contracting a relationsip by marriage, or work, etc. The person consulted should not hide anything about the person inquired about; he should mention his faults only with the intention to offer advice.