faults of people as if he was

appointed to spread these

defective characteristics and
it is as if he has been ap-
pointed to scrutinize and
observe the faults of the
Muslims. So this poor per-
son must know that the one
who follows and scrutinizes
the faults of his brother then
Allah will scrutinize his faults
and whoever is scrutinized by
Allah then he will be exposed
even if he was hidden in
depths of his own home. So
know that whoever has
falsely taken the authority to
spread the faults of people
and to follow and scrutinize
them then Allah will author-
sacredness of this day of
yours in this month of
yours in this place of
yours." Indeed two great
diseases have spread be-
tween the that in the sight
of many are simple and in-
significant. As for the first
then it is backbiting where a
man (or woman) mentions
his Muslim brother with
that which he dislikes to be
mentioned with be it char-
acter, physical attributes,
action, or dealings. Conse-
quently you find that the
greatest concern of the one
who backbites the servants
of Allah in gatherings is to
bring up and expose the
,,-| >| -| ,.,
Indeed all Praises are for Allh alone. We praise Him, seek His assistance, and seek His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Him from
the evil of our own selves and the evil consequences of our actions. Whomever Allh guides, there is no one to lead him astray, and
whomever is lead astray, there is no guide for him. I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allh, who is alone without
any partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and final messenger. To proceed:
Volume 5 Issue 10 October 2008
Backbiting and Its Impact on Society (part 1)





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Al-Qawlul Mufeed
T h e B e n e f i c i a l W o r d
Markaz Tawheed was Sunnah of North Carolina
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His Eminence the Great
Scholar and Imam
Shaikh Abdul-Aziz bin Baz
, ~_ ,
Question: I have relatives
that live far from my home
country and I am not able
to travel to visit them so is
there a sin upon me for that
and is connecting with by
way of the phone or send-
ing letters through the mail
considered joining the ties
with them? Please benefit
me May Allah reward you
with good.
Q & A Corner
Ruling: It is not an obliga-
tion that you travel to them
while there is the ability to
join ties with them through
writing or the telephone. All
of this is possible and all
praise is for Allah and it is
not obligatory to travel
unless there was some need
for it or a necessity which is
something different alto-
gether. What is intended is
that joining family ties be in
writing, by visiting if able
without burden, by the

(Continued on page 2)
A Friday sermon by,
The Great Scholar Shaikh
Muhammad Salih
Al-Uthaimeen
, ~_ ,
All praise if for Allah, we
praise Him, seek His forgive-
ness, and seek refuge with
Him from the evil of our
souls and from our evil
deeds. Whomever Allah
guides, there is none to lead
him astray and whomever
Allah allows to stray then
there is none to guide him. I
bear witness that there is no
deity worshipped in truth
except Allah who is alone
and without partner and I
bear witness that Muham-
mad is His servant and mes-
senger, may His peace be
upon him, his family, com-
panions, and those that fol-
low him in perfection until
the day of resurrection. As to
what proceeds,

O servants of Allah, fear
Allah the Most High and
reflect on that which has
come in the Book and Sun-
nah regarding human rights.
The prophet said, while
addressing the people on the
day of Arafah in the greatest
gathering of the Muslims,
"Verily your blood, wealth,
and honor are sacred like the
Page 2
AL-QAWLUL MUFEED
Vol 5 Iss 10
ous. One word that you say about
your brother (or sister) to criticize him
with if mixed with the ocean would
affect it. So fear Allah O Muslims as
it has come in a narration that the
prophet passed by a group of peo-
ple that had fingernails of bronze that
were tearing at their faces and chests
with them and said, "O Jibreel, who
are they? He said, 'they are those that
eat the flesh of the people and fall
upon (and disgrace) their honor'".

Some people that have been tested
with backbiting, if they are advised
they say, I have not lied, I have only
said that which is found in them. The
prophet spoke about backbiting and
said, "Backbiting is mentioning your
brother with that which he dislikes"
the people said, "O messenger of Al-
lah, what if what I said was found in
that person?" and he said, "if what you
said is found in that person then you
have backbitten him and if it wasnt
then you have slandered him" mean-
ing you have joined between slander,
which is a lie, and backbiting. Most
people today speak about their broth-
ers with that which they do not do
and if you were to ask them do you
bear witness to what you have said,
they would surely say 'no I do not
bear witness' and it is known that he
will be asked about that on the day of
resurrection. So does this one not
fear Allah and not know that he does-
n't utter a word except that there is
ready watcher over him. Does he not
know that he will be held accountable
for every word that he says? I ask the
one who is tested with backbiting the
people, are you pleased to have others
fall on your honor and backbite you?
The answer will surely be 'no, I will
never be pleased with that'.

To Be Continued
ize someone to spread his faults and
scrutinize him. And if this person
who spreads the faults of people was
examined and examined himself he
would certainly find that he has the
most faults, is the worst of manners,
and is the weakest in his trust even if
his faults were merely giving his
tongue free reign over the servants of
Allah which would be sufficient. Ver-
ily this man who was taken reign over
the Muslims is disastrous to his soul
and those that accompany him in his
sittings. He is disastrous to his soul
as he is leading it to evil and trans-
gression and disastrous to his com-
panions in his gatherings if they do
not prohibit him from this action
then they will become his partners in
sin.

O Muslims. Verily Allah the Most
High has prohibited you from back-
biting so beware of backbiting! Be-
ware of backbiting for it is eating the
flesh of the people and Allah has
drawn a similitude of the most offen-
sive kind for him (or her), He has
likened him to the one who eats the
flesh of his dead brother. So do you
find someone more foul or repulsive
than the one who sits at his dead
brother and cuts pieces from his
corpse and eats them? Do you know
anyone who is capable of doing that?
Only the one who backbites the peo-
ple is capable of doing that as Allah
the Most High says, "neither
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 Al-
lah"(Al-Hujurat 49:12)

Likewise there has come a statement
from the salaf (Athar) that the person
(who backbites) will be punished on
the day of resurrection and the corpse
of his brother will be brought to him
and he will be made to eat it and it
will be said, "eat him dead just as you
have eaten him alive". O Muslims!
Truly this affair of backbiting is a
great one and tremendously danger-
phone, having your friends convey to
them your salutations, supplicating for
them asking for success, asking about
their needs, and giving money if they
are in need. All of this is from joining
the ties of kinship. The prophet said
in an authentic hadeeth, "whoever
wishes to have his provision increased
and life lengthened then let him join
the ties of kinship." He also said,
"Joining the ties is not done expecting
something in return, but it is joining
the ties after they have been cut". (Al-
Bukhari) and someone said to him,
"O messenger of Allah, I have rela-
tives with whom I join ties and they
cut me off, I am good to them and
they are evil to me, I dream about
them (from thinking of them so often)
and they forget about me. So the
messenger said, If it is like what you
said in that it is as if you are eating hot
coals with them then Allah's help will
be with you so long as you continue
with that as you have." So this issue
has great good for the individual who
(Continued from page 1) joins the ties, has patience, and is up-
right even if he is met with evilness, if
he is patient with them and gives
them their rights then he is upon
great good and will have a good end-
ing and this is the meaning of the real
joining of ties, just as the messenger
said, "Joining the ties is not done
expecting something in return" who
joins the ties only if they join ties with
him and then cuts the ties when they
cut the ties with him, this is not the
one who joins the ties. The one who
really joins the ties is he who joins
them if they cut him off and is good
to them if they are bad or evil to him
which is completeness in this affair
and this an honorable and a generous
creature. This is what is appropriate
for the believer to do, even doing
good to the one who does evil to him
and thinking of the one who forgets
him, and with this he will obtain
great virtue and a big reward. May
Allah reward you all with good.

Translated by Eesa J. Starling
Q & A Corner