Gheebat ul Qalb: Backbiting of the Heart

 

Gheebah of the Heart

(Remedy for the disease of having unnecessary suspicions)

The Root Cause of Most Sins in Society

 

Our beloved Shaikh and spiritual mentor, Arif Billah, Hazrat Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar (daamat barakatuhum) has said:

 

“The root cause of most sins are three major sins. The first one is casting evil glances, the second one is being unnecessarily suspicious about people and the third one is back-biting.”

 

Through casting evil glances one becomes involved in love affairs and is eventually reeled in by shaytaan into committing fornication and other obscenities.

 

By having unnecessary suspicions one is led to spying, back-biting, hatred, animosity, rancor, arguing, fights, disputes, planning against another brother, etc.

 

By back-biting one is led into disputes, arguing, spreading hatred amongst the people, etc.

 

In short, if one analyzes most household dilemmas and social disarray, one will be surprised to see that the major cause of all these problems goes back to one of these three sins.

 

What is Unnecessary Suspicion?

 

Imam Nawawi (rahimahulla) defines unnecessary suspicion in terms of the Shariah in his al-Azkaar:

 

“A firm belief (AQDUL-QALB) of evil or wrong in the heart concerning someone else without any proof. There is no sin for a mere thought which passes through the mind. For there is no intention in a sudden thought which goes through the mind and there is no way one can stop that thought from coming.

 

The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Allah Ta`ala has overlooked the unintentional evil thoughts which come into the hearts of the people of my Ummah as long as they do not speak of it or act upon it.” (Narrated by Muslim)

 

Imam Ghazali (rahimahulla) has said: “The signs of unnecessary suspicion and harboring evil thoughts and bad opinions for another brother are as follows:

 

1.) The good feelings and positive emotions you had about him before change to bad feelings.

 

2.)This causes you to stay away from him and you consider it a burden to be around him.

 

3.)Makes you deficient in fulfilling his rights and in respecting him.

 

4.)Not having grief to the sins he commits. Not having concern about his condition.

 

What is the Shar’i Ruling Concerning Suspicion?

 

Having unnecessary evil suspicions without proof or evidence about one’s Muslim brother is HARAAM and leads to all the harms which have been previously mentioned.

 

All suspicions, however are not blameworthy, neither are they HARAAM in Shariah.

 

Allamah Alousi (rahimahulla) sheds light on this issue in his commentary of the Qur`an Majeed, Ruhul-Ma`ani:

“As for a person who puts people in doubt about his condition and openly commits sins such as frequenting places of evil and vice like the wine-houses, mixing with singers and promiscuous and shameless women, and casting lustful glances at beardless boys then it is not HARAAM to have suspicions about such a person even if he does not see that person actually involved in drinking the wine, committing fornication, and flirting.”

 

(Tafseer Ruhul-Ma’ani; Vol. 26, Pg. 427)

 

The reason for this is that such a person, by openly and boldly disobeying Allah and becoming involved in doubtful things, consequently tears away the veil of honor and dignity which the Almighty SATTAAR (the Coverer of faults) has enveloped him with.

 

Allamah Alousi continues to explain that if a person is in a situation wherein he is sure that he will be harmed in some way or the other, then he may act upon his suspicions in order to save himself from that evident harm.

 

But he should try to ward off that harm from himself in such a way that the person who is being suspected will not be defamed.

 

As it is mentioned in a narration:

 

“Indeed suspicion is a thing of intelligence.”

 

In other words, harboring such suspicion by which one wards off worldly harm or such harm which pertains to one’s Deen, is a thing of intelligence .

 

The Cure and Remedy for Suspicion

 

Allamah Alousi (rahimullah)mentions a narration in his commentaryIt is narrated by Sa`eed bin Musayyib (rahimahullah)who said: “One of my beloved brothers from the companions of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) wrote a letter to me saying:

 

“Leave the condition of your brother as it is, i.e. do not have unnecessary evil suspicions about him. As long as your opinion about him is not dominated by something he himself has clearly revealed to be otherwise.

 

And do not have ill-suspicions about something a brother says as long as you can find a way to make a positive interpretation of what he said.

 

And he who has set himself up for accusation, then he should blame no one for this but himself…”

 

(Narrated by Baihaqi in his Shu`abul-Imaan)

 

From this narration we derive three methods of remedy for the disease of harboring unnecessary suspicion:

 

1.)Immediately leave such evil assumptions and do not continue to ponder over them. Think of the fact that Allah Ta`ala becomes displeased with such thoughts and has forbidden them in the Qur`an. Control your thoughts, don’t let your thoughts control you!

 

2.) Make positive excuses for a brother. Think of all the possibilities in the given situation. Give your brother the benefit of the doubt.

 

3.) How can we save ourselves from people suspecting us for evil and vice? A person should not put himself up for accusation. Stay away from the doubtful and open disobedience of Allah. Be an obedient servant of Allah internally and externally.

 

Sayings of the Pious Predecessors

 

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Hazrat Hakeemul Ummah Mujaddidul Millah, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (rahimahullah) said: “One major cause of harboring wrong suspicions about somebody is KIBR (PRIDE AND ARROGANCE).

 

If a person considers himself lower than others and humbles himself, then if he happens to get some wrong suspicions about someone then immediately his own short-comings and faults appear before him.

 

He will immediately say to himself, ‘How can I have such suspicions about this brother when I have more faults and short-comings than him?’

 

If a person thinks in this manner then he will never be bothered by such thoughts of suspicion. Therefore one should remedy oneself by consulting a Shaikh-e-Kaamil (a Shaikh who is qualified in reformation of the nafs).

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Hazrat Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (rahimahullah) said:

 

An intelligent person is that person who remains ever suspicious about his own self rather than of others. One should never be contented with one’s spiritual state at any moment in time. One should always be in doubt about oneself. This is why the Arifeen say: Always have good opinion of others and always be suspicious of yourself.

 

MAY ALLAH TA`ALA GRANT US PURITY OF THE HEART, REFORMATION OF THE NAFS AND TRUE SINCERE LOVE FOR HIM! AMEEN

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