Partners In Crime

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

In general, a believer in Allah and the Last Day, would not like their mistakes and faults to be broadcasted to others. We should conceal the faults of others as we would like others not to expose our own faults.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

...Whoever conceals [the faults of] a Muslim, Allah will conceal [his faults] in this life and the Hereafter...

[Muslim]

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

O gathering who believe with their tongues but faith has yet to enter into their hearts, do not backbite the Muslims. And do not search into their private matters. Whoever searches for their private matters will have Allah follow up his private matters. And whose private matters Allah follows, He will expose him even [if his act were done] in his house.

[Ahmad and Abu Dawood]

This teaching also serves to protect the honor of people and religious Muslim who may have slipped and committed a sin. Exposing the sins of others (and of our own for that matter) could inadvertently encourage others to do the same, especially if the sin or fault was committed by religious people.

Backbiting or slandering is a great calamity that is far too common in our daily lives. Some people make a living backbiting and slandering people. Sometimes we don't think much of it, but this action will plunge the wrongdoer into the Hellfire. Even the listener will not escape the punishment unless he denounces the action (in his heart, if he is afraid to do it outwardly).

If someone brings you information about someone's bad action or something that the person might dislike being spoken about (including media news), the first thing you do is don't believe it. If it is true, he is backbiting, and if it is not true, he is slandering the person. You don't ask for proofs because you are not a judge or someone who is seeking help to change an evil or seeking justice or seeking a legal opinion for your own situation. You should not have a bad opinion of the person. The nafs tends to want to think bad of the person being backbitten or slandered, and the nafs tends to want to fit in the group and gain acceptance by the group. So you have to work very hard to fight this so you don't become bankrupt in the Day of Judgment and land into the Hellfire.

If you listen to the backbiting, you become their "partner in crime" and you will carry the same punishment.

Be careful when you sit in a group. Recognize that some of the conversation that are taking place can be backbiting or slandering.

If you happen to hear people engaging in backbiting, and if you are able to change the conversation to something else or to a different subject, then it is imperative for you to do so, but if you fear some harm, leave the area, hating the backbiting, and make du'a for those people engaging in the backbiting. If you cannot leave the area, try to deafen your ears and busy yourself with the remembrance of Allah.

Allah is all-Forgiving and He loves to Forgive, and we should never despair of His Mercy, but neither should we openly commit sins or harm the rights of another person, otherwise we cannot hope for Allah to conceal our own faults, in this life, and more importantly, in the Hereafter.

May Allah protect us from harmful speech and conceal our faults, in this life and the next. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam