Without a doubt, backbiting is forbidden in Islam due to the dire consequences that it brings upon Muslims, causing enmity, hatred and cutting-off ties of kinship. It wastes our precious time; and does not bring benefit or joy. This abhorable practice often involves making fun of how a certain individual looks,walks, talks, etc., in turn, resulting in mockery of Allah’s own creation!
Allah
says:
“O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful.” (Al-Hujurat, 49:12)
Dear Readers, when you find Allah comparing backbiting with eating dead human flesh (a repulsive image), understand what a huge and hateful sin this is! As-sa’di said in his Tafseer, “In this verse is a severe warning for backbiting as it is considered one of the major sins, because Allah resembled it to eating the flesh of a dead person”. 
While many people cannot imagine eating human flesh, cannibalism is a practice that existed and still exists in few parts of the world. The people who engage in such acts have no shred humanity in their souls and are classified as abnormal, savages and inhuman. We can pretty much say the same thing about people who engage in backbiting, but in the verse above, Allah says backbiting is even worse that cannibalism, because while backbiting, we actually know our victim, whereas, cannibals may or may not necessary know theirs!
Sadly, this disease has spread in such a way that even righteous people indulge in it. Satan is able to drag everyone into indulging in such a hideous sin.
What causes this?
- Mingling with a lot of people causes many backbiting hotspots, and even if some people are safe from doing it, they are not safe from engaging in it, and if they are safe from engaging in it, they are not safe from being silent about it.
- The main cause of backbiting is the lack of remembrance of Allah and His messenger
. - Huge amount of time is wasted in such gatherings,where people often tend to forget about the hereafter and engage in matters that do not serve our purpose of existence.
May Allah cure us from such a disease. Ameen
What can you do?
- You can either oppose such gatherings that indulge in back biting.
- Leave such gatherings and not be a part of them at all.
- If you are not able to leave, then at least try getting busy with the remembrance of Allah.
No matter how ugly the sin of backbiting is, its effects appears to be pleasing, especially if the one we are backbiting about is hated or is considered an enemy. However, what if we ask the backbiter, “Would you be pleased if your enemy backbites about you and exposes your faults the same way you have exposed his?”
Ask yourself…
Have we become free from our own faults?
What are we doing to fix them?
Have we attained self righteousness and are free from sin?
Have we mended our flaws that we waste time mentioning other people’s flaws?
The Messenger of Allah
Its easy to backbite and does not require much effort. All it needs is a move from your tongue, especially if the one being backbitten is an enemy to those who are in the gathering, because they will be busy mentioning his or her flaws and become delighted with what they hear from others in the same way a thirsty person is delighted with cold water to extinguish the burning thirst inside him/her. However, backbiters are always defeated because when they know that the one they backbit about is present, they will turn their slur into praise!
It is without a doubt that the tongue is what leads to such a grave sin, and this is why the best advice our beloved prophet said,
“He who believes in Allah and the Last Day, must speak good or remain silent.” 2
Let us all turn back to Allah with regret for all the sins we have done with our tongues. Let us truly regret such an act and be firm in not returning to it. Let us seek forgiveness from those who we’ve spoken ill about, and let us seek forgiveness from the one whom we backbit about. Ameen
Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. 🙂
42 replies on “Cannibalism!”
jazak allahu khairan brother. very informative article. may allah forgive us Aameen
I love you Dr. phillip bilal because of Allah. Tawheed has made you my dear brother
.
wa khairan jazaakom, alhamdulellah, may Allah reward you the highest of stations in jannah.
Assalamu Alaikum,
Al humdulilah. Perfect article.
Jazak allahu khair brother. I will share it, in sha Allah
Wa alaikom assalam,
Jazaaka Allahu khairan for taking the time to read, comment and share the post. Alhamdulellah.
Very good article worth reading….
Alhamdulellah, Jazaaka Allahu khairan for taking the time to read and comment brother muhammad.
I have a question.. If u r hurt for someone and u r sharing it to someone, may b to your spouse, will that be backbiting? And if u r talking generally about a topic and someone’s flaws came in context, ur intention is not to talk bad about that particular person, is it backbiting? I’m really confused and also afraid.. Plz can u help
I was wondering the same thing too..if you just want to vent to a family member about your troubles and if some names pop up.
Assalamu alaikom, Jazaakom Allahu khairan and may Allah protect you and your family members from all evil. As for your question, please note that backbiting is mentioning to others what one hates to be mentioned about him or her, that is in a nutshell. According to sheikh Salih Al-fuzan, he mentions few situations that a muslim is allowed to mention another muslim act in front of others, such as in times of seeking justice in front of a court from being oppressed by another, or when seeking a fatwa about a certain act that was done from another muslim, or in cases where it in necessary to warn muslims from a deviant person. But when such a case happen that you tell your husband, children or sister in laws, it is best to avoid mentioning the individuals name and talk about the incident or act of a person in a general perspective without mentioning the persons name or anything that indicates or directs fingers to a certain known individual. basically by focusing on the act done and not the one who did the act, because as muslims we all fall into error and we make mistakes and hurt others knowingly and unknowingly, but we seek forgiveness and that is what’s important.
I hope my answer sheds more light for you on how to deal with such situation. Jazaakom Allahu khairan, wassalamu alaikom wa rahmato Allahi wa barakatoh.
May Allah protect all of us from this evil act. In the meantime I have a question? Some relative did a nasty thing to me n hurt my feeling by embrassing me infront of other family members. Telling my husband, children, sisters n in laws of what happened or the incident , Is that backbiting. Pls give me a fatwa Dr Sir.Jazakallahu Khairan
Assalamu alaikom, Jazaakom Allahu khairan and may Allah protect you and your family members from all evil. As for your question, please note that backbiting is mentioning to others what one hates to be mentioned about him or her, that is in a nutshell. According to sheikh Salih Al-fuzan, he mentions few situations that a muslim is allowed to mention another muslim act in front of others, such as in times of seeking justice in front of a court from being oppressed by another, or when seeking a fatwa about a certain act that was done from another muslim, or in cases where it in necessary to warn muslims from a deviant person. But when such a case happen that you tell your husband, children or sister in laws, it is best to avoid mentioning the individuals name and talk about the incident or act of a person in a general perspective without mentioning the persons name or anything that indicates or directs fingers to a certain known individual. basically by focusing on the act done and not the one who did the act, because as muslims we all fall into error and we make mistakes and hurt others knowingly and unknowingly, but we seek forgiveness and that is what’s important.
I hope my answer sheds more light for you on how to deal with such situation. Jazaakom Allahu khairan, wassalamu alaikom wa rahmato Allahi wa barakatoh.
Assalamu alaikom, Jazaakom Allahu khairan and may Allah protect you and your family members from all evil. As for your question, please note that backbiting is mentioning to others what one hates to be mentioned about him or her, that is in a nutshell. According to sheikh Salih Al-fuzan, he mentions few situations that a muslim is allowed to mention another muslim act in front of others, such as in times of seeking justice in front of a court from being oppressed by another, or when seeking a fatwa about a certain act that was done from another muslim, or in cases where it in necessary to warn muslims from a deviant person. But when such a case happen that you tell your husband, children or sister in laws, it is best to avoid mentioning the individuals name and talk about the incident or act of a person in a general perspective without mentioning the persons name or anything that indicates or directs fingers to a certain known individual. basically by focusing on the act done and not the one who did the act, because as muslims we all fall into error and we make mistakes and hurt others knowingly and unknowingly, but we seek forgiveness and that is what’s important.
I hope my answer sheds more light for you on how to deal with such situation. Jazaakom Allahu khairan, wassalamu alaikom wa rahmato Allahi wa barakatoh.
Assalam o alaikum wr wb, jazaak Allaah o khair , very informtive article , May Allaah swt forgive us all and keep us steadfast on the righteous path aameen .
Ameen, wa khairan jazaakom for taking the time to read and comment.
May Allah make it easy for us, Ameen.
Ameen Ameen.
Alhamdulillah such an amazing reminder……May Allah reward you all
Ameen wa eyyakom brother Muhammad. Jazaaka Allahu khairan for taking the time to read and comment.
Alhamdulillah, am inspired with this write up, may Allah increase you in knowledge and make jannah our final abode… jazakAllah.
Ameen, and Jazaakom Allahu khairan for taking the time to read and comment brother Yusuf.
I actually, thank you for this useful reminder.
But I have a question because I’m a little bit confused about backbiting.
It’s comes a time to be hit by one of our relative or any other person and then your inform your friends about the evil thing that relative did to you. Could that be considered as backbiting?
Assalamu alaikom, Jazaakom Allahu khairan and may Allah protect you from all evil. As for your question, please note that backbiting is mentioning to others what one hates to be mentioned about him or her, that is in a nutshell. According to sheikh Salih Al-fuzan, he mentions few situations that a muslim is allowed to mention another muslim act in front of others, such as in times of seeking justice in front of a court from being oppressed by another, or when seeking a fatwa about a certain act that was done from another muslim, or in cases where it in necessary to warn muslims from a deviant person. But when such a case happen that you tell your husband, children or sister in laws, it is best to avoid mentioning the individuals name and talk about the incident or act of a person in a general perspective without mentioning the persons name or anything that indicates or directs fingers to a certain known individual. basically by focusing on the act done and not the one who did the act, because as muslims we all fall into error and we make mistakes and hurt others knowingly and unknowingly, but we seek forgiveness and that is what’s important.
I hope my answer sheds more light for you on how to deal with such situation. Jazaakom Allahu khairan, wassalamu alaikom wa rahmato Allahi wa barakatoh.
Alhamdulillah.. jazakummullah khair perfect article. May ALLAH forgive us all and guide us to the right path
Wa khairan jazaakom for taking the time to read and comment. May Allah forgive our sins and protect us from evil acts.
An eyeopener…rather a great reminder as well.May Allah guide as all.Ameen
Alhamdulellah, Jazaakom Allahu khairan for taking the time to read and comment on the post.
Its so hard to be sorry to those ppl you have been talking about.but what if u r sharing bcx u want a solution to ur problem.?? I wish i never talked about ppl i should hav handled my affairs myself
Assalamu alaikom, Jazaakom Allahu khairan and may Allah protect you from all evil. As for your question, please note that backbiting is mentioning to others what one hates to be mentioned about him or her, that is in a nutshell. According to sheikh Salih Al-fuzan, he mentions few situations that a muslim is allowed to mention another muslim act in front of others, such as in times of seeking justice in front of a court from being oppressed by another, or when seeking a fatwa about a certain act that was done from another muslim, or in cases where it in necessary to warn muslims from a deviant person. But when such a case happen that you tell your husband, children or sister in laws, it is best to avoid mentioning the individuals name and talk about the incident or act of a person in a general perspective without mentioning the persons name or anything that indicates or directs fingers to a certain known individual. basically by focusing on the act done and not the one who did the act, because as muslims we all fall into error and we make mistakes and hurt others knowingly and unknowingly, but we seek forgiveness and that is what’s important.
I hope my answer sheds more light for you on how to deal with such situation. Jazaakom Allahu khairan, wassalamu alaikom wa rahmato Allahi wa barakatoh.
Jazakallah brother. Very informative. May Allah guide and forgives us all. Ameen
Wa khairan jazaak brother Ibrahim, Alhamdulellah 🙂
JAZAKALLAHU KHAIRAN
Wa khairan jazaakom for taking the time to read and comment.
Jazakum Allahu Khairan May Allah enrich you knowledge. Aamin
Ameen wa eyyakom brother. Jazaaka Allahu khairan for taking the time to read the post.
Perfect article , we have got an excellent comprehension . Thank brother may bless you
Alhamdulellah, wa khairan jazaakom 🙂
jaxakallahu bi khair .may Allah guide us and also forgive our shortcomings
Ameen, wa khairan jazaakom.
A very educative articl…. Jazaka LLAHU kheyr…may Allah grant you long life for more knowledge!
Jazak Allah
If one falls into such a sin how can one rectify themselves from the punishment? In terms of repent and repayment to the individual.