Akhlaq
Guarding the tongue
Backbiting, gossip and kind words
3 min, Intro
Islam treats words as deeds. Backbiting, spreading rumours and mocking people are counted as serious wrongs. A kind word is counted as charity.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
Islam treats words as deeds. The lesson follows a word on its way out of the mouth. Said behind someone's back. Passed on as a rumour. Or spoken kindly, when it is counted as charity.
Behind someone's back
The Qur'an asks a question. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it.
The question comes in surah al-Hujurat, with a list of things it forbids: mocking others, insulting nicknames, suspicion, spying and backbiting.
So what exactly counts as backbiting (ghibah)? The Prophet ﷺ defined it as mentioning your brother in a way he would dislike. Someone asked: what if it is true? His answer closed the gap. If it is true, that is backbiting. If it is not, that is slander.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱجۡتَنِبُواْ كَثِيرࣱا مِّنَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعۡضَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِثۡمࣰۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُواْ وَلَا يَغۡتَب بَّعۡضُكُم بَعۡضًاۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمۡ أَن يَأۡكُلَ لَحۡمَ أَخِيهِ مَيۡتࣱا فَكَرِهۡتُمُوهُۚ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ تَوَّابࣰ رَّحِيمࣰ ١٢
12 O you who believe, avoid much of the suspicion, for some suspicions are sin. Do not spy on one another, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would surely abhor it. So fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Accepting of Repentance, Most Merciful.
Do you know what backbiting is? It is mentioning your brother with what he dislikes. If what you say is true, you have backbitten him; and if it is not true, you have slandered him.
Sahih Muslim 2589 Sahih In Sahih Muslim
In this definition, a hurtful truth is still backbiting, and a hurtful falsehood is slander.
Before a rumour spreads
Words can do harm without being cruel. Sometimes they only need to be passed on.
The Qur'an tells believers: if a wrongdoer brings you news, verify it. Otherwise you may harm people in ignorance and then regret what you did.
The Prophet went further. It is enough of a lie, he warned, for a person to pass on everything they hear.
Fourteen centuries later, the rule fits forwarded messages.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِن جَآءَكُمۡ فَاسِقُۢ بِنَبَإࣲ فَتَبَيَّنُوٓاْ أَن تُصِيبُواْ قَوۡمَۢا بِجَهَٰلَةࣲ فَتُصۡبِحُواْ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلۡتُمۡ نَٰدِمِينَ ٦
6 O you who believe, if an evildoer brings you some news, verify it, lest you harm a people unknowingly, then you become regretful for what you did.
The Qur'an's rule for news from an unreliable source: verify it first.
A good word
Words can harm. They can also grow.
The Qur'an compares a good word to a good tree. It is firmly rooted. Its branches reach the sky. It gives fruit in every season.
The Prophet ﷺ said that a good word is charity. And he set a simple test: whoever believes in God and the Last Day should speak good or keep quiet.
أَلَمۡ تَرَ كَيۡفَ ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلࣱا كَلِمَةࣱ طَيِّبَةࣱ كَشَجَرَةࣲ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصۡلُهَا ثَابِتࣰ وَفَرۡعُهَا فِي ٱلسَّمَآءِ ٢٤
24 Do you not see how Allah compares a good word to a good tree? Its root is firm and its branches reach the sky,
In the Prophet's teaching, a kind word counts as charity.