RELIGION VERSES ILL MANNERS
Hawzah News Agency- The Holy Qur’an manifests the reality of slander in one short but eloquent verse:
“Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? But you abhor it…” (The Holy Qur’an, 49:12)
Therefore, in the same way that it is natural for a human to reject eating the flesh of a dead person, his reason should resent slander. The religious, leaders gave as much attention to correcting the feelings and psychological characteristics of people as they gave to their struggle to eradicate polytheism and atheism.
The Messenger of Allah (S) said:
“I have not been sent save to perfect noble manners”.
People have been guided to morality by the great Islamic school, backed by strong and logical understanding. Islam considers any encroachment on the borders of morality a great and reprehensible sin.
In fact, Islam did not stop at categorizing slander as a grave sin, but has made it the duty of all Muslims to defend the honor of one who is being slandered.
“If a man is slandered while you are present, be a helper to the man, reprehend the slanderer, and depart the group.”
The Messenger of Allah (S) said:
“He who defends his brother’s honor in his absence, then it is his right upon Allah to safeguard him from the Fire.”
The Messenger (S) also said:
“He who slanders a Muslim during the month of Ramadan, will not be awarded for his fasting.”
The Messenger (S) also described the Muslim as follows:
“A Muslim is one who from whose hands and tongues other Muslims are safe.”
It is clear that if an individual allows his tongue to slander his Muslim brother, then he has certainly violated the rules of morality, and becomes a criminal in the eyes of humanity and Islam. All Islamic schools have unanimously agreed that slander is a major sin; for the slanderer violates the Divine commands and crouches upon the rights of others, heedless of the Creator’s commands.
Just as an absent person cannot defend his honor and dignity, a dead person is unable to defend himself; therefore, it is the duty of every one to respect the rules concerning the dignity of the dead.
Slander and backbiting are one sort of spiritual pressure. Imam ‘Ali (a.s.) said:
“Slander is the strain of the weak”.
Dr. H. Shakhter said:
“Disappointment in obtaining one’s needs results in spiritual torture. This spiritual torture instigates us to depict a form of defense. People differ in the kind of action they take in such situations. If a man feels that others do not give him the kind of attention he expects, for fear of being rejected, he chooses isolation and loneliness over socialization. He may sit in the corner of a gathering silent and secluded, not speaking to anyone, criticizing them; or laughing by himself for nor reason. Or he may argue with others, slander the absent, and criticize the rest until he proves his presence in this manner.”
Dr. Mann, in his book entitled The Fundamentals of Psychology, writes:
“In order to preserve our honor, we may try to substitute our defeats or shortcomings by blaming others for them. For instance, if we fail an exam we blame the teacher for the questions given; or if we cannot get promoted to a position, we put the position down or slander those who occupy it. Or we may hold others responsible for our inability while in fact they are not.”
In conclusion, in order to develop good traits, we must observe ourselves and maintain pure intentions. We should start with ourselves, so that we can obtain appropriate grounds for our happiness and the happiness of our society in all fields.
Reference:
Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari, Youth and Morals, Published by Createspace Independent Pub, 2014
