Backbiting: A Graver Sin than you can Imagine!

Ever since we were kids, we have been constantly reprimanded by our parents for engaging in idle gossip or backbiting (Gheebah) because of its sinful nature. What we did not realize back then was the gravity of that sin – perhaps, we still don’t. As Muslims, we tend to have our own categories of major sins and minor sins, and for most people, more often than not, backbiting tends to fall in the latter of the lists. What we fail to realize is that backbiting tops the major sin list in Islam; it is one of the most detested sins in the sight of Allah (SWT). 

What would you say if I told you backbiting is, in more ways than one, worse than adultery? Why? That is because Allah (SWT) promises His servants the forgiveness of all sins if they choose to repent sincerely, but when one engages in backbiting, one is carrying out an offense against another human being, and Allah (SWT) does not forgive unless the person being gossiped about forgives the backbiter himself/herself first. Imagine that for a minute and let it sink in. 

Allah (SWT) says in the Holy Quran: 
"O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, in deeds some suspicions are sins. And spy not neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allah, verily, Allah is The One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful" (Quran 49: 12) 

In these verses, Allah (SWT) compares backbiting with the act of chewing the flesh of a dead brother, which speaks volumes about the atrocity of the act itself. The thought itself is greatly unsettling, and yet, we pay no heed to Allah’s (SWT) warning to refrain from it. 

Allah (SWT) forbids the acts of backbiting or slandering because they are sins which cause harm to humanity at large. It is haraam. These acts sow and nurture the seeds of jealousy, hatred, enmity and cause rifts and conflicts among people. Often, backbiting ends up creating deep hostilities among loved ones and breaks off ties of brotherhood – which is severely disliked by Allah (SWT). The ones who engage in backbiting are oblivious to the fact that through their idle words, they are harming themselves more than they are harming anyone else. According to a hadith: 

Narrated by Anas ibn Maalik: 
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “When my Lord took me up into heaven, I passed by some people who had nails of copper with which they were scratching their faces and chests. I said: ‘Who are these, O Jibreel?’ He said: ‘These are the ones who used to eat the flesh of the people and impugn their honor.’”(Abu Dawood, 4878) 

On the Day of Judgment, the one who would have engaged in backbiting and the victim of that backbiting will both stand before Allah (SWT). On that day, the victim will appeal to Allah (SWT) to avenge the wrong committed against him and Allah (SWT), being the Just ruler, will right that wrong by shifting the good deeds from the backbiter’s plate to the victim’s plate of deeds. Hence, the backbiter will stand alone and Allah (SWT) will not intercede on behalf of the backbiter on the Last Day – no one will. In the Quran, He says: 

"Why do not the believing men and women, whenever such [a rumor] is heard, think the best of one another and say, “This is an obvious falsehood”? . . . When you take it up with your tongues, uttering with your mouths something of which you have no knowledge, you deem it a light matter. Whereas in the sight of God it is an awful thing!" (Quran 24: 12-15). 

Our religion calls upon us to be good to our fellow brothers and sisters and to be a source of comfort to them. Our faith teaches us to bring out the best in us and consequently in others around us. Treating Allah’s (SWT) creation with respect and integrity is one of the greatest signs of a true believer. There is no room for the perpetration of hate and enmity in Islam and consequently, that leaves no room for backbiting and slandering in our faith, and we would be wise to acknowledge and implement that in our lives - sooner than later!