Month: March 2009

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

After the Battle of Badr, Abu ‘Azzah Al-Jumahi, a poet, was a prisoner in the hands of the Muslims. He was from Quraish and through his poetry he would incite battle against the Muslims. After his capture, he said to Prophet Muhammad (SAWS), “Indeed, I am poor and I have many dependents that are needy and you know this, so please have mercy upon me and may Allah have mercy upon you.” The Prophet (SAWS) did so and released him. Before the Battle of Uhud[1], Safwan bin Umaiyyah, one of the leaders of the Quraish, said to the poet before they were to fight the Muslims, “O Abu ‘Azzah, indeed you are a poet, so help us with your words to incite men to battle.” Abu ‘Azzah replied that the Prophet (SAWS) had bestowed a favor upon him by giving him his freedom and he did not wish to go against that kindness. Safwan said, “Help us and if you return alive from this battle, I will make you rich and if you are struck down, I will make your daughters partners with my daughters in my wealth.” So, Abu ‘Azzah went forth with them and was taken as prisoner by the Muslims for a second time. Again he pleaded with the Prophet (SAWS) asking to be pardoned. The Prophet (SAWS) said to him, “By Allah, your cheeks will not touch Makkah and you will not be able to say that indeed, you have deceived Muhammad twice. Indeed the believer is not stung from the same hole twice. O Zubair, strike his neck!” Zubair struck his neck and he was killed.

SAWS: May Allah exalt his mention and protect him from imperfection

[1]: Audio lecture on the lessons from the Battle of Uhud can be found here.

Gems and Jewels
Compiled by: Abdul-Malik Mujahid
Publisher: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam
ISBN: 9960-897-59-1
Page 57

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Shaikhul-Islam Ibn Taimiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that there are those from the people that backbite or listen to backbiting, and they do so to please the company they keep, with the awareness that the victim is likely to be innocent of some of the things that are uttered about him. Often such offenders feel that if they were to attempt to end such conversation in a gathering, their presence might become unwelcome or burdensome.

There are many methods and guises that are employed when one mentions another in a negative way.

Under the pretense of being informative, one could say that it is not one’s habit to mention others, except for the sake of relating another’s condition to someone.

Or one could state that by Allah, indeed so-and-so is one to be pitied, thereby showing superiority over one who is to be rejected.

Another method might be to say that so-and-so is a good person; however, he has such and such qualities. Again, one is justified in revealing another’s faults.

One could also simply state that we should forget so-and-so, and make supplication for their forgiveness as well as our own, intending only to belittle the one that was mentioned.

In reality, all these tactics are designed to try to deceive Allah (the Exalted) and to please the creation; and in reality, the many that follow these methods only serve to deceive themselves.

Then there are those that backbite to raise their own status.

When they hear of someone’s error, they employ words like, “Had I prayed for so-and-so last night in my prayer, the news of their sin would not have reached my ears.”

Again, when a person states of another that he lacks understanding in a matter, the implication is personal superiority for the one that mentions the other’s shortcoming.

There are also those that couple jealousy with backbiting – the act of being critical or belittling to those that are praised in the company of others.

Some people also backbite for the sake of humor, playfulness and lightheartedness. A person finds a certain amount of satisfaction from being appreciated for his story-telling abilities; speaking ill of someone in a humorous fashion adds flavor to a tale.

Others engage in backbiting by showing surprise and amazement at another’s actions: “‘How is it that someone could do such a thing?”

Yet others mention people and their actions with the pretense of sympathy for their actions or misfortunes. In reality, the one who backbites actually finds contentment and satisfaction at the mention of others and their misdeeds.

Another form of backbiting is relating someone’s misfortune to their enemies, so that they, too, may find pleasure in putting them down.

From these examples, one can surmise that backbiting pertains to a disease of the heart… May Allah save us from this most evil of actions and protect us from its temptations.

Gems and Jewels
Compiled by: Abdul-Malik Mujahid
Publisher: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam
ISBN: 9960-897-59-1
Page 54

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

My story is plain enough, nothing strikingly poignant about it, but I tell it to you so that perhaps you can learn from my mistake. My marriage began as a very happy union between my husband and me. We weren’t rich, but we were contented with what we had, and we had a daughter whom we both loved dearly. In the early stages of our marriage, we would put our daughter to sleep, and we would then pray, glorify Allah, and recite the Quran.

One day, we checked our savings and realized that we had saved a considerable sum of money, and so I suggested to my husband that we should buy interest-bearing shares, the proceeds of which we could definitely use to help our daughter later on in life. We invested all that we had, including the money I made from selling all of my jewelry. After only a short time passed, the prices of the shares plunged, we went bankrupt, and we were left with many debts. We came to learn the hard way that:

“Allah will destroy Riba (usury) and will give increase for Sadaqat (deeds of charity, ominous, etc.).” (Quran 2:276)

During one of the difficult nights that followed, I got into a huge argument with my husband and demanded that he divorce me. He then screamed out, “You are divorced from me… you are divorced from me!” Both my child and I cried, and through many tears, it was this that was constantly going through my mind: We were joined together through obedience to Allah, and we then became separated through disobedience to Him.

Gems and Jewels
Compiled by: Abdul-Malik Mujahid
Publisher: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam
ISBN: 9960-897-59-1
Page 257