Gossip and Doubt

March 5, 2009 at 5:26 PM | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

[49:12] O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed 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 Allâh. Verily, Allâh is the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful.

“Did you hear about her? She’s a fake!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dude, she’s not who she is at all, she may even be made up!”

Although these were just lines from an instant messenger conversation, I could hear the words being whispered through out the night. They were letters floating around, trailing me like a trail of star dust. Harmless letters turned into poisonous darts. That’s what every bad word you say in your brother’s name turns to. Poisonous darts.

Do you realize every word of bad you speak behind your brother’s back is equivalent to a bite of your brother’s dead flesh? Take a second to ponder how awful that must taste. Imagine eating raw chicken. Worse. Spoiled raw chicken that’s been left out in the kitchen for a couple of days. Imagine the smell. And the insects crawling all over. Do you want to be doing anything at all that is equivalent to the above scenario?? If you are human enough, I am sure your answer is no.

Doubting your brother and being suspicious of him is a sin itself. We judge and doubt our brothers so quickly. Just a thought of doubt is a sin. And how many times do we do this everyday? How many times do we doubt Ali when he says he did pray Asr? How many times have we doubted Mariam when she told us she was at the library? Allahu a’lam. Maybe she lied and wasn’t at the library, maybe she was out with that brother from her History class, but who are we to doubt others and be suspicious of them? Who are we to talk about others when we make more mistakes and sins then the person we are talking about? Who are we to talk about someone else’s sins when we ourselves are committing sins at that very moment?

Those are the thoughts that were going through my head after thinking more and more about the instant messenger conversation. Maybe it was true… maybe she isn’t who she is, but who am I to doubt her? Allahu a3lam, Allah knows. I know one thing, I will continue treating this girl like I always have, and I will never force her to explain herself, but if she decides to tell me this “truth” one day, alhamdulillah. And if there is no other truth, alhamdulillah. I wouldn’t want people talking about me the same way they talk about her.

May Allah remove doubt and any suspicious feelings and thoughts from our hearts and minds. May Allah remove these poisonous darts from our tongues. May He better us as Muslims. Ameen ya rab.

*Brother is used as a general gender for both males and females.

-Saifa