MOCKING AT OTHER PEOPLE: Allah has prescribed a number of things related to the preservation of brotherhood and what this implies with regard to what is to be held sacred among human beings. The first among these is the prohibition of mocking, deriding, and scoffing at others. The believer who fears Allah and hopes to attain the Garden in the Hereafter will not scoff at any individual nor make people the object of his jokes, scorn, sarcasm or mockery, because this is nothing but pride, arrogance, and contempt for others, as well as ignorance of the scale by which Allah measures goodness. “Let not some people mock at other people, for they may be better than themselves, nor [let] women [mock] at other women who may be better than themselves,” [Qur’an 49:11] Nevertheless, this verse goes on to state explicitly that women should not mock at other women. This emphasis is due to the fact that mocking at others is quite common among women. In the scale of Allah, goodness is measured by faith, sincerity and the quality of the relationship with Allah, not by physical appearance, wealth, or power. Said the Prophet [peace be upon him], “Allah does not look at your physical features or your wealth, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds.” How, then, can it be permissible for a person to laugh at someone’s physical handicap, deformity, or poverty? “DO NOT SLANDER”: The second of these prohibitions is against “piercing & stabbing,” that means finding faults, as the person who finds faults in others is doing something similar to piercing them with a sword or stabbing them with a dagger – and perhaps the wound inflicted by the tongue is more lasting. Qur’an regards the community of Muslims as one body in its mutual concerns and responsibilities, so that whoever slanders his brother in effect slanders himself. “DO NOT REVILE BY NICKNAME”: One form of slandering is calling others by derogatory nicknames of the sort which highlight some defect and are used to mock and deride a person. A Muslim should not call his brother by a name which is offensive to him, thereby causing him pain and thus trampling on the feelings of Islamic brotherliness. SUSPICION: Islam aims at establishing its society on clearness of conscience and mutual trust, not on doubts, suspicions, accusations and mistrust. Hence this verse mentions the fourth prohibition by which what is to be held sacred among people is safeguarded: “O you who believe, avoid [indulging in] much suspicion; truly some suspicion is a sin.” [Qur’an 49:11] The kind of suspicion which is a sin is the ascribing of evil motives, and it is not permissible for a Muslim to impute such motives to his brother Muslim without justification and clear evidence. Because the basic assumption concerning people is that they are innocent, a mere suspicion should not be allowed to result in the accusation of an innocent person. Regarding this the Prophet [pbuh] said, “Avoid suspicion, for airing suspicion is the most lying form of speech.” Human weakness is such that no one is free of suspicion and wrong thoughts especially concerning those with whom relationships are not good. However, one must not give in to such thoughts nor go beyond thoughts to action, as stated by the Prophet [pbuh], “If you have a suspicion, do not pursue it.” SPYING: Inwardly, mistrust of others produces evil thoughts in the mind while outwardly it leads a person toward spying. But Islam establishes its society on the purity of both what is inner and what is outer. Therefore, just as spying follows suspicion, the prohibition of spying comes immediately after that of suspicion. Prying into other peoples’ private affairs and spying on their secrets is not permitted, even if they are engaged in sin, as long as they do it privately and not openly. Messenger of Allah [pbuh] said. “If one conceals the private affairs [of others], it is like reviving a girl who has been buried alive from grave.” The Prophet [pbuh] classified those who search out other peoples’ fault as being among the hypocrites, who proclaim their belief with their tongues while their hearts do not confirm what they say. He denounced such people publicly. He said. “O you who declare Islam with your tongues but whose hearts have not been reached by faith, do not annoy the Muslims nor seek out their faults, for he who seeks out the faults of his brother Muslim will have his faults sought out by Allah, and when Allah seeks out someone’s faults, He exposes him, even though he should be in the interior of his house.” The texts prohibiting spying and searching out peoples’ faults apply equally to the governments and individuals. In order to safeguard peoples’ privacy, the Prophet [pbuh] strictly forbade that anyone should look into other peoples’ houses without their permission and absolved the residents for any injury they might inflict upon who so looks. Likewise, he prohibited listening clandestinely to peoples’ conversation without their knowledge or approval, saying, “He who listens clandestinely to people’s conversation against their wishes will have molten lead poured into his ears on the day of Resurrection.”
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 20:03:54 +0000
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