The 365 · Tazkiyah · Day 101 · Tongue
Ghībah · Backbiting
The disease
الْغِيبَة
Al-Ghībah
The story
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī: 'By Allah, fasting is not refraining from food and drink alone. Fasting is refraining from food, drink, and lying, ghībah, and false words.' The classical scholars treated ghībah as one of the most prevalent and damaging tongue-diseases.
Why it's named first
Ghībah is mentioning your brother in a way he would dislike, even if true. The Prophet ﷺ defined it precisely (Muslim 2589, Abū Hurayrah): when asked 'What if what I say about him is true?' he replied: 'If what you say is true, you have backbitten him; if false, you have slandered him.' The Quran's image is structurally severe (Q 49:12): backbiting is like eating the flesh of your dead brother.
In the Qur'an
Q 49:12: 'O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion: indeed some suspicion is sin. And do not spy, neither backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it. And fear Allah; indeed Allah is Acceptor of repentance, Most Merciful.' The dead-brother-flesh metaphor is the Quran's structural condemnation.
In the Sunnah
Muslim 2589 (above). Cross-ref Abū Dāwūd 4875 (ʿĀʾishah): the Prophet ﷺ said about a short woman: 'You have said something that, if mixed with the sea, would pollute it.' Tirmidhī 1931 (Anas): 'When I was taken on the Miʿrāj, I passed by people whose nails were of copper, scratching their faces and chests. I asked Jibrīl who they were; he said: These are the ones who eat people's flesh and dishonor them.'
The cure
1. Develop the habitual response: when others begin ghībah, change the topic or leave. 2. Make tawbah for past ghībah: ask Allah's forgiveness; if possible without causing further harm, ask the person you backbit for forgiveness; if not possible, make abundant duʿāʾ for them. 3. Train the tongue to say only what is needed. 4. Recall Q 49:12 image when tempted: am I about to eat my brother's dead flesh?
What is at stake
The believer's good deeds are transferred to the one he backbit. On the Day, the muflis (bankrupt) hadith (Muslim 2581): one comes with prayers, fasts, charity, but having backbitten this one and slandered that one and taken from the third's wealth, his good deeds are distributed to them; when they run out, their sins are placed on him; he is thrown into Hell.
A du'a for this day
'Allāhumma inī aʿūdhu bika min sharri samʿī wa min sharri baṣarī wa min sharri lisānī wa min sharri qalbī wa min sharri maniyyī.' (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil of my hearing, sight, tongue, heart, and seed.) (Abū Dāwūd 1551, hasan.)
The door of mercy
Al-Ghazālī: the cure of ghībah requires (1) immediate cessation; (2) regret for past acts; (3) firm resolution not to return; (4) seeking forgiveness from those backbit if doing so does not produce greater harm. The classical scholars considered ghībah-cessation one of the structurally severe disciplines because the tongue's habits are deeply automatic.
A reflection to carry
Ghībah is mentioning your brother in a way he would dislike, even if true. Q 49:12: like eating the flesh of your dead brother. The Prophet ﷺ: if true, you have backbitten him; if false, you have slandered him.
Read the longer reflection
On the Day, the muflis (bankrupt) hadith (Muslim 2581): the believer comes with prayers, fasts, charity; but having backbitten this one and slandered that one, his good deeds are transferred; when they run out, their sins are placed on him; he is thrown into Hell. Cure: structural tongue-discipline; when others begin ghībah, change topic or leave; train tongue to say only what is needed. Modern group chats and social media amplify ghībah; the same Q 49:12 metaphor applies to typed ghībah.
Sources: Quran, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ghazali, Ibn al-Qayyim. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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