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Al-Ma'roor
ibn Suwayd narrates that he once saw Abu Dharr –
radi Allaahu ‘anhu – wearing a beautiful shawl.
His slave standing next to him was wearing a shawl
exactly like it, warm and beautiful.
Ma'roor said to Abu
Dharr, “Perhaps you could take
the shawl of your servant and give him another (less
expensive) one.”
“Never,”
said Abu Dharr, “for
I once had a servant whose mother was not Arab and I
cussed him and his mother. That servant went to the
Messenger of Allah – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam
– complaining of the words I had said.
“When
Rasul Allaah – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam –
saw me he commented, ‘O Abu Dharr, you are a man
who still has Jahilliyyah (Pre-Islamic Ignorance) in
him.'”
Because of these
painful words, Abu Dharr – may Allah be pleased
with him - would always dress his servants in the
exact same garments that he would wear.
Dear brothers and
sisters, Allah is disobeyed most with our tongues.
There is a sin that sweeps amongst us, a sin that
many take lightly, a sin that is laughed at, a sin
that could very well pull someone to Hellfire: It is
the sin of insulting others.
Read carefully this
following verse. It is a commandment of Allah that
begins with a call to those who claim to have Eemaan.
Allah ta'ala says in the Qur'an (49/11):
O you
who believe let not one group of people make fun of
another, perhaps the (one's being made fun of) are
better then them. And let not women make fun of
other women perhaps the (woman being made fun of) is
better then them. And do not insult one another and
do not call each other by (offensive) nicknames.
Wretched is the name (i.e. mention) of disobedience
after (one's) faith. And whoever does not repent –
then it is those who are the Dhaalimoon (the
wrongdoers).
Perhaps the one that
is being made fun of is more beloved to Allah.
Subhaan Allah, let us remember this if we ever try
to make fun of someone, perhaps Allah loves them and
does not love us. Didn't the Mushrikeen make fun of
Rasul Allah – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – and
we know Allah loved him and not them. Didn't the
Munaafiqeen make fun of the Sahaabah – and we know
Allah loved the Sahaabah and not them.
Rasul Allah – sal
Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – said, “Verily
a person will speak words from those that Allah
hates, paying no heed to what he is saying, and with
those words he will plummet in to hellfire.” –
Bukhari
There are different
reasons why a person would want to insult, make fun
of and ridicule other community members:
Firstly: They
have weak Eemaan and their fear of Allah is poor.
This is one of the major reasons.
Secondly: They
spend a lot of their time in gatherings that bring
no benefit.
Thirdly: They
themselves may want others to praise them. Sadly,
when there is a student or a community member that
insults others, often it is they that want to be the
‘cool' one. How can they be ‘cool' if they are
doing something that Allah and His Messenger hate?
Fourthly: They
forget the punishment for those that make fun of
others. Imam Al-Bayhaqee narrates in Shu'ab al-Eemaan,
that Rasul Allah – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam
– said, “Verily those people
that make fun of people – for them a gate of
Jannah will be opened. It will be said to them: Come
(and enter). That person will come with all their
anguish and depression – but when he gets close,
the gate will be closed in his face. Then another
gate (to Jannah) will be opened and it will be said:
Come (and enter). So that person comes with all his
anguish and depression. But when he gets close, the
gate will be closed in his face. This will keep
happening to him until it gets to the point where it
will be said: Come (and enter), and he will not come
from the despair of ever entering paradise.”
Fifthly: Those
that make fun of others may do so out of love for
the Kuffaar and a love to imitate them. How many
times do we see the comedians mocking people and
everyone laughing? Indeed, mocking others and
insulting them is a characteristic of Jaahiliyyah
and kufr, and it is never a characteristic of a
believer.
Allah ta'ala shows
us in Surah Al-Mutaffifeen (83/29) how this
characteristic of laughing at others is a
characteristic of the Kuffaar:
Indeed,
those who committed crimes used to laugh at those
who believed.
The seriousness of
this sin varies in accordance to the subject being
insulted:
On the highest
level of seriousness is to make fun of Allah or His
Ayaat or His Messenger – sal Allaahu alayhi wa
sallam.
A group of
Munaafiqeen started joking one day about their
Qurr'aa, i.e. the Companions of Allah's Messenger.
They described in ridiculing terms that they were
large in stomachs, having lying tongues and being
cowardly. Allah ta'ala tells us in the Qur'an
(9/65-66): And if you ask them,
they will surely say, “We were only conversing and
playing.” Say, “Is it Allah and His verses and
His Messenger that you were mocking?” / Make no
excuse; you have disbelieved (i.e. rejected faith)
after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you
– We will punish another faction because they were
criminals.
To ridicule and
make fun of the Sahaabah
In the incident just
mentioned, the comment that the Munaafiqeen was
actually directed at the Sahaabah. The Qur'aan shows
us that this was a direct ridicule of Allah, His
verses, and His Messenger.
Shaykh Al-Uthaymeen
– rahi mahullaah – said: Thus it is understood
that someone who curses and ridicules the Companions
is a Kaafir. This is because cutting their honor is
in reality an attempt at ridiculing Allah and His
Messenger and His Sharee'ah.
To ridicule the
pious believers
For example, if
someone were to ridicule a pious believer because of
his practice of the Deen, such as ridiculing a
brother's beard or to mock a sisters Hijaab, etc.
Doing this – i.e. mocking a Muslim because of his
Islam – may very well expel someone from the fold
of Islam.
Allah ta'ala says in
Surah Al-Mutaffifeen (29-30):
Indeed,
those that committed crimes used to laugh at those
who believed
As reported in
Tafseer At-Tabaree, the Munaafiqeen were once
sitting back watching the charity that the believers
were giving. To those that gave much, like
AbdurRahmaan ibn ‘Owf, they said, ‘he
only gave it to show off' . For those that
gave little, they said, ‘Verily,
Allah has no need for his petty offering.”
And so Allah ta'ala
revealed in Surat At-Tawbah (9/79):
Those
who criticize the contributers among the believers
concerning their charities and (criticize) the ones
who find nothing (to spend) except their effort, so
they ridicule them – Allah will ridicule them, and
they will have a painful punishment.
To ridicule
humans in general
This applies to the
God-fearing and the Fussaaq, a believer should not
humiliate people and or use derogatory nicknames for
them, nor should they ridicule their creation.
Allah ta'ala says
49/11:
O you
who believe let not one group of people make fun of
another
And Rasul Allah –
sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – said, “It
is enough sin for a person that they would ridicule
their Muslim brother.”
Abdullaah ibn
Mas'ood – radi Allaahu ‘anhu – used to say, as
narrated by Ibn Abee ‘Aasim, “By
Allah whom there is no god but He, there is nothing
more worthy of a prolonged incarceration then one's
tongue.”
Part II
Abu Moosa – radi
Allaahu ‘anhu – said: I asked Allah's Messenger,
‘Who out of the Muslims is the
best?' He replied, “Those
whom the other Muslims are safe from his tongue and
hands.” – Agreed Upon
The mockingbird,
native to the western hemisphere, has a very
interesting name. The mockingbird gets its name from
its ability to mimic the sounds of other animals. It
combines song notes of it's own with sounds from
other birds, doing so in almost a mocking way. It is
an endangered species, and we hope - in sha Allah
– that the mocking it got its name after will
become endangered in our communities too.
Al-Hasan Al-Basree
– rahimahullaah – said, “Whoever
does not guard the slips of their tongue has not
understood their Deen.”
Dear brothers and
sisters, one of the saddest things is to see the
regulars of the masjid, or the leaders of the Muslim
youth, being the ones who mock others. So many youth
groups and Halaqahs around North America are built
on this notion that in order to be cool you must
ridicule and mock others.
In other places, I
know personally people that abandoned the local
Masjid because they did not want to be ridiculed by
the Muslims. They felt more comfort and compassion
in the character of the disbelievers. What will
Allah ta'ala think of someone that does this to the
Muslims, someone who is an obstacle for others to
come closer to Allah?
If we find a
gathering of Muslims to be like this, it is our duty
to command the good and forbid the evil and demand
that this ridiculing stop once and for all.
In conclusion, the
questions that begs to be asked is: What is the cure
for this disease of the tongue?
One: We
should know that it is a major sin. In fact, a
person may make a single statement – not paying
any heed to it – by which he may slip in to
Hellfire.
Two: We
should follow what our tongues are saying and not
allow ourselves to stoop to vain talk.
Three: We
should distance ourselves from those long useless
gatherings where nothing is done for hours except
laughing and chatting. Instead, we should replace
our gatherings with the remembrance of Allah and
good speech.
Four: We must
glorify this Deen and make enormous in our hearts
the commandments of Allah ta'ala. If Allah says do
not make fun of one another, our reply should be
nothing more then: ‘we hear
and we obey'.
Five: We
should warn others of the sin of insulting other
people and making fun of them. Let us not allow
ourselves to be as a silent Shaytaan listening to
others being insulted. Let us speak up and say it
clearly that this is not something loved by Allah
and His Messenger. Say that if Allah and His
Messenger hate it, then so do I.
Six: If you
feel yourself that you just have to insult someone,
ask Allah to protect you from the Shaytaan and this
satanic act. As Allah ta'ala says (7/200): And
if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, then
seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and
Knowing.
Seven: And of
course, if anyone of us should fall into this sin,
we should be swift in turning back to Allah in
Towbah. Say Astaghfirullaah wa ‘atoobo ilayh, O
Allah I ask You to forgive me and I return to You.
Allah ta'ala says in
the Qur'an (49/11): And whoever
does not repent – then it is those who are the
Dhaalimoon (the wrongdoers).
Finally, if there is
one thing that you remember from this khutbah let it
be this following commandment of Allaah ta'ala,
memorize it and teach it to at least one other
person:
O you who believe
let not one group of people make fun of another
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