SINS OF THE TONGUE:

CARRYING TALES.

A tale-bearer is a person who spreads slander in order to create discord among people, exaggerating events and spreading rumours. Whenever there is a small matter he/she will transform it into a major one, making it appear so very big when in fact it is not. Allah ta'ala warns us in the Glorious Qur'an about such folk: " Do not follow any despicable swearer of oaths, backbiter, spreader of slander." (surah al-Qalam 68:10-11). And Allah ta'ala's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said " One who carries tales will not enter the Garden." (Abu Dawud; Tirmidhi). Ibn Abbas radiallaahu anhu related that the Prophet Mohammed sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam came upon two graves and said " Their occupants are being punished, but not for a great sin (in their own opinions). However, it is in fact a great sin. One of them went about spreading slander. The other did not clean himself properly after urination." (Bukhari; Muslim).

Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali said regarding the carrier of tales: The meaning of carrying tales is to expose the faults of one person to another - for example, saying " That person was saying such and such about you." The essence of carrying tales is revealing such secrets or exposing such private matters as cause embarrassment or shame to the person about whom the tales are being told. A person should be silent concerning what he sees of other peoples' actions, unless reporting it is beneficial to Muslims or prevents some crime. Six things are incumbent upon the hearer of a slander:

First: He should not believe the tale, because the reporter is a wicked tale-bearer not worthy of credence.

Second: He should prevent the tale-bearer from spreading such slander and advise him that it is a major sin.

Third: He should be angry with the tale-bearer for the sake of Allah Almighty, as he is the recipient of Allah's anger; and to be angry with someone for the sake of Allah is obligatory.

Fourth: He should not form a bad opinion of the person being slandered, because Allah ta'ala says " O you who believe, avoid being overly suspicious; indeed, some suspicion is a sin." (surah al-Hujurat 49:12).

Fifth: He should not busy himself in researching and seeking out the truth behind the tale told to him. Allah ta'ala says " And do not spy on one another." (surah al-Hujurat 49:12), about which Yahya ibn Abu Kathir said " It means not to pry into people's private affairs nor listen to their private conversations."

Sixth: He should not spread the slander by telling others what the tale-bearer told him.

It has been narrated that a person came to the Caliph 'Umar bin 'Abdul-Aziz and said something to him about another person. 'Umar then said to him: " O man, if you wish, we shall investigate your affair. However, if you are telling the truth, the following ayah of the Qur'an applies to you " If a wicked person brings you news, verify it, lest you harm people out of ignorance and afterwards become remorseful about what you have done." (surah al-Hujurat 49:6), and if you are telling a lie, then the following ayah will apply to you " Backbiter, spreader of slander." (surah al-Qalam 68:11). On the other hand, if you wish, we shall overlook the whole matter." The man said: " Please overlook it, O leader of the believers. I shall never mention it again."

During a visit to one of our righteous forefathers, a brother-in-Islam told him something about another brother which he disliked. Then he said to the visitor (tale-bearer): " O my brother, you backbit and came to me with three sins: you told me something hateful about my brother; you made my heart busy with this affair; and you stained your soul by betraying a trust."

Allah ta'ala mentions in surah al-Masad (111:4) " His wife, the carrier of firewood." in reference to the wife of Abu Lahab. In explanation of this verse it is said that she used to carry around slanderous tales. Carrying tales is described as "carrying firewood" because it inflames hatred in the hearts of people, just as firewood kindles fire. It is said that the work of the tale-bearer is worse than that of Satan, because Satan only whispers, while the tale-bearer speaks face-to-face.

Abu Hurairah radiallaahu anhu reported the Messenger of Allah sallaallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam as saying " You will find that among the worst of people is one who is two faced, showing one face to this person and another face to that. The one who has a forked tongue in this world will have a forked tongue on the Day of Resurrection." (Bukhari; Muslim). The meaning of forked tongue is much the same as that of two-faced, that is to say a person who says different things to different people.

Finally, one should carefully consider the wise words of Hasan al-Basri regarding such people " If a person tells you about others, be assured that he is telling others about you."