HARMS OF TONGUE | from the Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali

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HARMS OF TONGUE | from the Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali

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http://www.ghazali.org/ihya/english/ihya-vol3-C4.htm

REVIVAL OF RELIGIOUS LEARNINGS IMAM GHAZZALI'S
IHYA ULUM-ID-DIN
Translated by
FAZL-UL-KARIM

VOL. III The Book of Destructive Evils

CHAPTER IV
HARMS OF TONGUE

Know, 0 dear readers, that tongue is a great asset of a man and a wonder out of the wonderful creations of God. Though it is insignificant, its power is unlimited, its virtues are great and infidelity and faith do not find expression except through tongue. It is the last limit of sins and virtues. Tongue can express what has been related and what has not been created; the Creator and the created, the known and the unknown. Tongue explains what intellect brings in mind, whether truth or untruth. Tongue may be said to be the agent of intellect. No other organ has got such power to express the mind. The sight of eye extends only to figures and colours and not to any other thing. Ear has got power over only sounds and not to any other thing. The power to tongue is, however, unlimited. It has got power over good and bad. The dangers of tongue are useless talks, quarrels, disputes, rebukes, scolding, harsh words, curse, false speaking, backbiting, self praise etc. We shall proceed to discuss them one by one:
MERITS OF SILENCE: The dangers and harms of tongue are many and there is no rescue, from them except silent. For this reason, Shariat recommends it. The Prophet said : He who keeps silent gets salvation. He also said : Silence is a rule and few people can observe it. The father of Sufiyan asked the Prophet : 0 Prophet of God, give me such news about Islam which I shall ask nobody after you. The Prophet said : Say, I have believed' and stand on it firmly. I asked him: What matter shall I fear most. He hinted with his hand at the tongue. Oqbah-b-Amer said : I asked 0 Messenger of God, how can I get salvation? He said : Hold your tongue, make your house spacious and repent for your sins. The Prophet said : If a man can give me guarantee of the things placed between his two cheeks and his two thighs, I can give him guarantee of paradise. He said : He who is safe from the harms of his belly, sexual organ and tongue is safe from all troubles. For these three organs, majority of the people are destroyed. The Prophet was asked about a great viture which admits one to paradise. He said : Control of two hollow things- mouth and sexual organ. He meant tongue by mouth.
Hazrat Muaz-b-Jabal said : I asked : 0 Prophet of God, shall we be punished for what we utter ? He said : 0 Ibn Jabal, your
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mother be heavy with you, will a man be overturned in hell over his nose except for harms of his tongue ? Abdullah Saqafi said : I asked : 0 Prophet of God, what matter do you fear for me? He caught his tongue and said : This. Hazrat Muaz asked : 0 Prophet of God, what action is best ? The Prophet drew out his tongue and placed his finger on it and said : The faith of a man does not become alright till his mind does not become so, and his mind does not become alright till his tongue does not become so. He from whose harm his neighbour is not safe will not enter paradise. The Prophet said : He who is pleased with Islam shall take to silence. He said : When'a man rises from bed, his limbs get up and rebuke his tongue. In other words they say to his tongue, fear God regarding us, because when you are alright, we are alright and when you are wrong, we are wrong.

Once Hazrat Omar saw Harzat Abu Bakr drawing out his tongue and asked him : 0 Caliph of the people, What are you doing ? He said : I drags me to the place of destruction. The Prophet said There is no such limb of body which will not con plain to God about the harsh treatment of tongue. Harzat Ibn Masud said that the Prophet had said : Major sins of a man accrue from his tongue. The Prophet said : God keeps the hidden things of a man secret who controls his tongue. God saves one who keeps his anger under control. God accepts the excesses of one who shows excuse to God.

Once Hazrat Muaz asked the Prophet : 0 Prophet of God, advise me: He said : Worship in such a way as if you see God and consider you as one of the dead. I shall let you know a more important thing than this if you like. He then hinted with his hand at the tongue. Hazrat Safwan-b-Solaman was once asked by the Prophet : Shall I not inform you about the easiest divine service and the most comfortable thing to body ?-Silence and good conduct. The Prophet said : Let one who believes in God and the next world speak good or remain silent. The Prophet said
May God show mercy on one who acquires rewards by talk or remain safe by keeping silent. Jesus Christ was once asked Teach us such thing by virtue of which we can enter paradise. He said : Don't talk. They said : We shall not be able to do it. He said Then don't talk except good. Hazrat Bara'a-t-Azeb said : 0 Prophet of God, teach me such a thing by viture of which I can enter paradise. He said: Give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, enjoin good and prohibit evil. If you can not do it, don't
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hold talk except good. The Prophet said : Save your tongue from talks except good. The Prophet said : Save your tongue from talks other than good, you can then defeat the devil. He said : God is near every utterance of a man. So let him take care of what he utters. He said : When you see a believer keeping silent and grave, come to him, as there is wisdom in him. The Prophet said Men are divided into three classes-looters of war booties, talkers of useless things and those who are safe. A looter of war booties is one who makes Zikr of God. A safe man is he who remains silent. A useless talker is one who holds unnecessary talk. The Prophet said : The tongue of a believer keeps behind his tongue. The tongue of a hypocrite keeps in front of his mind. When he wishes to talk, he sends it through his tongue without any thinking. Jesus Christ said : There is ten portions of divine service, nine of which are in silence, and the remaining one is in loneliness. The prophet said : He who talks much commits blunders. He who blunders much commits many sins. For one whose sins are great, Hell fire is good.

Caliph Omar-b-Abdul Aziz said : He who remembers death much, remains satisfied with little. He who counts his words in his actions talks little. A wise man said : Silence gives two benefits to a man-safety of religion and knowing of friends. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : Once many people were talking in the assembly of Caliph Muwaytah. The saint` Ahna-b-Qais only remained silent. He said to him : 0 Abu Bakr, what is the matter with you? Why are you not talking ? He said to him: If I talk lie; I fear God. If I tell truth, I fear you. The sage Mansur-b-Malaz used not to talk after Isha prayer for forty years.

FOUR KINDS OF TALK: (1) One kind of talk is always beneficial, (2) one kind of talk is always harmful, (3) one kind of talk is mixed with harm and benefit. (4) and one kind of talk has got no harm or benefit. As to the talk which is always harmful, it is essentially necessary to remain silent therefrom. As to the talk which is mixed with harm and benefit, it is necessary to remain silent therefrom. The talk which has got no benefit or harm is useless. Three fourths of the talk of fourth kind are useless except only the remaining one-fourth. There is fault in this one- fourth also as it can not be distinguished whether there is therein any secret show, back-biting, excessive talk etc. The Prophet said : He who remains silent gets salvation.

94 The Book of Destructive evils Vol-III TWENTY HARMS OF TONGUE

(1) Unnecessary talk: The best condition is to save the tongue from back-biting, falsehood, show, quarrels, disputes etc. There are such words, therein which are not beneficial and which do harm to others. If you hold useless talk, you lose time and you shall have to render accounts for useless talks. If you are engaged in thoughts about God by giving up useless talks, God's inspiration may suddenly come in your soul. If you read Tasbih, Tahlil and other invocations in lieu of useless talks, it is better for you. If a man remains busy in lawful things after giving up Zikr of God, it does not do him any benefit, because even though he does not commit any sin, he is in loss as he loses the merits of God's remembrance. The silence of a believer is good thought, the sight of a believer is a sermon and the talks of a believer are nothing but remembrance of God. This is the basis of a man's wealth. When he spends his words without necessity and does not acquire virtues for the next world, be spoils the basis of wealth. The adorment of Islam of a man is to give up what does not do any benefit to him. Another Hadis of a more harsh nature has come in this connection. Hazrat Anas reported : A young man was martyred at the battle of Uhud. We found then on his belly stones tied up. It seemed that he had tied up the stone for preventing hunger. His mother was saying : 0 darling, you have entered paradise with a cheerful mind. Then the Prophet said Who will inform you whether he held useless talk or was miserly regarding a matter which did not do him any harm." It means that accounts of such small matters will also be taken in the next world.

There is another Hadis that the Prophet went once to see Ka'ab who was in sick-bed. His mother said when he expired : 0 Ka'ab, there is paradise for you. The Prophet said : Who will inform you whether Ka'ab uttered such words of which he had no necessity or was miserly with such a thing which was not necessary for him. The Prophet once said : The man who will come now by the door is an inmate Qf paradise. Then it was seen that he was Abdullah-b- Salam. The companions gave him the good news and asked him : What good works have you got for which you have gained this rank ? He said : I am very weak. I pray to God for sound soul and for giving up of what is not necessary for me. Hazrat Abu Zarr said: The Prophet once said to
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me: Shall I not give clue to you to such an action which is light for body but heavy in the Balance ? I said : Yes, 0 Prophet of God. He said : Silence, good conduct and giving up unnecessary things.
Hazrat Ibn Abbas said : To me, five things are dearer than saving money. (1) I give up such talk as is of no use to me as it is unnecessary and I am not safe from the fear of its sin. (2) I don't utter such word as is not useful to me until I find suitable place for it as there is harm in many useful talks if they fall in improper places. (3) 1 don't argue with the man who is patient and with the fool, because if I argue with the patient man, it incites him to anger, and if I argue with a fool, he gives me trouble, (4) As I like that my friend will speak of me in my absence, so I like that I shall speak of him when he remains absent from me. As I like that my friend should forgive me, so I like that I should treat well with him. (5) I should do an action like the action of the man who knows that he will get rewards for good deeds and punishment for sins. Loqman was once asked : What is you wisdom. He said I don't ask what I know and I don't utter what does not do me any benefit.
Hazrat Omar said: Don't dispute about what is unnecessary. Keep your enemy distant from you and be careful of all persons. except faithful friends. Without God fear, nobody can become a faithful friend. Don't keep company with the sinners as there is fear that you may commit sins. Let them not enquire about your secrets. Consult with the God fearing people in all your affairs.
Useless talks are such talks which, if uttered, donot cause any benefit and do not do harm in this world and in the next. There are three reasons for not holding useless talks-(1) to be eager to know of which there is no necessity, (2) to enjoy talk with one with the object of loving him and (3) to pars time with useless talks. The remedies of these three things are the following. The remedies are based on knowledge and action. It must be understood that death is standing in front and that every word uttered will be accounted for. Every breath is a valuable asset. This is the medicine based on knowledge. The remedy based on action is to adopt silence.
(2) Second Harm of Tongue: The second harm is excessive. talk. This means to utter such words as are of no use and to hold such talks as are of no use. Necessary talks can he held in short. If

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one sentence is sufficient, second sentence is unnecessary, thought it has got no sin. The sage Ata said : Your predecessors used to hate' too much talks. They used to consider talks as superfluous except talks on the Quran, Sunnah of the Prophet, enjoying good and forbidding evils and necessary talks for earning livelihood. The Quran says : There is careful guard of what he utters-50; 18. There is no limit of superfluous talks, but there is no good in most of their secret talks except in the talk of one who enjoins charity or good deeds to make compromise between men. The Prophet said : His is blessed who restrains his tongue from superfluous talks and spends out of his excess wealth. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : He who talks much talks much falsehood. The sins of one who has got enormous wealth are great. He whose conduct is bad punishes his soul. Once a man came to the Prophet and praised him much. The Prophet said There is nothing between them which can prevent your words. He said : Nothing worst has been given to man tan long talk. The sage Ibrahim said : Two conducts destroy a man-enormous
wealth and too much talks.

(3) Third harm of tongue: This is useless talk in untrue matters and to spend talks in actions of sins : for instance to state the beauties of a woman, to tell about assembly of drinking wine, to praise the sinners, to discuss the some forts of the rich, to narrate the oppressions of the kings and rulers. These are all unlawful talks. To hold unnecessary talks and to talk much about necessary things should be given up though they are not unlawful. So don't hold talk except on good of this world and the next. The Prophet said : A man may hold such God pleasing talk the result of which may not be known to him but God writes His pleasure therefor up to the resurrection day. A man can hold such talk to displease God of which the result may not be known to him but His displeasure therefor may be written for him up to the resurrection day. The Prophet said : A man utters such a word which excites laughter of the people of an assembly and he throws himself thereby to such distance as that of the polestar. He also said : The man who holds useless talks about sins for most part of time will be a great sinner not he resurrection day. This is supported by the following verse : We used to hold useless talks with the talkers God then revealed : Don't mix with them till they hold other talks or else you will be like them. (2) Another harm of tongue is quarrels and siputes which are unlawful. The
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prophet said : Don't quarrel with your brother, don't but jokes with him and don't break promise with him. He said : Give up protestas you will to understand its contrivance and you will not be safe from its dangers. He who keeps away from disputing a false thing will have a place built for him in the middle of paradise. The Prophet said : The first thing which my Lord promised me and the first thing which He prohibited me is idol worship and to dispute with the people after drinking wine. He also said : God does not misguide a people after they are guided except for quarrels and disputes. He said : The faith of one not known does not give up dispute knowing his opinion as true. He said : The faith of a man is known who has got in him six qualities-(1) to fast in summer, (2) to strike with sword the enemies of God, (3) to pray in haste in days of tempeat, (4) to bear patience in dangers and difficulties, (5) to complete ablution even against will, (6) and to give up quarrel knowing it to be true. Hazrat Jubair said once to his son : Don't dispute with the people about the Quran, as you will not be able tq make them under and. Hold fast to the ways of the Prophet. Caliph Omar-b-Abdul Aziz said : He who presents his religion with the object of making quarrels, changes his opinion most. A certain wise man said God does not misguide a people after guidance except for quarrels and disputes. imam Malek said : To dispute about religious mattes does not appertain to religion. He said : Dispute makes the heart hard and generates hatred. Luqman said to his son : Don't dispute with the learned. If there is dispute with anybody, it is compensated by two rak'ats of prayer. Hazrat Qmar said : Don't acquire knowledge for three objects-(1) to dispute by learning, (2) to take pride by learning, (3) and to show learning to the people. Don't give up learning for three reasons-(1) to feel shame to acquire learning, (2) to get leisure for renunciation of the world, (3) and to remain satisfied with
ignorance.
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Jesus Christ said : The beauty of one goes away who speaks too much falsehood. The gentle manners of one goes away who disputes with the people. He whose thoughts are many is attacked with illness. He whose conduct is bad punishes his soul.
(5).Disputes about wealth and properties: Another harm of tongue is disputes about properties. The Prophet said : The greatest object of hatred to God is he who holds greatest disputes

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about properties. He said : Who disputes about properties with another out of ignorance, remains always in the displeasure of God till he becomes silent. A certain wise man said : Don't dispute about properties as it destroy religion.
It is true that it is lawful to give proof of one's right to properties and to give up their exaggeration. It is also pardonable to hold the tongue in the middle path in disputes about properties. Dispute straightens the breast and arouses anger. It is better to use sweet words in dispute and not to use harsh words. The Prophet said : Sweet words and feeding will give you peace in paradise. God says : Speak sweet words with the people. God says : If you are entertained with Salam, return it with better salutation than it or like it. The Prophet said : There are rooms in paradise whose inner sides are seen from their outer sides and outer sides are seen from their inner sides. God prepaiked them for those persons who give food and are humble in talks. The Prophet said : Sweet word is a charity even a seed : Keep the Hell at a distance by giving in charity even a seed of grape. If you are unable, then keep it distant by sweet words.
(6) To make ornamentation in talks: Another harm of tongue is to make ornamentation in talks, to disclose oratory and to gi a lectures with ornamental words. The Prophet said : I and . my God- fearing men among my followers are free from artificiality. He said,: Of all the persons among you, the object of the greatest wrath to me and the most distant from my assembly is he who holds useless talks, makes ornamentation in talks and adopts artificiality. The Prophet said : Those who grow eating various delicious foods, put on various dresses, eat various delicious dishes and talk with ornamental words, are worst among my followers. He said : Beware, those who make exaggeration in talks are ruined. He recited it thrice. Hazrat Omar said : Eloquent in talks is attended with the eloquence of
the devil.
(7) Obsecene and bad tooks: These talks are prohibited. Some of these talks are impurities. The Prophet said : Give up obsecene talks, as God does not love obscene and excessive talks. The Prophet prohibited to rebuke the unbelievers who were killed in the battle of Badr. He said : Don't rebuke those dead unbelievers, as these do not reach them, but give trouble to those who are alive. Beware, bad talks are objects of barred. Ke said :
ThpSe who are prone to backbiting, excessive cursing, obscene and excessive talks are not true believers. He said : Four persons will give trouble to the inmates of Hell. They will be running between hot water and fire and proclaim their sorrows. One of them will be such from whose mouth pus and blood will come out. he will be asked : Why is this condition of yours ? He will say
I used to hold obscene and evil talks and take pleasure therein like that of cohabitation, and for that I am getting this punishment. The Prophet said to Ayesha : 0 Ayesha, if obscene talk could have taken the figure of a man, its figure would have been ugly. He said : To hold obscene talk and to make narration are two branches of hypocrisy. Narration means to disclose secret talks which is unlawful. It means also to make excesses in narration and to make ornamentation adding false thing. The Prophet said : Obscene talk or unnecessary talk does not appertain to-Islam. He who is best of all in character and conduct is best of all in Islam. The sage Ibn Mysarah said : The figure of a man who talks-obscene things openly will be that of a dog on the Resurrection Day. Ahnaf-b-Qais said : Shall I not inform you of a dangerous disease-bad conduct and obscene tongue.
LIMIT OF OBSCENE TALKS: Hazrat Ibn Abbas said: God is shameful. He mentioned about sexual intercourse by the word 'touch. There are many obscene words which should not be said clearly. Ayaz-b- Hemar said: I asked: 0 Messenger of God, a man of my people rebukes me but he is lower than myself. Is there any obstacle of my taking revenge on him? The Prophet said: Two rebukers are devils. They tell each other liars and ascribe guilt to each other. The Prophet said: There is sin in rebuking a believer and there is infidelity in his murder. He said: Two rebukers remain upon their rebuke. Out of the two, sin falls on one who rebukes first. Even it falls on the rebukers if the rebuked person exceeds the limit. The Prophet said: He who rebukes his parents is cursed. In another narration, to rebuke parents is one of the greatest sins. The companions asked: 0 Messenger of God, is there any such man who rebukes his parents? He said: He rebukes the parents of another and the latter also rebukes his parents and this amounts to rebuking his own parents.
(8) Curse: Another evil of tongue is to curse anything, be it an animal or a man or a lifeless thing. It is condemned. The Prophet said: A believer does not curse another. He said: Don't curse

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another with the curse of God, with His anger or Hell. Huzaifaf said: The curse of one on another among a people falls on the people. Once one of the Ansar women was passing riding on a camel by the side of the Prophet and cursed the camel. The Prophet then said: Take down the load from the camel and drive it out of the party as it is cursed. He said: I am as if looking towards the camel which was walking to end from among the people. Nobody approached it. Abu Darda'a said: If anybody curses a land, it says: Curse of God be upon the person who is the greatest sinner among us. Hazrat Abu Bakr was cursing one of his maid servants. The Prophet heard it and said: 0 Abu Bakr, a man of truth and a curser are together? It can never occur, by the Lord of Ka'ba. He repeated it twice or thrice. Then AbuBakr set free the slave. Then he came to the Prophet and said: I will do it no more. The Prophet said: The cursers will not be intercessors or witnesses on the Resurrection Day.

CURSE WHEN LAWFUL: Curse means to drive away a thing from God. This applies to the things which are already distant from God, such as infidelity, oppression, etc. It is lawful to curse the unbelievers and oppressors with such words as are permitted by Shariat. Three things are necessary for a curse - (1) infidelity, (2) innovation, and (3) great sin. Each of these three things has got three stages. The first stage is that curse is allowed in the general way, for instance, curse upon the innovators, curse upon the transgressors. The second stage is curse specially upon a people, as curse upon the Jews, upon the Christians, upon the bribe-takers, upon the fornicators, upon the oppressors. The third stage is curse upon a particular person which is unlawful, but it is lawful to curse a person whom the Quran or Hadis cursed, ford instance curse upon Pharaoh, curse upon Abu Jahl as they die upon infidelity but it is not allowed to curse an individual unbeliever at present as he may turn out to be a Muslim before his death. The Prophet once said to Hazrat Abu Bakr: 0 Abu Bakr, when you discuss about unbelievers, discuss it is a general way, because when you discuss about an individual unbeliever, his children will surely be enraged for their parents. So prevent the people from that. One Numan, a Muslim, drank wine for which he was whipped several times in presence of the Prophet. One of the companions then said:Curse of God on him. The Prophet said: Don't be a helper of the devil in the action of your brother. In another narration, the Prophet said: Don't utter
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it because he loves God and His Apostle. It appears then that to curse a man individually is unlawful. The prophet said: No man
should tell another 'an unbeliever or a great trnasgressor' if he is
not so. The lsrophet said: If a man bears witness that another is an
unbeliever,jt reverts to one of them. If he is really an unbeliever, he becomes so. If he is really not an unbeliever, the man who calls hire an unbeliever becomes himself an unbeliever. The Prophet said: I prohibit you to rebuke a Muslim or to be disobedient to a just ruler; and to rebuke a dead man is heinous. The Prophet said: pon't abuse the dead, as what they sent in advance reached them. The Prophet said: Don't abuse the dead. Those who are alive are troubled for that. He said: 0 people, save men in respect of my companions, my brethren and my parents. Don't abuse them. 0 people, when a man dies, narrate his good deeds.
(9) Songs and poetries: Another harm of tongue is songs and poetries. The good poetry is good and the bad of poetry is bad. The Prophet said: It is better to fill up the belly of a man with pusi then to fill it up with poetry. In short, poetry is not unlawful if it does not contain evil or indecent words, as the Prophet said: There is wisdom in some poetry. The Prophet appointed the poet Hasan-b-Sabet to attack the polytheists and to praise Islam. Hazrat Ayesha narrated: One day the Prophet was sewing his shoes and I was seated by his side and eating bread. i noticed that sweat was coming out of his forehead and it was sparkling like jewels. He got tired and said to me: You have become tired. I said: 0 Prophet of God, I noticed at you and saw that from your forehead sweat was coming out and it was sparkling like jewels. Had the poet Abu Kabir Hazli seen you in this condition, he would have taken you as fit for his poetry. The Prophet said: 0 Ayesha, what does he say? I said: He composed these two verses:
Praised one is free from menses,
suckling and other diseases,
It seems that her face sheds
luster of lightning.
The Prophet kept what he had in his hand and kissed the forehead of Ayesha and said: God bless you You have not been pleased with me in proportion to what I have been pleased with you. When the Prophet divided the booties of Hunain after the battle, he gave 4 camels to poet Abbas Merdag. He went away with a protest and demanded more through poetry:
I
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Merdas's mind was not troubled at Badr and Siege,
he was satisfied with what he got at both.
But he returns to-day with a painful heart.

The Prophet ordered for him 100 camels and asked him: Do you talk by poetry? He said: I roam in poetries like ants and they sting me like the sting of ants. I can't keep but recite poetry. The Prophet smiled at his words and said: This desert Arab will not give up poetry till he gives up the camels of Hunain.

(10) Laugh and jokes: There is another harm of tongue, laugh and jokes. Basically these are not commendable but these are not harmful within limits. The' Prophet said: 'Don't dispute with your brother ;and cut jokes with him. Excessive jokes and continued jokes are unlawful. If they are done continuously, they
' are included within sports and plays. Though sports and plays are lawful, yet to get habituated to them is condemned. Excessive jokes give rise to excessive laughters, excessive laughter makes the heart dead and sometimes creates hatred and destroys gravity and fear. When they are necessary, they are not condemned. The Prophet said: I cut jokes, but I don't say but truth. He said: A man utters talks to raise laughter of friends, but he takes himself down to Hell from heaven. Hazrat Omar said: The fear of one who laughs much is reduced. He who cuts jokes becomes light to the people. He who cuts jokes much, becomes well-known. He who talk much commits much faults. He who has got little shame has got much faults and less piety. He whose piety is less, has got his heart dead. Jokes keep away a man from the next world. The Prophet said: Had you known what I know, you would have wept much and laughed little. Eusof-b-Asbat said that Hazrat Hasan Basari did not laugh for thirty years. It has been said that the sage Abu Salma did not laugh for 40 years. Abdullah-b-AliYala said: You are laughing while your coffin is coming out of the building. Hazrat Ibn Abbas said: He who commits sin laughing will enter Hell weeping.

It is therefore condemned to be engaged in jokes and laughs. Smiling only is laudable. The Prophet used to smiles only. Sayyed-b-A's told his son: 0 dear son, don't cut jokes with any honourable man, lest he may hate you. Don't cut jokes with a man of dishonour, lest he becomes daring against you. Hazrat Omar-b- Abdul Aziz said: Fear God. Don't cut jokes as it creates
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ill feeling and leads Quran. If it becomes difficult for you, discuss the lives of religious men.
The Prophet and his companions had under their control their jokes. They did not cut jokes except with truth. They did not give trouble thereby to anybody. They did not go to excess therein. Minor sins turn into major sins if one is accustomed to them. If one is accustomed to lawful things, it turns also into minor sin. Hazrat Anas said: The Prophet used to cut jokes with his wives. Once an old woman came to the Prophet who said to her: No old woman will enter Paradise. The old woman was weeping at this. Then he said to her: On that day, you will not remain old as God says: I shall create them a new and make them young. Hazrat Zaid-b-Aslam said: Once Omme Ayman came to the prophet and said: My husband calls you. The Prophet said: Who is your husband? Is he not your husband who has got whiteness in his eyes? The woman said: By God, the eye of my husband is not white. The Prophet said: Is there any man who has not got whiteness in his eyes?
(11) Ridicule: Ridicule is unlawful as it gives pain to the heart of another and thus he becomes sorry. God says: 0 believers, no people shall ridicule another people. Perchance the latter may be better than the former. No woman shall ridicule another woman. Perchance the latter may be better than the former. Ridicule means to neglect or hold in contempt another and to show his defects. It may be expressed in words and actions and also by wings and gestures. If it is done in one's absence, it amounts to back-biting.

Hazrat Ayesha said: I ridiculed one man. The Prophet said to me: By God, I don't want to ridicule another and commit such sins, God says: Alas,. what is this book which omits not little or great without counting it. 118 : 40Q? Hazrat Ibn Abbas said by way of explanation of little things, as something said by way of ridicule. It shows that loud laughter is a great sin.
The Prophet said: The door of Paradise will be opened before one Of those who ridicule men and he will be said: Come, come. Then he will come to be relieved of his troubles, but when he will come, it will be shut up against him. He also said: Don't ridicule one from whose belly wind with sound comes out. Why should you ridicule one who is led to do so as a call of nature? The

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Prophet said: 'If a man accuses his brother for a sin from which he repented, he will not die till he commits that sin'. So if any man ridicules one with regard to his figure, conduct, writing, action etc, it will be unlawful.

(12) To disclose secret talks is unlawful as it gives pain to the mind of another. The Prophet said: When any man tells you something and asks you to keep it secret, it is a trust He said: It is a trust between you. Hazrat Hasan Basari said: It is a breach of trust if you disclose the secret talks of your brother. It is said that Hazrat Muwaiyah held a secret talk with Walid-b- Otba. He said. to his father: 0 father, the commander of the faithful told me a secret thing. I think there is no fault in disclosing it to you. His father said: Don't tell it to me, as he who keeps the secret talk secret, keeps it under his control. When he discloses it, it goes under the control of another. I said: 0 father said: I don't want that you should humiliate your tongue by disclosing it. Then I informed it to the Caliph who said: 0 Walid, your father freed you from the slavery of mistake.

(13) False Promise: It is another harm of tongue as it wants to make promise in haste but it does not become possible to fulfil it always. As a result, it is broken. God says: 0 believers, fulfil promise. The Prophet said: Promise is like a parent. He said: Promise is a kind of debt or greater than that. God praised Hazrat Ismail about the fulfillment of his promise. He was true to his promise-19 19: 54Hazrat Ismail one day promised to meet a man in a certain fixed place but the man did not come there according to his promise as he forgot it. Hazrat Ismail waited there for him for 22 days. When Abdullah, son of Hazrat Omar was about to die, he said: A Quraish wanted to marry my daughter. I gave him promise. By God, I shall not meet with God with three hypocrisies. I bear witness to you that I shall get my daughter married to him. Abdullah-b-Ali Khansah reported; I made a contract with the Prophet to feel a thing to him before his prophethood. I promised that I would take that thing to him in a certain fixed place but afterwards forgot it. On the third day I remembered it and after going there found the Prophet waiting there. he said: 0 young man, you have given me much trouble. I am here for the past three days for you. The Prophet used to say at the time of promise-'perchance, possibly. Hazrat Ibn Masud did not make any promise without uttering Insha-Allah (if God pleases).
The Prophet said: He in whom there are threE matters is a hypocrite even though he prays, fasts and thinks that he is a Muslim - (1) when he speaks, he speaks falsehood, (2) when he promises, he breaks it, (3) and when he is entrusted, he breaks it. The Prophet said: He in whom there is one of the four things is a hypocrite, till he gives it up - (1) when he speaks, he speaks falsehood, (2) when he promises, he breaks it, (3) when he is entrusted, he breaks it, (4) when he disputes over properties, he rebukes. Once the Prophet promised Abul Hysam that he would give him three slaves. He got three war prisoners and gave two of them to him and kept one to himself. Then his daughter Hazrat Fatema came to him and said: Don't you find in my hands the signs of crushing of mill? The Prophet said: What will happen of my promise to Abul Hysam? Then he gave him to Abu Hysam without giving him to Fatema.

One day, the Prophet was distributing the war booty gained in the battle of Hunain. Then a man came and said: 0 Prophet of God, a thing is due to me according to your promise. He said: That is true, want what you wish. He wanted eighty goats and one goat man. The Prophet gave them to him and said: You have wanted little. Look, Hazrat Musa said to the woman for whose enquiry the backbone of Hazrat Jospeh was found: You will get what you want. The woman said: 'I want that my youth be restored to me and that I can live in paradise in the next world with you'. She was made an example in Arabia. The Prophet said: If one has got the intention of fulfilling promise, it will not be broken if one proves another. In another narration: When a man promises with his brother and has got the intention to fulfil it but afterwards it is broken, he will not commit sin thereby.

(14) Falsehood. Another danger of tongue is false-speaking and false oath. These are great sins and heinous faults. In the first year of emigration, the Prophet said: Be careful of falsehood as it is the companion of the sinners and both will be in Hell. He also said: Falsehood is a door of hypocrisy. Hazrat Hasan Basari said: The people say that there is difference in open and secret words and actions and entry into and going out of hypocrisy, but the sin on which hypocrisy is built is falsehood. The Prophet said: If you narrate to your brother such narration which he believes for you but which you do not believe for him, it will be an act of breach of trust. The Prophet said: A man is enrolled near God as liar if he is
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accustomed to false speaking and false discussions. The Prophet once was passing by two men. They were talking on sale of two goats and both were swearing. One of them said: By God, I will not sell it less than this price. Another said: By God, I will not give more than this price. One of them purchased the goat. Then the Prophet said: The sin of one of you has become compulsory. The Prophet said: Falsehood reduces provision. He said: The merchants are sinners. he was asked: 0 Prophet of God, has not God made trade lawful? He said: Yes, but the tradesmen commit sin by false oaths and speak falsehood.
The Prophet said: On the Resurrection Day. God will not speak with three persons, nor look at them - (1) one who seeks benefit in lieu of charity, (2) one who sells things by lies,. (3) and one who lets loose his trouser with pride. he said: If any man takes oath in the name of God and admits therein falsehood like the wing of a fly, a spot will remain in his soul up to the Resurrection Day. He said: God loves three persons _ (1) one who fights standing in the row of Jihad till he or his companions become victorious, (2) one who keeps patience at the harms of his neighbour till death or journey does not separate them both, (3) one who prays in a corner when he stays with a party of soldiers who travel and findings a good place takes rest or sleeps. God hates three persons - (1) a tradesman who takes false oath, (2) a proud poor man, and (3) a mail who gives trouble.
Then the Prophet said: Alas for one, alas for one who speaks to arouse laughter of men and speaks falsehood therein. He also said: I dream that a man came to me and said: Rise up. I woke up with him, and then I saw myself between two men, one standing and another, seated. There was in the hand of the man standing one spear. Crooked iron of the spare was pierced through the cheek of one sitting and the man standing was pulling it with force. When his face came down upon his shoulder, it was pierced to his another cheek and he was pulling it till it also came down his shoulder. The continued. I asked him What is its reason. He.said: This man is a great liar. Punishment in the grave will continue in such a way up to the Resurrection Day.
Abdullah-b-Asbatkaid:I asked the Prophet: 0 Messenger of God, can a believer commit fornication? He said: Yes, he can. I asked: 0 Prophet of God, can a believer be a liar? He said: No. Then he recited the following verse: Those who do not believe in
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God's verses can fabricate falsehood. The Prophet used to invoke: 0 God, purify my heart from hypocrisy, my private parts from fornication and my tongue from falsehood. he said: God will not speak with three persons, nor will he purify them and there is grievous punishment for them: A bornicator who is old, a king who is a liar, and a beggar who is proud. He said: If God would have given me abundant wealth like these heaps of stones, I would have distributed them all amongst you. You would not have found me miser, liar and coward. He was speaking leaning against a pillar: Shall I not inform you of a great sin? Beware, it is to speak falsehood. The Prophet said: If a man speaks falsehood, his companion angel goes one mile away from him. The Prophet said: I will stand guarantee to you for Paradise if you take to six things. The companions asked: What are they? He said: (1) Let nobody amongst you tell a lie when he speaks, (2) Let him not break a promise, (3) Let him not break a trust when he is entrusted, (4) Let him control his eye sight, (5) Let him save his private part and (6) Let him prevent his hand. The Prophet said: There are for the devil antimony, scent and taste. Scent means falsehood, taste means anger and antimony means sleep.

Hazrat Omar said in a sermon: The Prophet said: standing amongst us in this place like my standing: Treat well with my companions and then with those who will come after them. Thereafter falsehood will spread, so much so that man will take oath and then say 'he has not taken oath', and he will bear witness and then say 'he has not witnessed. The Prophet said: He who attributes to me a Hadis knowing it to be false is one of the liars. The prophet said: He who appropriates the property of another Muslim unjustly by taking false oath will meet with the Almighty God while He will be displeased with him. The Prophet rejected the evidence of a liar. The Prophet said: A Muslim may commit other faults but there cannot be in him cheating and falsehood.
Hazrat Moses asked: 0 Lord, who is the best to Thee in divine service? He said: One whose tongue does not speak falsehood, whose heart does not commit sin and whose private part does not commit fornication. The wise Luqman said to his son: 0 dear son, be careful of falsehood, as falsehood is tasteful like the meat of sparrow but the evil of the liar will soon be disclosed. The Prophet praised truth and said: If you have got

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four things, nothing will harm you even if you do not get worldly matters - (1) speaking truth, (2) keeping of trust, (3) good conduct and (4) lawful food. The prophet said: Stick to truth, as is it connected with religion and both are in Paradise. The Prophet said: I advise you to fear God, to speak the truth, to fulfil trust, to fulfil promise, to make salam and to be humble.

FALSE SPEAKING PERMISSIBLE IN SOME CASES: Know, 0 dear readers, that falsehood is not unlawful for its own sake but it is unlawful for the harm caused to the person with whom falsehood is spoken or harm to other persons. Sometimes false speaking becomes compulsory. The sage Maimun-b-Mehran said: In some places, false- speaking is better than speaking the truth. If a man runs with a sword to kill another person who enters a house, you should say on being asked about his whereabouts - I have not seen him. This is compulsory on you to tell this lie. To save a person from unjust oppression is compulsory. So to save him, false-speaking becomes compulsory. If then the truth is spoken, a life will perish in the hand of an oppressor. To say falsehood in a battle, to compromise between two parties and to preserve good will between two co-wives, false speaking is lawful. But one should be careful of falsehood even in these cases.

Hazrat Omme Qulsum said: The Prophet did not allows false speaking except in three cases - (1) to bring a compromise between two parties, (2) at the time of war, (3) and a husband speaking a lie to his wife and the wife speaking a lie to her husband. The Prophet said: He who settles disputes between two parties is not a liar. He speaks good or tries for good. The Prophet said: Every lie of a man is written, but the lie to bring compromise between two Muslims is not written. One man asked the Prophet: Shall I speak a lie with my wife! He said: There is no good in a lie. He said: Repeat it, shall I tell lie to her? The Prophet said: You have got no fault in it. Hazrat Omar said: If any women dislikes her husband, she should not express it to others, as habitation in a house is based on love. Man should live in love and amity in Islam. The Prophet said: Every lie of a man is recorded. The lie which he speaks in war is not recorded as war is a strategy. The lie which is spoken to settle the matters between two contending parties is not written. The lie which is spoken to settle the matters between two contending parties is not written. The lie which is
spoken to please wife is not recorded.Saoban said: There is sin in every falsehood, but there is no sin in that falsehood which benefits a Muslim or removes a harm from hint. The Prophet said: He who commits fornication shall keep it secret with the secrecy of God, -as to disclose an obscene act is also an obscene act. So
eVery man should sometimes save his life, property and honour,
even taking recourse to falsehood. If enquiry is made to you
about a secret thing of your brother Muslim, your can deny it to preserve his honour. If a man has got more than one wife, he can tell a wife-I love you more. Two things should be weighed - truth and falsehood. If harm is caused more than benefit in case of speaking the truth, it may be avoided.
Words carrying dual meanings may be spoken incase of a crisis. Hazrat Omar said: A man by uttering a dual word saves himself from falsehood. The following are the illustrations. The sage Mutarref was summoned once by the tyrant ruler Jiyad. He asked him: Why have you come so late? He used a word conveying dual meanings saying: After going from your Darber, I could not raise my side from bed. God now raised it up for me. The ruler was given to understand that he was ill. Mu'az-b-Jabal was Tahsbilder of Hazrat Omar. On his return from his station of office, his wife asked him: Have you brought anything as others bring many things? He said: I could not bring anything as there was guard with me. This guard means God. If any man came to enquire about Ibrahim in his house and if he did not wish to see him, he sent his maid servant to say: Enquire about him in the prostration place (mosque). The Prophet said: The greatest calumny is to claim another as father without his own father, to say that one has seen what he has not seen, or to say 'someone said what nobody said. He also said: He who narrates his dream in a false manner will be asked to bind two seeds of wheat on the Resurrection Day, but he will never be able to do it.
(15) Back-biting: Know, 0 dear readers, that there came numerous warnings in Shariat regarding back-biting. Many people are accustomed to back-biting and very few men are free from it. God says: Don't back-bite one another. Do you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Rather you abhor it-49:12 Q.
The Prophet said: Wea,th, life and honour of every Muslim are unlawful for another Muslim. God joins honour with wealth

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and life. The Prophet said: Beware of back-biting as it is a more heinous sin than fornication. If a man commits fornication and makes repentance, God may accept his repentance, but the repentance of back-biting is not accepted till the back-bited man pardons him. The Prophet said: Don't hate one another, don't envy one another, don't sell over the sale to another, don't dispute with one another and don't back-bite one another. The servants of God are brethren to one another. The Prophet said: In the night in which I was taken to heaven, I passed by a pray of men who where scratching the flesh of their faces with the ends of their nails. I asked: 0 Gabriel, who are they? He said: They are those who used to roam with slander of the people and ruin them honour.
Solaiman-b-Jaber said: I came to the Prophet and asked him: Teach me such a thing which will benefit me. He said: Don't neglect a good deed even though it is small, even though it is so small as to pour water to the bucket of another from your bucket, even though it is so small as to meet with your brother with a good news and even though it is to back-bite one after he has gone from you. Bara'a-b-Azeb said: One day the Prophet gave us sermon, even the freed male and female slaves heard it from their houses. He said: 0 people, don't back-bite the Muslims - those who have brought faith by tongue but not by heart. Don't enquire into their secret things, because God will follow the secrets of a Muslim who enquires into the secrets of his brother Muslim, God dishonours one in his own house in whose secrets God enquires.

Jesus Christ got revelation: He who dies after repentance for his back-biting will enter last of all in Paradise. He who dies without such repentance, will enter hell first of all. Hazrat Anas said: The Prophet once ordered all his companions to fast and said: Don't break your fast before I order you. All the companions fasted. When the night came, a man came there and said: 0 Messenger of God, I have fasted. Now order me to break it. Thus one by one came to the Prophet and the Prophet ordered him to break fast. Then a man came and said: 0 Messenger of God, two women in my family fasted but they are not coming to you out of shame. order them to break fast. The Prophet turned his look from him and he again asked him. At this time he said: How have they fasted when they ate the flesh of men at day time? Tell them that if they fasted, they should vomit it. They then
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Vomited and suddenly a condensed clot of blood fell from their bellies. The Prophet said: By One in whose hand there is my life, if a drop of blood would have remained in their belly, Hell fire would have devoured them.

Hazrat Anas reported that the prophet once mentioned about interest and characterized it as a great sin and said: One dirham interest is more heinous to God than 36 fornication, but the greatest interest is to destroy the honour of a Muslim. Hazrat Jaber said: I was in a journey with the Prophet. He said while passing by two graves: These two persons are punished not for any great sin. One is punished for back-biting. Another is punished as he was not accustomed to cleanse after passing calls of nature. Then he took a fresh palm branch, divided into two and fixed one to each grave and said: So long as this branch does not become dry and remain fresh, punishment will be light on them.

The Prophet once ordered Ma'az to be killed by stoning for the crime of fornication. One man present said to another; Look, Ma'az is dying like a dog. The prophet then passed by a dead body with the two men and said to them: Eat the meat of this dead animal. They said: 0 Messenger of God, how can we eat the meat of a dead animal? He said: The rotten meat of your brother which you have eaten is more rotten and strenching than this flesh. Hazrat Abu Hurairah said: He who eats in this world the flesh of his brother, will eat that flesh in the next world. He will be said: Eat his flesh when dead as you have eaten his flesh when alive. Then he will eat it, chew it and swallow it. Mozahed explained some words in verse 104 - Homazatf means defamers among men and Lomajat means eaters of human flesh, that is the back-biters. Qatadah said: There are three kins of punishment of grave- (1) one kind of punishment is meted out for back-biting, the second kind of punishment is for taking the words of one to the ears of another, and the third kind of punishment is for breaking the rules of the calls of nature. The sage Hasan Basari said: By God, the effect of back-biting in the religion of Islam is the spreading of the boils of small-pox in body. A wise man said: We saw the former sages.They did not think that fast and prayer alone are divine service but they considered not to back-bite also as divine service. Hazrat Ibn Abbas said: When you wish to tell the people about the fault of your companion, you will first tell them of your own fault.

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The sage Malek-b-Dinar said: One day Jesus Christ was passing with his companions by a dead dog. Then the disciples said: What a stenchy smell of this dead dog! Then Jesus Christ said: How fine is the line of its teeth. By this he dperecated to blame the dog and made them understand that there is nothing ugly in the creation of God.

MEANING OF BACK-BITING AND ITS LIMITS: Back-biting means to say anything to another about your brother in his absence which he does not like. This refers to physique, pedigree, dress, house, religion, behaviours and conduct and character. If you say of another that he is dwarf, he is long-statured and it gives him pain, then it is back-biting. If you say that he is a sinner, that he is of low birth, that he is a weaver in his absence, it will be back-biting. If you say: His conduct is not good, he is a miser, he is proud, he is a hypocrite, he is prone to anger, he is a coward, it will be backbiting. Mention was made of a woman to the Prophet that she fasts and prays but she gives trouble to her neighbour by her tongue. He said: This woman will got to Hell. At another time, it was mentioned to him that a woman is miser. He said: It is not a good talk. Once the Prophet asked. Do you know what is back-biting? The companions said: God and His Apostle know best. He said: To say what your brother Muslim does not like is back-biting. He was asked: If what I say is in my brother? He said: If it is in him, it will yet be considered as back-biting. If it is not in him, that will be slander. Once some companions said to the prophet: He is an unfit person. The prophet said: You have back-bited your brother. The companions said: 0 Messenger of God, we have said what is in him. He said: If what you say is not in him, it will be slander. Hazrat Hasan Basari said: There are three kinds of bad discussion about another - (1) back-biting, slander and false narration. There is mention of these guilts in the Quran. Back-biting is to say of a guilt which is in him. Slander is to say of a guilt which is not in him. False narration is to say what reaches you about another.
BACK-BITING BY MEANS OTHER THAN TONGUE: Know. 0 dear readers, that back-biting can be done not only by tongue but also by signs, gestures, hints, movements of body and writings. Every kind of back-biting is unlawful. Hazrat Ayesha said: To me a woman came. When she went away. I hinted with my hand to the prophet that she is dwarf. The prophet said: You
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have back-bited her. Pen is like tongue and backbiting can be done by writing by pen. If a writer criticizes a particular man by writing, it will be back-biting him. It can be committed with reference to a dead man also. When any action of a man was disliking to the Prophet, he did not particularize that person but said in a general way: What will be the condition of the people who do such and such acts? The Prophet said:O The hearer of back-biting is included within the back-biters. If the hearer protests by his tongue, he will be exempted from its sin. If he cannot do it, he will think it bad in his mind. If he can shift from that place or change the topic, he will be exempted. The Prophet said: If a believer is dishonoured before any person who does not help him inspite of his ability to do so, God will dishonour him on the Resurrection Day before all creatures. He also said: He who protects the honour of a Muslim in his absence, it becomes the duty of God to perfect his honour on the Judgment Day. The Prophet said: If a man saves the honour of his brother Muslim in his absence, it becomes the duty of God to save him from Hell-fire.
CAUSES OF BACK-BITING: The causes of back-biting are many. We should narrate eleven causes out of them. Eight causes are applicable to all and three causes are applicable to the religious and special people.
The first cause is Anger. If there is cause of anger in anybody, a man is engaged in saying about his guilts and there arises in his mind hatred for him. This is natural if he has got no religious connection with him. Sometimes he entertains hatred in his mind without mentioning it expressly. So anger stands as a cause of back-biting. The second cause is for pleasing the minds of friends and companions. The third cause is to shake off one's own guilts by back-biting others. The fourth cause is to get oneself free from guilt by attributing it to others saying: I would not have done it but for others. The fifth cause is to express the glory and praise of oneself thereby making another fool. He says: He is fool and powerless. The sixth cause is hatred towards another, the seventh cause is jests and ridicules and the eighth cause is to hold another in contempt.
THE CAUSES RELATING TO RELIGIOUS MEN. The three causes of back- biting in relation to religious men are very subtle and difficult and the devil paints them in good works. The first

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cause is that when the people see some fault in the religious men they say that a particular religious man has got all qualities but he has got one fault. If they express that fault, it will be backbiting. The second cause is sympathy for the person backbited by saying: The affair of that unfortunate man has caused my anxiety. If he mentions his name, he will be back-biting him. The third cause is to express anger for God's sake on anybody mentioning his name. If his name is not mentioned, it will not be back- biting him.

MEDICINE TO RESTRAIN TONGUE FROM BACK-BUNG: Know, 0 dear readers, that the medicine of back-biting is knowledge and action or a mixture of knowledge and action. The medicine of a disease is its opposite. There are two kinds of medicines of back-biting, general medicine and special medicine. The general medicine is that the backbiter should have this knowledge that in case of back-biting, he will fall in the wrath of God and that his virtues will be lost on the Resurrection Day for this cause as his virtue will go to the back-bited. Back-biting has been likened to eating a dead animal. The Prophet said: Back-biting consumes the virtues of a man sooner than the fire consumes a dry wood. One day a man said to Hazrat Hasan Basari: I heard that you have back- bited me., He said: You have not acquired such rank that I will give all my virtues to you. The Prophet said: He is blessed who cannot see the faults of others because he remains busy with his own faults. A man said to a wise man: 0 man of ugly face. He said in reply: I would have made it unlawful if it were in my head.

The special medicines of back-biting are as follows: In order to apply these medicines, the root cause of backbiting is to be searched. There are eight causes as described above and those causes shall have to be cut off. Anger is a cause which should be brought under complete control. If you are determined to take revenge upon a person out of anger, know that God will take revenge upon you out of anger for your back-biting as He has prohibited you from that. The Prophet said: Hell has got a door. He who causes the anger of God by committing sins will enter
Hell through that door and nobody else. The prophet said: The
tongue of one who fears God comes under control and his anger
is also brought under control. He also said: If a man appeases
anger though he has got right to express it, God will call him on
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the Resurrection Day before all the creatures and say: Take Whichever Hur you like. God said in one of the earlier scriptures: 'p son of Adam, remember Me at the time of your wrath, I will remember you at the time of My wrath. In other words, I wilt not
destroy You along with others who will be destroyed.

The second cause of back-biting is to support the opinion of friends. Its medicine is to oppose the opinion of friends in the matter of back-biting a man. You should know that if you incur the displeasure of God by pleasing your friends, God will be
enraged on you. So how can you give up God for pleasing your friends? The third cause is to show one's piety by back-biting another. The medicine is as described above. You should know that in that case God's wrath will fall on you and that you are courting destruction in the next world absolving yourself from guilt in this world. You should also know that you are losing all your virtues by back-biting. The fourth cause of back-biting is to consider oneself pure and disclose one's prestige and pride. The medicine of this is to know that your glory and dignity may vanish and the people may look down upon you. The fifth cause is envy. Its medicine is as follows: You should know that if you envy anybody for his riches and honour in the world, you will be burnt by the fire of envy in this world in addition to your being burnt in Hell-fire. You have taken thereby the punishment of Hell and are bereft of riches and honour in this world. You should know that his sins will fall on you and your virtues will go to him. The sixth cause is ridicule and jest. You should know that you have ridiculed a man in presence of some people, but you will be ridiculed before all the creatures in the next world. The seventh cause is express sympathy for the sin of another and thereby back-biting him. The eighth reason is to express astonishment at the conduct of another. It is a mockery which is
an act of sin.
BACK-BITING BY MIND: Know, 0 dear readers, that to back-bite another by mind is unlawful like back-biting by tongue. This means evil idea or thought about a person. What suddenly arises in mind is pardonable. God says: 0 those who believe, if a transgressor comes to you with a news, ascertain its truth, lest you do injury to a people out of ignorance and then be repentant for what you have done - 49 : 6Q. So to support the devil is unlawful. The Prophet said: God has made unlawful the
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life and property of a Muslim and to entertain evil thought about him. So evil thought is unlawful. It leads to entry into his secrets which is also unlawful. God says: Don't enquire about secrets-49 :14Q.
IN WHAT CASES BACK-BITING IS ALLOWED: The following six causes make back-biting lawful. (1) To narrate the faults of another in a trial. If a man complains against another before a judge regarding the latter's oppression, breach of trust or back-biting or any other fault, it is then lawful for him to narrate it before the judge. If he is really not oppressed or tortured, he will be considered as a back-biter and consequently sinner. The Prophet said: He who has got a right has got right to speak. He said: To make delay on the part of a rich man for payment of dues is oppression. He said: If debt is not paid, it is lawful to punish a rich man and mark his honour.
(2) To help to change one's evil deed. It is lawful to narrate the works of a sinner to bring him to the right path and to change his evil deed to such a person who is able to prevent that evil work by exercising power over him. Once news reached Caliph Omar that Abu Jandal began drinking wine in Syria. He wrote to him: In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful, Ham Mim, this book was revealed from the Almighty, the Wise etc. 40: 1Q. When he read this letter, he repented for his evil act. Hazrat Omar did not attribute the fault of back-biting to
one who gave him this news.
(3) To seek legal decision. It is lawful to narrate the deeds of another to seek legal decision or law for remedy. For instance, onesays: My father, my wife, or my son treats me like this. What is the remedy of getting out of it? Hinda, daughter of Utba, complained to the Prophet: Abu Sufiyan is a miser. He does not bear necessary expenses of myself and my children. May I spend anything in his absence? The Prophet said: Take such things as are necessary for you and your children. Hinda mentioned about miserliness and oppression of Abu Suflyan, but he did not blackmail her for back-biting, as shp had intention of taking
decision.
(4) To warn a Muslim about one's harmful things. It is lawful to narrate the faults of another to save a Muslim from his injurious and harmful things. If you see a learned man to
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frequent an innovator and fear this influence on him, it is lawful to disclosed his innovation and sin, but not for any other cause. Similarly if a man wants to engage a servant or to buy a slave, it is lawful to disclose his innovation and sin, but not for any other cause. Similarly if a man wants to engage a servant or to buy a slave, it is lawful to disclose his bad habit of theft or other crimes. If a man is cited as a witness by an innocent man, he may disclose the fault of his adversary. The prophet said: Do you consider bad to disclose the faults of a sinner? Disclose his faults so that people may know them. Disclose the faults in him, so that people may take precaution. The ancient sages said: There is no sin in disclosing the guilts of three persons - (1) a tyrant ruler, (2) a learned innovator, (3) and a shameless evil doer.
(5) To call by a well-known surname. There is no back-biting if a man is called by his well known surname, such as a lame man, a blind man. This is for identification and not from any evil motive.
(6) To disclose bad deed of an evil doer. To disclose the guilts of those who are accustomed to evil deeds openly is no sin, such as a male wearing female dress, a drunkard, a fornicator, or an oppressor. The Prophet said : There is no sin in back-biting a person who has shaken off the screen of shame from his face. Hazrat Omar said : There is no honour for a great sinner (meaning those who commit major sins openly). He who commits sins secretly should have the honour of his fault being kept secret. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : There is no fault in back-biting three persons - (1) one who is a slave of passion, (2) an open and well known transgressor, (3) and a tyrant ruler.
EXPIATION OF BACK-BITING: There are two modes of expitation of the sin of back-biting. (1) The back-biter will repent sincerelyin mind and will be sorry for that. (2) Then he will seek pardon of the back-bited person being very humble. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : It is sufficient to seek forgivenesses for the back-bited person. There is no necessity to seek his pardon. He gives its support by the following Hadis: To seek forgiveness for one who has been back-bited is expitation of back-biting. The sage Mozahed said : The expitation of eating rotten flesh of your brother is to praise him and to pray for his good. To me, it seems that it is not sufficient. One is to seek pardon from the back-bited man in order to get himself absolved from the sin. The Prophet
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said : He who injures the honour or property of his brother Muslim shall seek pardon from him before the Judgment Day comes. On that day his virtues will be taken. If he has got no virtues, the sins of the back-bited will be mixed up with his sins and they will be increased. Hazrat Ayesha said to another a out a woman-her border of cloth is long. It was considered as back-biting and for that she sought pardon of that woman. There is no alternative but to seek pardon if he is alive. If he is absent or dead, he should seek forgiveness for him. God says : Take to pardon, enjoin good and turn away from the illiterate. The Prophet asked. What is the meaning of this pardon. 0 Gabriel ? He said : God enjoins : pardon him who does wrong to you. Tie the connection of blood with one who severe it, give him who deprives you. Hazrat Hasan Basari said that a man said to him: A certain person back-bited you. He sent for him a bunch full of dried grapes saying : I heard that you sent your virtues to me a present. I send you in exchange this small present of dried grapes. I seek your pardon and I could not give its full exchange.

(18) Cheating and slander. God says in verse 68 : 11-A slanderer, going about will calumnies, hindering all good, transgressing beyond bounds etc.

The sage Ibn Mobarak said : Hammaz means an illegitimate issue who does not keep words secret. This shows that he who does not keep words secret and roams about giving news to ears is like an illegitimate son. God says in verse 104: 1 Q - Woe to every scandal-monger and backbiter. The meaning of Homazat is one who roams with slander. God says : Bearer of fuel or scandal monger. God says : They broke trust with both. So they got no benefit from them from God--66: 10 Q. This verse was revealed in connection with the wives of Prophet Lot and Noah. When any guest came to Prophet Lot, his wife gave this news to the people. Getting this news, they satisfied their lust with the guest. The wife of Noah said to the people : Noah is insane. The Prophet said
A slanderer will not enter Paradise. There is in another Hadis Scandal monger will not enter Paradise. The Prophet said : To God, the dearest are those persons who ware best among you in conduct, whose minds are soft, who love and get love. Those are worst to God among you who roam about with slander, who create disturbance among friends and who roam about picking faults of religious men. the Prophet said : Shall I not inform you
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of the worst of you ? The companions asked : 0 Prophet of God, tell us that. The Prophet said :,They are those who walk with slander, create disturbance among friends and mix falsehood with the fulls of the pious men. The Prophet said : If a man gives hint to disgrace a Muslim unjustly, God will disgrace him in Hell on the Resurrection Day. The Prophet said : If a man uses a word in order to disgrace an innocent man in the world, it becomes the duty of God to burn him in Hell fire on the Resurrection Day. The prophet said : He who bears witness against a Muslim which is not true in his case, should enquire into his place in Hell. The pious men said : For this slander one third of the punishment will be meted out in the grave. The Prophet said : When God created paradise, He said to it: Talk with me. Paradise said : He who will enter me is fortunate. The Almighty God said : By My Glory and Honour, eight classes of men will not find place in you-(1) a habitual drunkard, (2) a lift-long fornicator, (3) a slanderer, (4) one who encourages his own wife and daughter to fornication,s (5) an oppressor, (6) one who swears blood-tie, (7) one who swears in the name of God 'I will do this work', but he does not do it.

Once there was a severe famine among the children of Israil. Moses then prayed many times for shower of rain, but there was no rain. God then revealed to him : There is a slanderer among you. He always tells the faults of one to another. For that I will not accept your invocation. Moses said : 0 Lord, show me that person, I will now eject him from our party. He said : 0 Moses, I prohibited you to make slander on a person. They then all repented and there was shower of rain.

It has been reported that a man crossed the path of fourteen hundred miles in search' of a wise pious man and asked him seven questions-(1) what is heavier than sky, (2) what thing is more spacious than the earth? (3) what thing is harden than stone? (4) what thing is hotter than fire ? (5) what thing is colder than ice ? (6) what is richer than sea ? (7) who is more humiliated that an orphan ? The wise man reported to him serially-(1) slander of an innocent man is heavier than sky, (2) truth is wider than the earth, (3) the heart of an unbeliever is harder than that of a stone, (4) greed and hatred are hotter than fire, (5) the heart of man who does not remove the wants of relatives is colder than ice, (6) a contended heart is richer than sea and (7) the slanderer becomes more humiliated than an orphan when his action is disclosed.
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WHAT IS SLANDER? Know, 0 dear readers, that the meaning of Namimah or slander is to take the faults of one to the ears of another, for instance, 'a certain man is speaking thus about you,' The man to whom it is communicated and the man whose fault is communicated both dislike it. A third person also does not like it, though it is expressed by hints, gestures, writings and by other means. But if benefit is done to 'a Muslim by diclosing it, there is no fault in it. For instance, if a man sees a thing of a man being stolen, he should bear witness. The hearer of this slander or defamation has got six duties to perform. (1) He should not believe the slanderer as he is a transgressor and sinner and his evidence is to be rejected. God says : 0 believer, if a transgressor comes to you with a news, test its correctness, lest you injure a people out of ignorance-49 : 6 Q. (2) He should prevent him from making defamation, advise him and say to him that it is a great sin. God says : Enjoin good, and prohibit evil. (3) He shall hate such person within mind for God's sake, as he is hated by God. To hate one whom God ha'es is compulsory. (4) He shall not entertain bad idea against his brother Muslim, as God says : Give up most conjectures as some conjecture is sin. (5) He shall not be busy in seeking the truth of that new, as God says Don't spy. (6) He shall not disclose his defamation and say : Such a person told me such and such. It has been narrated that a person came to Caliph Omar-b-Abdul Aziz and said something to him against a person. The Caliph then said to him: If you desire. I will verify you a statement. If you tell lie, you are a great sinner according to this verse of God : If anybody comes to you with a news, verify it. If you tell the truth, you are a slanderer according to this verse-those who roam with slander-68 : 11 If you duster, I will pardon you. He said: 0 Commander of the faithful, I want pardon. I will never do it.

Hazrat Hasan Basari said : H who defames a man to you defames you also to another. It appears from this that wrath should be shown to the defamer and he should not be believed. The Prophet said : He is worst whose harms the people fear. He ' also said : One whb severse the tie of relationship will not enter Paradise. He was questioned : Who is the severer of connection. He said : He who severer connection from the people and he who defames. A man one day defamed a man to Hazrat Ali. Hazrat Ali said to him: 0 brother, I shall enquire about what you have said. We shall hate you if you tell the truth and punish you if you tell
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falsehood and pardon you if you want it. The man said : 0 Commander of the faithful, pardon me. Muhammad-b-Ka'ab
was once asked : Which conduct of a believer is harmful to him? He said : Excessive talk, disclose of secrets and belief in
everybody's words. Mussb- b-Jubair said : To believe in defamation is worse than defamation, as defamation shows the way but belief in defamation gives permission. He who shows the path to a thing is not equal to one who admits it and gives permission. So beware of slanderers and defamers.
Once a man sought permission of Calip's Solaiman to speak. permission was granted and the man said : 0 Commander of the faithful, some men defamed you. They purchased your world in exchange of their religion and gained your pleasure in earning the displeasure of God. They fear you in matters of God and does not fear God in your matters. So don't trust them for the trust which God has given you and don't band over to them the thing which God has given you to protect, as they will spread harm a among the people and will destroy you by the help of their relatives. Their aims are rebellion and slander, their means are backbiting and defamation. You are responsible for their guilts and they are not responsible for your guilts. Their world will not be good if they destroy your next world because the worst deception is that of a man who sells his next world in exchange of the world of another.
The wise Luqman advised his son: 0 dear son, I am giving you such admonitions which, if you stick to, you will not be deprived of influence : Treat well with the near and the distant ones, don't express your ignorance to the persons of honour and dishonoursave your friends, keep the tie of relationship with you relatives, save them from the deception of a slanderer and save yourself from one who wishes harm to you and to play deceit. When you part away from your friends and they part from you, don't tell their evil and they also shall not tell your evil. A pious man said : The root of slander is falsehood, envy and hypocrisy. These three things are the root of disgrace.
The sage Hammad-b-Salmah said : A man purchased a slave. The seller said to the buyer : He has got no fault in him except one which is double-dealing. The buyer said : I am satisfied. Then he purchased him. After some days' stay with his master, the slave said to his wife : Your husband does not love
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you and he wants to purchase a slave-girl. I am telling you of a spell. When he falls asleep, take some hairs of his beard with a razor. I shall prepare with them such a spell that he will love you. He then went to the husband and said to him : Your wife does not love you and fell in love of another person. She may kill you if opportunity arises. One day, the master fell asleep and his wife went with a razor to take some hairs of his beard. When she was about to take them, he suddenly awoke and caught her with the razor and killed her. This news reached her relatives who came at once and killed him. Thus quarrels ensued between the triple of the husband and the tribe of the wife.

(17) Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is another evil of tongue. It is to go to two enemies and introduce to each of them as friend and to hold one opinion with each of them. The sage Ammer-b-Yasar said that the Prophet had said : He who has got two tongues in the world will have two tongues in the next world. The Prophet said : You will see on the resurrection day the worst man near God with two faces. He will come to one party with one thing and to another party with another thing. In another narration he will come with one face to one party and with another face to another party. Hazrat Abu Hurairah said : A man having two faces will not be enrolled as a faithful man to God. Malek-b-Dinar said : I have read in the Torah : He who talks with his friend with two tongues and yet claims to be a trustee, God will destroy that tongue. The Prophet said : On the Resurrection Day, the worst men to God will be the liars, the proud, and those men who entejtained hatred in the need of their friends. When they met his friends, they hated them. When they were called towards God and His Prophet, they came late and when they were called towards the devil, they came hurriedly.

It has been narrated that when a companion of the Prophet died. Hazrat Huzalfa did not say funeral prayer for him. Hazrat Omar then said: He is one of the companions of the Prophet, but you have not said his funeral prayer. He said : 0 Commander of the faithful, he is one of the hypocrites. Hazrat Omar said : I ask you : am I included among them ? He said : You are not a hypocrite, Nobody after you can be trusted.

(18) Praise. Another evil of the tongue is to praise. In some cases, praise is unlawF." There are six harms of praise, out of
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which four harms fall on the praiser and two harms fall on the hearer of praise.

(1) Faleshood is the first harm. In case of too much priase, recourse must be had to falsehood. Khated-b-Medan said : If a man praises a ruler or such man as has not got that quality in him, God will raise him in such a way that it will be difficult for him to talk to the people with tongue.

(2) Show The second harm at the time of praise is show, as love is expressed by praise but it may not be in mind and he may not believe in all he says. Thus he shows a show or hypocrisy.

(3) The praised man is praised without knowing whether he has that quality in him. It is reported that a certain man praised another before the Prophet. The Prophet then said to them : You have severed the neck of your brother. If he hears it, he will not get salvation. Then he said : If you are to praise a man, say 'I know him as such God knows whether he is pure or impure. I can't say in excess of what God knows of anybody' So it is danger to say that he is a pious man, he is God-fear, he is a pilanthropist. Once Hazrat Omar saw a man praising another. He asked the praiser : Have you travelled with him ? He said : No. He asked him: Have you carried on business with him ? He said : No. He asked him Are you his neighbour morning and evening ? He said : No. He said : By God, I think you have not known him.

(4) The praised man may be an oppressor or a great sinner. To praise him in such circumstances is unlawful. The Prophet said When a great sinner is praised, God then becomes displeased. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : He who wishes long life of an oppressor, disobeys God in His world. The praised man gets two harms by the praise. It gives pride in him and he feels self praise. These two things are ruinous. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : One day Hazrat Omar was seated with a stick among the people, when a man Zarat-b-Munzer came there. One of those present said. This man is the chief of Rabiah tribe. Hazrat Omar and those around him heard it. When he came near Hazrat Omar, he was brandishing his stick over his head. At this the man said : 0 Commander of the Faithful, what sort of treatment is this ? He said : Have you not heard what that man said about you ? He said: Yes, I have heard it. Hazrat Omar said : I feared that praise

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may grow in you a sense of pride. For that I destroyed it by the show of strike by this stick.
(2) The second harm is that when a man praises another, the latter becomes pleased and finds solace and as such gives up self-improvement, as he understand that he has reached the limit of progress. He who understands that he has got faults, tries for improvement of his character. For this rason, the Prophet said You have severed his neck. If he possesses it, he will not get salvation. The Prophet said : If you praise a man in his face, think that you are passing sharp knife round his neck. The Prophet said
It is better to attack a man with sharp sword than to praise a man before his face. Hazrat Omar said : Praise is like murdered as the murdered person is saved from the responsibility of actions. Praise grows idleness or self-praise and pride. Both are destructive like murder.
If the prasier and the praised are saved from these harms then there is no fault in praise. For this reason, the Prophet praised his companions. He said about Hazrat Abu Bakr : If the faith of Abu Bakr is measured with the faith of the people of the world, his faith will be heavier. he said regarding Hazrat Omar If I was not sent as a Prophet, Omar would have been sent as a Prophet. By this praise, they did not become proud. The Prophet said : I am the leader of the children of Adam and there is no boast in it. In other words, I am not telling it out of pride. When the people once were praising a dead man, the Prophet said : He is fit to receive praise. The sage Mozahed said : There are friends for the children of Adam from the angels. When any Muslim mentions about the good works of another Muslim, the angels says : 0 son of Adam, keep your mysteries of secrets secret, be pleased with your affairs and praise God who has kept your hidden things secret.
DUTIES OF THE PRAISED MAN: The praised man must save himself from pride, self-praise and idlences, He will not be able to save himself from these evils unless he thinks about his ultimate end and the result of his actions. The praiser does not know what the praised man knows about him. The former will surely not praise him if he knows of him what he knows of himself. The Prophet said : Throw dust at the face of the praisers. The sage Sufiyan-b- Aynah said : He who knows himself cannot beinjured by praise. When a religious man was praised, he said
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0 God, this servant of yours has come to me with your hatred. I cite you as a witness over his hatred. Another religious man was praised and he said i 0 God, three people do not know me. Once Hazrat Ali was praised and he said: 0 God, forgive me for what they say. Make me better than what they think about me, Once man praised Hazrat Omar who said : You areruining me.

(19) Carelessness, Another harm of tongue is carelessness or inattention in words, specially when they are uttered in connection with religious affairs. The Prophet said : Let none among you say-what God wishes, and what you wish, rather say-what God wishes and then what you wish. Hazrat Ibn Abbas said : One man came to to the Prophet and said in the midst of his talk-what God wishes and you wish. The Prophet said : Have you made me equal to God ? Rather say : What the Almighty God wishes. The Prophet said : God has prohibited you to take oath by the name of your father. let him take oath in the name of God, or else let him remain silent. Hazrat Omar said Leave them, I did not take oath. The Prophet said : Let nobody among you say : My servant, my maid-servant, as you are all the servants of God and all your women are the maidservants of God. Rather says : My-boy, my girl, my son, my daughter. The servants and maid-servants shall not say : My Lord, rather they should say: My chief. All are the servants of God and God is your Lord. The Prophet said : Never call a great sinner-My chief, because if he becomes your chief, you will incur displeasure of your Lord. The Prophet said : He who says : I am free from Islam, he becomes as he has said. If he tells a lie, he will not be able to return to Islam safely. For this reason, the Prophet said : He who remains silent has got salvation.

(20) Questions of ordinary men about God. Another evil of tongue is the questions of the ordinary men about God, His attributes, His words and His tongue. These attributes of God are of two kinds-uncreated and created. It is the duty of ordinary men to follow what is in the Quran about commands and prohibitions. To understand the Quran is difficult to many. The Prophet said : Leave to me what I left for you, because your predecessors were destroyed because of their excessive questions and owing to actue differences with their prophets. Give up what f prohibited you. Translate into action as far as you can what I ordered you to do. Hazrat Anas said : The people once

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asked the Prophet many questions to which he was enraged. Then he got up on the pulpit and said : You are questioning me, but don't ask except what I informed you. A man came to him and asked : Who is my father ? He said: Your father is Huzaifah. Then two young men came and asked : 0 Prophet of God, who is our father ? He said : Your father is one in whose name you are called. Another man got up and said : Shall I enter Paradise or Hell ? He said : You will enter Hell, and not in Paradise. When the people saw that the Prophet was enraged, they did not ask him further questions. Hazrat Omar then came to his side and said We are pleased with God as Lord, Islam as religion and Muhammad as a Prophet. Hazrat said. 0 Omar, sit down, may God shower blessings on you. What you have known is sufficient. The Prophet prohibited arguments and excessive questions. The Prophet said : Soon the people will put many questions, even they will ask: God created the creatures, but who created God ? When they will ask it, say : God is one, God is above wants etc. (Chapter Ikhlas). Then throw spit by your left side thrice and seek rebuge from the devil. Excessive questions were prohibited in the story of Moses and Khiza. So the questions of ordinary men about the subtle matter of religion are th great objects of danger. Their discussions about the language of the Quran is like the condition of one to whom the king wrote a letter, informing him many necessary things but instead of paying attention to, these things, he began to lose time in seeing whether the paper of the letter is new or old, for which he will surely be punished. Similarly the ordinary men give up many necessary things but question about many unnecessary and subtle things about God and His attributes.

****End of Chapter 4 - Volume 3 *****
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