Twenty-Fourth Ramadan Lecture Presented by Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi, 1443 A. H.
Faith-Based Brotherhood (3)
Obstacles of a Negative Impact That Leads to Division and Discord
I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan, the outcast.
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. I believe that there is no god but Allah, the Sovereign and the Manifest Truth, and that Muhammad, our master, is His servant, Messenger, and Last Prophet.
O Allah, confer Your salat and blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad as You conferred Your salat and blessings upon Ibrahim and the Family of Ibrahim. You are Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory! And be pleased with Muhammad's good companions and all Your righteous servants and mujahidin.
Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
O Allah, guide us and grant us acceptance, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing; accept our repentance, for You are the Relenting and the Merciful.
We spoke about faith-based brotherhood and the principle of holding to Allah's rope all together as one of the greatest and most important principles of Islam and shed light on the fact that faith-based brotherhood is a religious and faith-related obligation. We also spoke about what has to do with this obligation and what can lay the foundation for it: holding to the rope of Allah all together through uniting with one another based on the guidance of Allah (Glory be to Him) and on moving according to it under one leadership and through those values that enhance faith-based brotherhood and help people to adhere to it—such values that encourage treating people well, restraining rage, and other very important characteristics including the one mentioned in Allah's saying, {‘compassionate with one another’}.
In general, the important benefit people get when they stick to honesty, loyalty, brotherhood, and other Quranic values is that it makes them have confidence in one another, rely on one another, and trust one another. This has a significant effect on the practical reality, as it helps them to work together on fulfilling various tasks and responsibilities and facing challenges and dangers in a highly effective way. The greater people can trust and have confidence in one another, the greater their effectiveness gets in carrying out responsibilities and overcoming challenges and threats—this is a well-known fact among all people.
The whole matter has to do with faith and with obtaining Taqwa and ensuring that Allah (Glory be to Him) accepts deeds. Also, it is very attractive for the results it leads to in this life, for the things it brings into this life, and for what it achieves in this life.
For this reason, we see how non-Muslims are keen to unite together in the form of huge groups, enter into alliances, cooperate, and join forces to take a particular position in the face of some challenges or against an enemy, including Islam and Muslims. Indeed, they are keen to join efforts and form alliances (as what is taking place these days under the leadership of America) and move at a large scale to address their various concerns related to civilizational and economic aspects and to other aspects, as well.
The ones who have suffered most and neglected this matter most are the Muslims. However, when some Muslims move in a correct way and based on the great principles of faith and seek to untie with one another based on Allah's guidance in order to adopt the right position and follow the right path, they should pay serious attention to guard against falling into a state of division and discord.
We spoke yesterday and before yesterday about Allah's warning against division and discord: Allah (Glory be to Him) says, {‘And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment’}. It is very dangerous for any person to be the one to whom this great threat applies: {‘And those will have a great punishment.’} So this, alone, should be enough for the believing person to spare no effort to stay away from division and discord with other believers and to firmly hold to the rope of Allah with others and to faith-based brotherhood and all that it has to do with it, including those requirements and factors that help the person to achieve it. The believer also needs to guard against all reasons that lead to division.
There are factors that lead to division, and people, therefore, should stay away from these factors. We are going to briefly speak about some of them, Allah willing.
Among the factors that reflect badly on faith-based brotherhood and the principle of holding to Allah's rope all together and that lead to division and discord and badly affect the state of harmony and understanding are psychological factors. The first of these factors is arrogance. Arrogance is one of the worst traits and gravest sins, and its consequences on the religion and reality of the person are so serious that it makes it impossible for him/her to act according to Allah's guidance and to accept adhering to it in many important matters. It also has a serious effect on faith-based brotherhood and on the principle of holding to Allah's rope all together, for the arrogant person approaches things from this particular angel s/he considers him/herself greater than what is right. All matters are approached according to three aspects.
The first of these aspects is the position. The position a person holds affects the practical reality, and this aspect has often to do with those who hold important positions at the social, scientific, cultural, or official levels, whether holding an important position, enjoining respect among people, or being of those who believe they have special skills, abilities, titles, or positions. Those people are among the most vulnerable people to the danger and problem of arrogance.
When engaged in any work, task, responsibility, the criterion the arrogant person sticks to is his/her arrogance: ‘Is this work, responsibility, and role as great as the position I see myself in? Does it meet my personal ambitions?’ S/he thinks about how well that suits his/her position, importance, and status. If that does not match his/her expectations, s/he might not accept it in the first place, no matter how important that is, how pleasant to Allah (Glory be to Him) it is, and how effective in the reality of life it is. So his/her response in this situation has nothing to do with the faith-based goal that is to please Allah and with the real practical value that depends on this criterion: to please Allah (Glory be to Him). S/he has his/her own criterion that is all about his/her arrogance: Does this work satisfy his/her arrogance and fall within the position s/he wants for him/herself? If not, s/he will ignore it regardless of how great and important it might be.
At the level of acceptance, whether when receiving practical instructions, advice, or reminders or when engaging in discussions on practical matters, the arrogant person is fully obsessed by his/her pride more than other people and less likely to accept . S/he is the kind of person who persist in sticking to his/her opinion even if wrong or bad. That is because s/he thinks that it has to do with his/her self-esteem, and s/he, as a result, immediately takes it personal. Therefore, s/he sticks to his/her wrong view, attitude, or position and never accepts to change his/her mind about it or to respond positively to advice, an argument, or a reminder especially when received from whom the arrogant person thinks of as less important in terms of position or status. So arrogance becomes a stumble block that prevents one from obeying instructions, as arrogance becomes the criterion for following such instructions: Are they good or not, according to the criterion of arrogance? The same goes for accepting a reminder or advice. This is of very serious consequences and has a hugely negative impact.
Also, of the consequences of arrogance is that the arrogant person treats people badly since arrogance becomes characteristic of his/her behaviour and way of dealing with others. Indeed, s/he never shows humility, and his/her arrogance becomes clear in his/her way of dealing with others, whether from his/her position of responsibility (which derives him/her to treat people badly) or his/her status and as a result of his/her pride, which makes him/her deal with others in a way that demonstrates arrogance and self-importance. This is very repulsive in the reality of the Ummah, for it makes it impossible for people to enjoy cooperation, to come close to one another in their feelings and in a spirit of brotherhood, and to achieve faith-based brotherhood.
So arrogance can be seen in these three directions: The arrogant person cannot approach matters without thinking about a particular position and refuses to pay effort unless s/he can have that position; s/he receives what comes from others (whether advice, instructions, or discussions, even brotherly discussion) with unacceptance; and what has to do with his/her way of treating people. All these three directions badly affect faith-based brotherhood in a very bad way that leads to division. Indeed, all these direction lead to division.
That is why Allah says in the Holy Quran, {‘The only people who(truly) believe in Our signs are those who, when they are reminded of them, fall down prostrating and highly exalt their Lord with praise, and they are not arrogant’}. {‘And they are not arrogant’}: They stand humble before Allah and only care about what pleases Him, the Almighty.
The believer knows well that arrogance cannot reflect his/her self-worth and that the important position s/he seeks to obtain is with Allah (Glory be to Him). S/he seeks to please Allah and make Him pleased with him/her, and s/he knows well that all glory belongs to Allah, Who bestows glory on His believing servants. Therefore, s/he does not need to become arrogant in order to have high standing and be exalted by Allah (Glory be to Him).
In reality, the arrogant person is disliked and not respected among people. Indeed, s/he does not enjoy respect, and even when people try to show him/her otherwise, it is not based on true respect or appreciation that comes from their deep feelings. However, for a person who has his/her own important role, status, or any particular thing of value on his/her side (knowledge, education, etc.), if s/he sticks to humility with what Allah has given him/her (a particular role or importance) or what He has made it possible for him/her to highly contribute to and pay effort in, s/he will be given honour by Allah and enjoy respect among people. Indeed, when they see his/her humility, they will respect him/her more.
One of the key negative factors that really lead into division is the pursuit of personal gains and self-centredness. When one is no longer sincere to Allah (Glory be to Him) in his/her intentions and no longer pays effort for His sake and for only pleasing Him, if this is not the main motive for the person—s/he wants something in return for his/her efforts (even if these efforts have to do with Jihad in the cause of Allah, fulfilling a particular responsibility, or participating in acts of charity or some social activities that benefit people). Such a person has turned into someone who moves only to achieve his/her personal goals and to obtain personal prestige: S/he might seek a moral gain (a particular position, rank, or reputation among people) or/and material gains.
If personal gains, whether at the moral level, materialistic level, or both levels, become what mainly motivates one to work and what greatly affects his/her readiness, this makes him/her change and affects his/her behaviour, way of dealing with others, readiness, responsiveness, and achievement. That is because s/he deals with practical matters based on this aspect: ‘Unless there is some personal reputation or personal gain behind this kind of work, this work is not important, and I do not want it or continue doing it.’ So when such a person starts to go into a particular work, s/he, if finding him/herself unable to achieve these personal gains, will rage, defy, be stubborn, oppose, rebel, revolt, and negatively affect the practical reality. That is because this is what really affects him/her, his/her performance, and the level of his/her readiness and even commitment.
That way, such a person falls into this negative state that makes him/her only focus on others: Do they really appreciate his/her effort? Do they pay attention to his/her role, position, and personal importance? Do they pay attention to that to a great extent? Otherwise, s/he may accuse them of not appreciating that for him/her, and as a result, this makes him/her abhor and hate them and affects his/her relationship with them: That kind of great and righteous work is no longer what makes him unite with others but personal purposes. If s/he assumes that they do not give due attention in return, s/he will take a stand against them and get upset. This state is too serious. Sincerity is an important factor to maintain unity and faith-based brotherhood.
Of the most important things that affect faith-based brotherhood negatively and cause division is the state of self-conceit and vanity. This state is of very serious consequences, and a person may fall into it at any stage of his/her Jihad in the cause of Allah and his/her good efforts. Indeed, a person may move at the beginning with devotion to Allah (Glory be to Him) and sincere intentions, but after achieving some achievements granted by Allah at the practical level or after obtaining a particular position, rank, or responsibility, this person becomes full of him/herself and thinks highly of him/herself. This is the case, especially when this is accompanied with compliment and praise from others. So this person, when surrounded with some fawning friends and companions who often use this approach to strengthen their relationship with him/her for gains (a usual pattern that often exists when such a person is in a position of responsibility, as some people get close to him/her by using flattery, compliment, constant praise, etc.), this increases the possibility of a person getting proud and self-conceited. That way, s/he assumes that s/he has become a great, important person of a high position. After that, s/he starts to accuse others that they do not sufficiently appreciate him/her, take care of him/her, respect him/her, or give him/her what s/he deserves according to his/her position, role, importance, etc. Therefore, s/he gets too possessed by these thoughts and orientation to the extent that s/he forgets Allah, righteous deeds, and everything. (S/he forgets that his/her goal and destiny should be Allah.)
At that moment, whatever s/he does or provides, it only makes him/her thinks highly of him/herself and keeps him/her from thinking of the success granted by Allah (Glory be to Him) and seeking Him, the Almighty. That is why s/he becomes resentful: S/he resents people and the surrounding reality. It is because s/he considers that s/he is a great and important person who is superhuman and so on. That way, s/he keeps glorifying him/herself, thinking only of him/herself, and praising him/herself as s/he remembers how great and important what s/he does is. S/he also remembers that s/he is the one who works and does and that s/he is the really important person and the genius who, if given what s/he deserves of care and attention, would do and be—then s/he starts to grumble at the others, resent them, and have ill feelings towards them.
The state of self-conceit is a state of serious consequences for the person, and it is inconsistent with faith: Allah (Glory be to Him) says in the Holy Quran, {‘Indeed, Allah does not like those who are conceited and boastful’}. The one who is full of him/herself and thinks highly of him/herself is a self-conceited and boastful person, who boasts and speaks about him/herself a lot that s/he has done this and that, etc. This kind of person forgets Allah and might not even look at the efforts the others have paid or consider them of any value or importance: S/he sees only him/herself and his/her effort, achievement, and work. This gets him/her to widely magnify his/her deeds, no matter how small they might be. That is because it is s/he who has done that, s/he sees it great and important, and s/he always wants the others to praise and glorify him/her. Furthermore, s/he looks forward to more titles and entitlements, as well as personal purposes, accounts, and gains. This is of serious consequences for the person.
Moreover, this is of the states that create a gap between a person and the others. When a person becomes like that , it gets hard to be in agreement with him/her, cooperate, work, or discuss practical matters with him/her. S/he really gets upset when being advised or reminded. At the practical level, it gets hard (almost impossible) to coordinate with him/her in any work because s/he is overwhelmed by personal ill feelings and matters. This is of the very serious states, into which some might fall after some period of practical effort. Indeed, some people do change completely and experience horrible ill feelings, hatred, and alienation: ‘Conceit is alienation,’ as narrated about Imam Ali (PBUH). A person who admires and thinks highly of him/herself will end up feeling unloved and finding him/herself unable to be in harmony with others. S/he indeed alienates him/herself from others to a great extent.
Of the most important factors of division are greed and selfishness (materialistic ambitions). When a person's ambitions become too strong to control, they become what shapes his/her attitude, action, and motive. S/he compromises main and important responsibilities, for all s/he cares about is to collect more! Therefore, if s/he does not get what s/he wants of materialistic ambitions, s/he turns life upside down, hates others, despises them, abhors them, and cannot be in harmony or agreement with them. S/he is pleased with them as long as s/he can have materialistic gains with them: {‘If they are given some of it they are pleased, but if not they are enraged’}—their satisfaction and dissatisfaction are all about materialistic aspects. This is of very serious consequences.
Of the dangerous factors of division are anger and uncontrolled agitation. Everyone gets angry and irritable, but Allah has said about His believing servants that they {‘restrain their rage’}, {‘forgive when angered’}, {‘and pardon others’} . Of the faith-related values and Taqwa-related qualities is that when a person is angry, s/he does not lose control of him/herself: S/he seeks the help of Allah (Glory be to Him) to restrain his/her rage. As a result, s/he seeks to control his/her reactions so that they are balanced according to what pleases Allah (Glory be to Him) and that they do not go beyond what is just. Above that, s/he completely restrains his/her rage: S/he does not show any sign of anger at all, nor does s/he make a negative reaction in response to his/her state of anger. Instead, s/he keeps patient, restrains his/her rage, and turns his/her attention . This is an important matter that requires Taqwa and faith.
Allah says about this state, which is of what He described some of His best servants (those who counter evil with good), {‘But this cannot be attained except by those who are patient and who are truly fortunate’}—a high rank of faith. Who gets to the point of not just restraining their rage but also countering evil with good is of a high position and rank in the sight of Allah (Glory be to Him): {‘are truly fortunate’}, and their reward is great. It clearly expresses how pure one's soul is, how great his/her devotion to Allah (Glory be to Him) is, and how great his/her care of the religion and the Ummah is. It makes him/her stick to patience in the face of anything, no matter how difficult or hard it is on him/her.
When a person is over sensitive to the extent that s/he is imbalanced in his/her reactions, it might be because of self-admiration, self-conceit, arrogance, etc. When a person shows great sensitivity to a simple word (which might not be very hurtful but a little provocative) directed to him/her and gets too angry—if the Kaaba were destroyed, if the Aqsa were demolished, if the Islamic Ummah were smashed, or if whatever happened at the level of the general affairs, s/he would not react in that way.
Such a person is too sensitive that s/he cannot but getting extremely nervous of the simplest matter, issue, or provocation to the greatest extent. Some might get themselves in trouble by killing, wounding, or saying too bad words, which may include rude words, insults, falsehoods, false accusations, and defamation; and as a result, s/he gets him/herself into transgression and sin. This does lead to division!
Usually, anger makes one either offend others deeply or react in an unjust and destructive way that greatly destroys and shatters cohesiveness, unity, brotherhood, and understanding among people. This is a very serious state of serious consequences. S/he may take a decision (as a reaction) to abandon the path of truth and turn away from great deeds that please Allah (Glory be to Him), for s/he has been angry or agitated.
Anger and agitation is too serious; a person should accustom him/herself to be balanced in his/her reactions, control him/herself, and seek Allah for help. If s/he is a quick-tempered person by nature, s/he should appeal to Allah to uplift his/her heart and work hard to increase his/her awareness of the importance of this matter. Also, s/he should ask Allah for help in order to be able to control his/her reactions.
Another negative factor that leads to division is negative assumption, which Allah has warned against, saying, {‘O you have believed, avoid much assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin’}. It is strange that some people are quickly inclined to make negative assumptions: Whenever facing a matter that is ambiguous to him/her or hearing an annoying thing, s/he makes negative assumptions hastily. From the first moment, s/he quickly makes negative assumptions. When facing any simple issue, s/he is ready to come up with the worst explanations and assumptions. This is a negative state for a person to fall into.
Making negative assumptions is of serious consequences for the person in his/her dealing and relationship with others; s/he can never build brotherly and faith-based relations with other people while sticking to negative assumptions, which destroy and negatively affect relations.
Besides, things become worse and more serious if the person is in a position of responsibility. On the basis of his/her negative assumptions, s/he builds actions and adopts positions. Indeed, s/he may adopt a negative position against others based on his/her assumptions. Still, worse than him/her is that person who turns his/her suspicions into solid evidence, as if they were something s/he saw and investigated or something that must be true. Having some suspicions is all this person needs to shape his/her actions, positions, and reactions. This is so serious that s/he, from his/her position of responsibility, does injustice to others and depends on his/her negative assumptions to take a particular position or decision that is unfair to others, pass judgment against them, or come up with whatever accusation s/he might think of against them. In doing so, s/he commits injustice.
Making negative assumption is extremely serious, and one should get rid of it and be cautious of and careful about its negative impact on relationships and brotherhood, as well as its negative impact that is related to the position of responsibility and affects the practical performance: {‘Avoid much assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin.’}
Still, another factor that leads to division is envy, which is one of the worst and most disliked traits. Envy when you feel upset with someone because Allah has bestowed upon him/her a particular favour (for example, an honourable status or rank or s/he is respectful) or when you hate him because Allah has granted him/her something (abstract or concrete) and feel angry at him and despise him because of that Allah has granted him/her. So you feel angry when you hear people say good things about him/her or praise and admire him/her. As a result, you speak ill of him/her, dispraise him/her, or take a reaction against him/her. Envy is never in harmony with faith; it is in its depth a reaction against Allah, before being a reaction against His servant. It is so serious that Allah says, {‘And from the mischief of the envious one as he practices envy’}.
At the behavioural level, some of the factors that reflect badly on faith-based brotherhood and lead to division are slandering, defaming, mocking, and backbiting people. They all have to do with the tongue. To those who are slanderers or fault-finders, Allah says, {‘woe to every slanderer and fault-finder’}. It has become a habit and behaviour of some people to release their tongues or pens and writings against others—for writing has become the second tongue and receives considerable attention—and start slandering, talking against this person or that one, defaming, insulting, and using offensive words either in their presence in a way that shows injustice and offence or in their absence. All of that is forbidden. Such a person is not a believer. Indeed, s/he cannot be a believer if this is part of his/her character or his/her regular behaviour: {‘a slander, going about with calumnies’}.
A slanderer—{‘woe to every slanderer and fault-finder’}—is a person who talks badly about people, hurts their feelings, and gets him/herself so busy with them that s/he may have a victim every day. S/he might talk about this or that person in a way that is completely rude and offensive. Some people select the most offensive and hurtful words. And if they are gifted people who have the ability to express themselves and use language impressively, they are likely to take advantage of that and come up with more offensive and hurtful words.
These days, social media contributes greatly to this sin: The existence of such platforms has made it possible for some people to defame, offend, and accuse others in the open (in forums or social media platforms) and in full view of a lot of people. They do try to spread the offence as wide as possible. Allah says, {‘And do not speak ill of one another’}: When you, as one believing society, speak ill of one another, you are offending yourself and speaking ill of yourself, for you are one body and one ummah. Therefore, you should preserve your brotherhood: {‘And do not speak ill of one another.’}
The same goes for backbiting: {‘Backbite not one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it ’}.This is indeed a serious state; a person should keep his/her tongue clean so s/he says only what is good and free from sin and transgression, and makes a habit of this.
Mockery—Allah also has warned us from mucking at one another, He says, {‘O you who believe! Let not a group mock at another group, since it possible that the latter are better than the former; nor let (some) women mock at other women, since it possible that the latter are better than the former’}—mockery that underestimates, satires, or offends others under any consideration, whether social considerations or any other false considerations that cannot provide reasonable grounds for mocking others at the individual level or the collective level. How when it comes to the level of people mocking other people? Indeed, some people may mock the people of an entire nation, region, tribe, or ethnic group! It is forbidden to ridicule and mock any class in society and at any level; this has negative impacts that tear the fabric of society. Allah has made both faith-based relationship and brotherhood based on respecting human dignity of one another and preserving mutual respect among people. They are based on mutual respect, honesty, faithfulness, kindness, benevolence, and the will of good for others.
Some of the factors that lead to division are bad manners, roughness, and hardness of the heart. Some people do not embody the spirit of humility and mercy with believers in their way of dealing and talking with people. They are bad-mannered, hard-hearted, violent, and harsh; their way of talking with others shows roughness, heart hardness, rudeness, impoliteness, and disrespect. This does lead to division and represent a real obstacle to cooperation, harmony, love, and brotherhood in its true meaning.
This is generally viewed negatively both at the level of relationships (it has a negative impact on relationships even between individuals and sometimes may lead to many serious problems) and at the level of authority. When a person is in a position of responsibility or appointed in a certain position, but s/he is bad, rude, and rough—unfortunately, this negative phenomenon has spread among Muslim society, especially among people who hold important positions, jobs, and responsibilities. Most of those with important jobs tend to become hard-hearted, bad-mannered, and rough people. Indeed, their way of dealing with people is provocative, hurtful, and bad.
This phenomenon has spread even in hospitals, even among nurses and doctors! You can see many of them, the doctors, stick to bad manners. However, there are very great examples among them, embodying mercy, benevolence, and kindness; and their behaviour is part of the treatment of the patient! However, there are still bad-mannered ones among them. As for those who hold particular responsibilities and positions of authorities, especially official positions with government, as well as those who have important personal positions and those arrogant and self-conceited people about whom we spoke earlier, they, more than any other people, are the ones who stick most to this way of dealing with people due to their bad manners, roughness, and harshness. This is a very bad phenomenon that we must get rid of.
No matter how great one's position, responsibility, skill, competency, or self-esteem might be, s/he should keep to good manners and to dealing with people gently and respectfully, regardless of their age. Indeed, s/he should deal respectfully with all people, all of them, and always treat and communicate with people based on respect.
In all high positions of responsibility, no matter how important they might be, a person must treat others with respect, and be humble and polite in his words and way of communicating with others, even when s/he is angry. Some people may be polite and respectful if s/he is satisfied; however, if they get angry, upset, or nervous, they turn to another mood quickly. Even a simple word could turn his/her mood and make him/her impolite and bold in his/her abuse and rudeness to the point s/he has no problem saying anything, no matter how bad that thing might be! His/her way of dealing with people becomes very bad. This is not acceptable! Allah said to His Prophet (even though he (PBUH&F) is the Last Prophet and the Master of the Messengers), {‘Had you been rough and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you’}. That is, although he was the Messenger, they would not have been patient with him, appreciated that he was the Messenger, or been able to stand him.
Actually, a person who is in a position of particular responsibility may have skills in the field of work and may be successful in terms of his/her practical experience in a particular job, but people cannot stand him/her, so they are not around him/her, do not join efforts with him/her, are not active with him/her, and do not engage with him/her—why? That is because of his/her bad manners, roughness, hard-heartedness, and way of dealing with others. If s/he gets angry, s/he will dare to offend others. Also, s/he is easy to rage and get nervous but hard to satisfy and please.
Imam Ali (PBUH) said a wonderful word: ‘The softer the trunk of the man is, the more branches he will have.’ So a person who sticks to humility, respect, patience, and tolerance with others is loved by people. Indeed, people feel comfortable around such a person and gather around him/her. Even when s/he is in a position of responsibility, people find working with him/her comfortable. However, there are still those people with whom working is very hard.
The people in the era of the Prophet would not have been able to stand even the Messenger of Allah if he had been rough or hard-hearted, but {‘It is out of Allah's mercy that you have been lenient with them’}. Then, how about the person who is in any position of the positions of responsibility? Some blame or accuse others, but they are the ones who push others away due to their personality, behaviour, rudeness, roughness, and bad manners. Even so, they suspect that others are the reason why people do not want to be around them and with them, to engage with them in their duties or work, or to get along with them. Indeed, the truth is that people instinctively get along with any person, especially the one who has both the practical skills in a specific field of work and good manners. People find comfort in being with such a person.
Of the factors that are very serious and lead to division is malicious gossip. Malicious gossip is a horrible phenomenon. It is when a person hears hurtful words or any particular words aimed at someone, then s/he seeks to spread them and tell others about them. Also, it is when a person seeks to spread division among people, whether by spreading hurtful words or adding to them. Such a person might even stick to a completely provocative way to do so, which is one of the most dangerous and the dirtiest methods—it is a major sin. Indeed, malicious gossip is one of the major sins: ‘The person who goes about with calumnies will never enter Jannah,’ as in a hadith by the Prophet. The person who goes around with calumnies means a gossip-monger.
Some of them are talented in this: inciting this person against that one and sowing division among people. Mostly, such a phenomenon happens in positions of responsibility, as the flatterers, sycophants, and opportunists incite this person or that one against others, make him/her believe that s/he is envied by others, and so on. Their way of flattery causes division and fragmentation. In addition, enemies take advantage of this aspect because they always focus on this . Indeed, one of the main priorities to them is to spread division from the inside: It is a main priority that is focused on by the enemies, Shaytan, and his Auliya.
Malicious gossip is a very bad phenomenon. If a person feels sympathy with someone of whom another person speaks ill, s/he can reply and say, ‘Brother, show some respect, for this kind of language is a malicious gossip that contain offence to so-and-so.’ Or s/he can say, ‘Fear Allah! This is a transgression and sin.’ The opposite of this is when s/he starts to pass those hurtful words to the other person, sometimes in a way that includes a lot of exaggeration, added words, or so on.
The same goes when this becomes part of a person's character: S/he likes inciting discord, sensitivities, and ill feelings. Indeed, s/he likes inciting people against one another and feels comfort with bad and dispute-loving people. S/he even encourages them to stick to offence and dispute and grows ill feelings and complaints in them. This phenomenon is very bad and represents an act that is not anyhow related to Taqwa and faith; rather, it is an act of disobedience and sin. It also serves Shaytan, who acts this way: {‘Shaytan certainly seeks to sow discord among them’}.
A person who acts this way (s/he likes to promote complaints, ill feelings, sensitivities, grudges, discord, disagreement, and hatred and to incite people to have ill feelings against one another), his/her acts serve Shaytan and with Shaytan. S/he promotes evil, corruption, and division, which is literally an awful act and one of the major sins. That way, a person becomes as Allah said about him/her: {‘a slander, going about with calumnies’}. S/he moves to spread calumnies—a gossip-monger.
That is enough for today.
We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to grant us success in seeking what pleases Him. O Allah (Glory Be to You), have mercy on our martyrs, heal the wounded among us, set free our captives, and grant us victory. You are All-Hearing! O Allah, accept our fasting, night prayers, and good deeds.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.