Mufti Menk – Dealing with Difficulty #29 Rumours, Slander & Hearsay
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the difficulty of dealing with rumors and fabrications, including causing suffering and negative consequences. They emphasize the importance of apologizing and taking patience. The speaker also addresses the negative impact of rumors and fabrications on people's lives and emphasizes the need to be aware of their potential consequences. Different types of punishment and injuries may occur, including painful punishment and lightweight inspections. People should be mindful of their actions and not forward any information.
AI: Summary ©
My
brothers and sisters, one of the most difficult
things to deal with is
when you hear rumors about yourself
or you hear lies that people peddle about
yourself.
At times, you don't know where it came
from.
Sometimes you don't even know what they're talking
about.
Sometimes it's a misunderstanding,
and sometimes
it's pure falsehood.
And
if you don't know where it's coming from,
how do you deal with it?
It's difficult. The help of Allah is always
needed. My brothers and sisters,
the world out there is not easy,
but at the same time, with the help
of Allah Almighty, he protects you. He guides
you. He grants you goodness
even in the face of the hardship that
you're facing.
So turn to Allah. That's the primary guidance
that we would always give.
Look into your connection with Allah and look
at ways
in which you can improve.
When it comes to this issue
of rumors
and lies
and that which is fabricated
accusation slander.
It has happened to those better than you
and I.
What would we expect?
The mother of the believers, the daughter of
the most beloved unto the prophet Muhammad, peace
be upon him, the one who was the
most beloved,
Aisha her father Abu Bakr as Siddiq most
beloved as well from the men,
She was facing
one of the challenges,
and that was a rumor
and slander
that they spread against her.
It was painful. It was hurtful.
It was prolonged for about a month. Revelation
did not come to clarify her name until
a certain period,
and then Allah clarified it. But in the
process,
people fell into several categories.
And this is what I want to talk
to you about today
regarding dealing
with the difficulty
of rumors,
falsehood,
slander,
accusation
and lies.
Allah says
Don't consider it bad for you. In fact,
it is better for you.
How would it be better for me and
how is it better even in the instance
of Aisha which
was the case being spoken about in the
Quran in Surah al Nur.
Well,
number 1 is Allah rewards you for the
Sabr. Number 2 is Allah gives you the
good deeds of all of those who
spread the rumor
or who forwarded the message
or
who were excited to talk about it.
Allah gives you their good deeds.
Allah rewards you for the sabr Allah gives
you the good deeds. Allah helps you through
the pain when you believe this is going
to come out
as something better for me at the moment.
It's tough because everyone's talking about something that
didn't even happen.
But
when I come out of it, Insha'Allah, I
will be cleansed by Allah
So you get the good deeds,
but then they start taking away your sins.
When you come on the day of judgment,
you will be super happy for having had
people spread rumor, slander, falsehood, fabrication and lies
against you.
You might say, well, it's so hard to
wait up to the day of judgement. Yes.
I agree. It's very difficult to wait because
we are human. We want to see immediate
and instant results.
But for a believer,
it doesn't always happen instantly. A believer knows
we're in it. We have to bear patience.
If it all was instant, there would not
be an act of worship known as Sabr
because everything would happen instantly.
But there's nothing instant that occurs right here,
right now. Allah gives time for those who
made the mess to undo the mess. Come
and apologize.
Come and seek forgiveness.
And then you start seeing the evil effect
of those rumors and fabrications
go back to those who spread them.
And that is disastrous in their lives.
It wouldn't make some happy,
but others would actually say, do you know
what? I didn't ask that for you, but
it's happening to you. Perhaps you might have
harmed someone. This is why we say when
your life is a mess
or your children or those loved to you,
ask yourself, have I harmed
someone else?
Have I slandered? Have I spread lies, rumor,
fabrication? If the answer is yes, maybe
this might just be the evil
of all of that. Because Allah promises in
the Quran that the evil plot
is not deserved by anyone besides the plotter
himself.
So it comes back to haunt you.
Nonetheless,
what we need to realize, Allah gives time
for them to make amends, to come to
apologize,
to undo, to remain silent. In a previous
episode, we said if you believe in Allah
and the day of reckoning, you believe there
is a day of judgement,
you would only utter that which is beneficial
or remain silent.
Rumour and slander and fabrication is never beneficial.
It's not. It's actually something worth abstaining from.
That's why that Hadith
where the accusation was leveled against Aisha of
immorality.
The Quran speaks about categories of people. The
first category were those who immediately said this
is a lie. Don't even spread it. Don't
even talk about it. It is a lie.
We know Aisha, Rabiullah, and her. She's a
good person. This is not true. When you
hear certain things about certain people, you immediately
know something fishy about this information.
It's wrong.
Sometimes when they become a people
who are known, Aisha
was of a high status.
She was a person whom the hypocrites were
waiting
to fault her,
but
they couldn't fault her.
When they had this opportunity, they said things.
Allah Almighty tells us,
the true believers said, no way. That's not
true. It didn't happen.
It's indeed a clear lie, clear fabrication.
Then there is another category of people they
neither believe nor do they disbelieve. They're sitting
on the fence. They don't know. They don't
want to know, perhaps, and so
on. And there is a third category
who spreads the tail around.
Nowadays, they just forward it.
They just click send. They just tell everyone
forwarded as received. You're still guilty because you
know what? It's a slander. It's a fabrication
on the day of judgment.
Your punishment will also be forwarded as received.
Thought about that because you forwarded as received.
Let's not go into that because we don't
want that type of a punishment. We seek
the forgiveness of Allah and let's become more
conscious because we want to deal with this
difficulty of rumors spreading. You did it. It
will come back to you or someone around
you. Or you may face other types of
challenges,
and it has to happen. Allah gives you
a time. Sometimes that time is 10:10 years.
Sometimes it's a little bit less, a little
bit more. But you know what? When the
ball rolls, it will roll back.
May Allah protect us. So
if we look carefully at this matter,
the last category is the worst. And what
is that category? The one who created the
fabrication.
The one who created the fabrication was a
man known as Abdullah ibn Ubay ibn Saluli.
He was the head of the hypocrites in
Madinah.
He created the fabrication that
this immorality occurred and I saw it and
then he spread the tale.
So those who created
that are the biggest
sinners.
They will pay the heaviest
price. Allah
says,
He will have a painful
punishment.
So there is no point in spreading rumour
about others.
If you were unable
to verify something,
then
you'd best keep quiet.
In fact, if it does not involve you,
you'd best keep quiet
Because
you know, one of the signs of goodness
of a believer is when he leaves that
which doesn't concern him.
You don't have to get to that level
of hate.
And if you have faced a challenge where
people have said this about you, the good
news is Allah will reward you and soon
Allah will clear everything up. Give it a
bit of time. Turn to Allah.
Ask Allah's help. If you want to clarify,
you may try to do so at times.
There is no point in clarifying.
You just leave it be and Allah will
open your doors like Allah has done to
many in the past in the present and
will still do in the future. May Allah
protect you and I and all of us
from spreading rumour and from being victims of
rumour and evil
and fabrication and slander. May Allah Almighty
forgive us all.