Islam and Gossip

In the last blog I focused on Christianity and gossip. What about Islam? "Do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? As this verse from the Qur'an indicates (049.012), yet another major faith abhors gossiping, in the strongest possible terms. Central to the faith is the concept of universal brotherhood - you should treat every other man like your brother. So when you gossip about another, you are, in effect, defying those bonds of brotherhood.

One recent book, “Gossip & Its Adverse Effects on the Muslim Community,” covers the topic. The book examines what its publisher calls “Ghibah” in its excellent preface. “Ghibah” isn’t an easy term to translate- there is no single equivalent word in English, although “gossip” comes closest initially. Ghibah is an interesting, all encompassing word that gives a clue to feeling of Islam on the concept - it also includes back-biting, slandering and scandal-mongering.

As the book’s publisher says: “Whichever word we chose, we cannot escape from the fact that Ghibah affects us all. We have all been victims and - we must be honest - we have all been guilty of this sin. But it is not a matter to be taken lightly - gossip can wreck lives and shatter communities. If we seek to unite as Muslims, we must combat Ghibah. Islam is a practical faith which recognizes the human conditions and offers achievable remedies to the problems that beset us. Every human society faces the problem of gossip, and Islam shows us how to tackle it in a sensible and humane manner. (Interestingly enough, it is not assumed to be solely a female preserve, as popular notions would have us believe!)”