Author: Rahmatullah Rahmani
The Afflictions and Sins of the Tongue (Part 5)
The one who seeks unnecessary arguments and debates is affected by twelve Afflictions, which are condemned and ugly from the perspective of the Holy Sharia, and they are:
7. Forbidden speech
The seventh affliction of arguments and backbiting is improper speech such as lying, backbiting, and the like, which are the means of hatred; because backbiting and arguments are never devoid of words that are uttered with the purpose of criticizing and insulting the other party. Sometimes the debater distorts the other party’s words and as a result commits lies, slander, and deceit, and sometimes he openly considers his opponent ignorant and stupid.
All of the aforementioned behaviors are major sins and have been threatened in the Quran and Hadith in such a way that it can be said that they are beyond counting.
8. Arrogance and seeking superiority
Arguments, backbiting, and debates are usually accompanied by arrogance and showing superiority over others. For this reason, it makes a person arrogant and conceited, because he wants not to be burdened by the truth of others and tries not to accept their opinions, even though their truthfulness is proven and clear to the disputant.
9. Curiosity about people’s defects
The disputant seeks to find and search for linguistic or other slips in the expression of his side, in order to store and prepare them for the day of danger against the other party and to use them as a means to strengthen his own principles and character and his purity, or perhaps to compensate for and ward off his own shortcomings and defects.
10. Rejoicing at the sorrow of others
One of the ugly harms of unnecessary disputation is that the disputant feels joy at the misery and misfortune of others and is distressed and saddened by their happiness and prosperity.
11. Self-conceit
One of the unpleasant pests of unnecessary argument is self-conceit, from which no one who argues is safe. This self-conceit may be expressed in a straightforward tone, with gestures and pointing, or in the form of innuendo and irony.
12. Hypocrisy
The person who argues is certainly drawn to hypocrisy, because in many cases he may state a matter that is not true, and he may use trickery and hypocrisy to establish it in order to defeat the other party, and he may deny his own words at other times. It is necessary for a Muslim to avoid any kind of argument.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: «مَنْ تَرَكَ الْمِرَاءَ وَ هُوَ مُحِقٌّ بَنَى اللَّهُ لَهُ بَيْتاً فِي أَعْلَى الْجَنَّةِ» Translation: “Whoever abandons arguing while he is right, Allah will place him in the highest place in Paradise.” [1]
Imam Malik (MABH) said: “Arguing is not part of religion, and all the great scholars have advised people to stay away from it.”
Imam Shafe’i (MABH) said: “With whomever I spoke, my goal was to be guided, not to argue! Because arguing is a sin that requires expiation and repentance.”
The Fifth Affliction: Enmity
This act is very reprehensible and ugly and is ranked after arguing and fighting. (مراء) means mocking the words of others, of course, in order to show one’s level of knowledge and show the weakness of others with the intention of denigrating and superior intelligence. Arguing means discussing religious matters with the intention of denigrating the other party, and enmity means being harsh in speech in matters that are intended to take one’s rights from the other party.
Ibn Qutaybah (MABH) said: “One day Bishr bin Abdullah passed by us and said: “Why are you sitting here?” I said: Because of the enmity between me and my cousin! Bishr said: “Your father has helped me a lot and I want to reward you for it! By Allah, I have not found anything more harmful to religion, more detrimental to manhood, and more destructive to the heart than enmity.” Ibn Qutaybah said: Upon hearing these words, I stood up to give up. My cousin said: “Why are you giving up?” I said: “I do not want to quarrel with you.” He said: “Surely you understand that I am right?” I said: “No, but I will refrain from doing so!” My cousin said: “I do not want anything from you either, and the thing being disputed is yours.”
It is clear from this that if you give up the quarrel, Allah will either give you the thing being disputed in person or give you a substitute for it.
The Prophet (PBUH) also said about giving up the quarrel: «إِنَّ أَبْغَضَ الرِّجَالِ إِلَى الله الأَلدُ الْخَصِمُ» Translation: “The worst of people in the sight of Allah is the quarrelsome and stubborn person.” [2]
Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: «مَنْ جَادَلَ فِي خُصُوْمَةٍ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ لَمْ يَزَلْ فِي سَخَطِ اللَّهِ حَتَّى يَنْزِعَ» Translation: “Anyone who engages in arguments without knowledge in matters of dispute is under the wrath of God unless he stops arguing.” [3]
One of the consequences of arguing and hostility is avoiding good speech and reward, because good speech and reward leave a heart where hostility and arguing take root. In arguing and hostility, one of these two things must be present. Either considering the other party ignorant or denying the person, without these two, arguing and hostility is not possible.
Difference between debate and hostility
Debate refers to verbal battles on religious or scientific issues; while hostility refers more to verbal disputes on financial and legal issues; of course, sometimes hostility is used in the same sense as debate, which can be separated from the dominant and common cases based on the signs.
Continues…
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[1] – Sahih al-Targhaib Lal-Manzari, hadith number: 138.
[2] – Sahih Bukhari, “The Word of God Almighty: And He is the Lord of the Judges” hadith number: 2457. Sahih Muslim “Babٌ في العالدِّ الخاسمِ” Hadith number: 2668.
[3] – Al-Mughni on Hamal al-Asfar fi Takhrijih ma fi al-Hiyahi man al-Akhbar by Abd al-Rahim bin Al-Husain al-Iraqi, vol. 3, p. 147.
