Defending the honor of a believer

by Abdallah Musa Abdul (penabdul) - www.penabdul.com

In the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

"If a Muslim defends his brother's honor in his absence, Allaah will protect his face from the fire
of Hell on the Day of Resurrection. " Sound Hadith from At-Tirmidhi

"The Muslim is the brother of another Muslim, he does not wrong him, let him down or look
down upon him. Taqwa (piety, awareness and fear of Allaah) is here" and he pointed to his
chest three times- "It is sufficient evil for a man to look down upon his Muslim brother. Every
Muslim is sacred to another Muslim, his blood, his property and his honor." Muslim?

It is often said and rightfully so, that honor is a treasure that needs to be protected by any
means necessary. Someone said it so beautifully that the most tragic thing in the world is a
man of genius who is not a man of honor.

As Muslims, being honorable and of high good morals is rather not optional but part of the fabric
that defines the true worth of our Iman and commitment to the dictates of the Shareeah.

In the Mustadrak of Al-Hakeem a narration which he graded as authentic unlocks the

potentials of how a true Muslim's disposition toward others should be. The Prophet (Pbuh) said,
"You (people) cannot satisfy people with your wealth, but satisfy them with your cheerful faces
and good morals."

One of our Shaykhs said?: “ There is no value for a smile unless it stems from a smiling soul."
By implication it means that when we meet our brothers cheerfully then we should defend their
honor sincerely in their absence. How often don't we see honorable people being defamed
through wrongful accusations and speculative narrations, sadly most at times we tend to be
instrumental in tarnishing the image of our brothers and sisters.

The society today has many qualified PhD (Pull-Him/Her-Down) holders in this regard cut
across major age groups and this has practically crippled our strength as an Ummah (nation).

Above is the hadith of the Prophet (Pbuh) guiding us to that which will safeguard us from the
humiliation of the Day of Judgement. We should always strive to remind ourselves first and then
others about the benefits of defending the honor of our fellow humans and this can only be
achieved when we guard our tongues to avoid uttering things that have been forbidden.

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 Defending the honor of a believer
by Abdallah Musa Abdul (penabdul) - www.penabdul.com

In addition to the above, we should not be part of those that talk bad of others and if we cannot
stop people from engaging in tarnishing the image of others then the safety-net principle
dictates that we move away from them.

Allaah says: "When you see those who engage in false conversation about Our verses (of the
Qur'an) by mocking at them, stay away from them until they turn to another topic. And if
Shaytan causes you to forget, then after the remembrance, sit not you in the company of those
people who are wrongdoers." Q6:68

Always speak well of your Muslim brothers and sisters especially in their absence and if they
are guilty of certain sins (and I guess we all are guilty of one sin or the other) then the first step
is to admonish him and not to taunt him. If you see people defaming the character of a believer
then say good things about him instead.?

It should then be understood that defending a believer's honor is such a great virtue that Allaah
takes a person's face away from the fire of Hell on the Day of Resurrection and this means his
Jannah is not far-fetched.

DO NOT MAKE SNIDE REMARKS ABOUT OTHERS!

"O Allaah You have made my creation perfect, so make my moral characteristics also be the
best."

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