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Speaking of the useless and immoral

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

What is the meaning of “conversing about what is useless or immoral” [khawd fi al batil]?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Conversing about what is useless or immoral is a dangerous sin among the enormities of the tongue; so a morally responsible person must learn what it is so that he may refrain from it.

The Proof of Islam, Imam al-Ghazali singled it out it in the Ihya, as the third enormity of the enormities of the tongue, and expounded on it. He said, May Allah be pleased with him, “Conversing about what is useless or immoral: this is speaking about disobedience such as talking about women, about gatherings where people drink, the stories of the corrupt, the enjoyment of [impermissible] music, the oppression of the rulers; their blameworthy decrees and their disliked characteristics. Verily none of this is permissible to discuss and it is unlawful…” Then he said, “This is conversing about what is useless and immoral, and this comes before what we will mention of backbiting, tale-telling, obscene language and others. It is mentioning things that are prohibited that have been performed or that are about to be performed, and without any lawful need to mention them.

And regarding this sin, Bukhari and Muslim narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayra, may Allah be well pleased with him, who said, I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, “All the sins of my followers will be forgiven except those who publicize their sins. An example of publicizing one’s sins is that a person commits a sin at night and–even though Allah screens it from the public–he comes in the morning, and says, ‘O so-and-so, I did such-and-such (evil) deed yesterday,’ while he had spent his night screened by his Lord and in the morning he removed Allah’s screen from himself.”

Imam al-Nawawi mentions in Sharh Muslims that those who publicize their sins means those who reveal and display their disobedience and uncover that which Allah had covered for them, speaking about it without necessity.

Al-Tabarani related with an authentic chain, on the authority of Ibn Mas`ud, may Allah be well pleased with him, that he said, “those with the most sins on the Day of Judgment will be the ones who conversed the most about what is immoral.” Ibn Hajar also mentions in his Zawajir as the 355th enormity that speaking about disobedience while delighting in its mention and saying it publicly is absolutely unlawful.

I have heard [my teacher], the gnostic, Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, may Allah give him a life of contentment, explain the wisdom behind the prohibition of conversing about what is immoral. He said that speaking about disobedience belittles the [gravity of the] matter in the mind of the listeners which will result in them not renouncing each other for the sin after time. They may even fall into the same sin that they would renounce others for, without even feeling as though they are sinning. Also, Allah hates disobedience and angers at its occurrence, so it is not appropriate to speak about it, rather one should try to prevent it from happening or at least conceal its occurence rather than reveal it. This is because if the Beloved hates something, it is wrong for the one who loves Him to mention it to Him.

السؤال : ما حقيقةُ (الخوض في الباطل)؟

الجواب : الخوضُ في الباطل آفةٌ خطيرةٌ من آفات اللسان التي يحب على المكلف معرفتُها للكفِّ عنها، وقد أفرد الكلامَ عليها الإمامُ حجةُ الإسلام الغزالي في “الإحياء” وذلك في الآفة الثالثة من آفات اللسان، وبين حقيقتها فقال رضي الله عنه :” الخوضُ في الباطل؛ وهو الكلامُ في المعاصي كحكاية أحوال النساء ومجالس الخمر ومقامات الفساق وتنعُّم الأغنياء وتجبر الملوك ومراسمهم المذمومة وأحوالهم المكروهة، فإنَّ كلَّ ذلك لا يحلُّ الخوضُ فيه وهو حرام … “. ثم قال :” فهذا هو الخوضُ في الباطل وهو وراء ما سيأتي من الغيبة والنميمة والفُحْش وغيرها، بل هو الخوضُ في ذكر محظوراتٍ سبق وجودُها أو تُدَبَّرُ للتوصُّل إليها من غير حاجةٍ دينية إلى ذكرها “. انتهى

وفي هذه الآفة روى الشيخان عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه يقول: سمعتُ رسولَ الله صلى الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول :” كلُّ أمتي معافاةٌ إلا المجاهرين، وإنَّ من الإجهار أن يعملَ العبدُ بالليل عملاً ثم يصبحُ قد ستره ربُّه فيقول: يا فلان قد عملتُ البارحةَ كذا وكذا – وقد بات يستره ربُّه – فيبيتُ يستره ربُّه، ويصبحُ يكشفُ سترَ الله عليه “.

قال الإمامُ النووي في “شرح مسلم” :” قوله ( إلا المجاهرين ) هم الذين جاهروا بمعاصيهم وأظهروها وكشفوا ما سترَ الله تعالى عليهم فيتحدثون بها لغير ضرورة ولا حاجة “. اهـ وروى الطبراني بإسناد صحيح عن ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه موقوفاً عليه:” أعظمُ الناس خطايا يوم القيامة أكثرُهم خَوْضاً في الباطل “.
قال العلامةُ ابنُ حجر الهيتمي في “الزواجر عن اقتراف الكبائر” في الكلام على الكبيرة الخامسة والخمسين بعد الثلاثمائة :” أما التحدُّثُ بالمعصية تَفَكُّهاً أو مجاهرةً فإنه حرامٌ قطعاً للأخبار الصحيحة فيه”. اهـ

قلتُ: وقد سمعتُ من شيخنا العارف بالله تعالى سيدي نُوح حامِيم كِلَر أمتع الله بحياته في بيان حكمة تحريم الخوض في الباطل ما معناه: أن التحدثَ في المعاصي وأهلِها يُهَوِّن من شأنها في نفوس السامعين مما يجعلُهم لا يتناكرونها بعد زمن بل وقد يقعوا فيما كانوا ينكرونه على غيرهم من غير استشعار ذنب، وأيضاً فالله تعالى يكرهُ المعصيةَ ويغضبُ لوقوعها فلا يليقُ بالمسلم الكلامُ فيها بل عليه العملُ على قطعها من أصلها وإخفائها عند ظهورها؛ لأنه إذا كره المحبوبُ شيئاً لم يلقْ بالمحبِّ أن يقابلَه بذكره.

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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