How Does One Repent from Spreading Bad Thoughts of Others and Accusations?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
If, in a game, someone bought things and later the things were gone. They suspect that one person could have done it and accuses that person of it and then also tells someone else that “I think this person did this to my things, or this person did this to my things,” and maybe even other statements, how do they repent from it?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well.
Thank you for your question. Allah (Most High) reward you for asking and make your fear of sins and assumptions of it into reward in the scales of good actions for you.
These are normal assumptions that can enter a person due to daily interactions with our family, friends, and wider circle. Sometimes we end up sharing them with others which can lead to sin. Please don’t worry; you can just seek forgiveness for yourself and the person you have spoken against.
Allah (Most High) says, “O believers! Avoid many suspicions, (for) indeed, some suspicions are sinful.” [Quran, 49:12]
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Beware of suspicion, for they are the most lying of words.” [Bukhari]
The proper way to go on about another Muslim’s mistake is to advise him about it privately and not let the shaytan delude one into slandering him. Also, when admonishing him, one should not boast and take pleasure in his shortcoming and the fact that he regards one with respect while one regards him with disdain. Still, one’s intention should rather be to help him disengage from the act of disobedience, over which one is sad as if one had committed it oneself. One should be happier if he desists from it without being admonished than if he desists because of one’s admonishment. [Keller, Reliance of the Traveller; Nahlawi, al-Durar al-Mubaha]
May Allah (Most High) keep us away from the evil thoughts of others, make us aware if we do, and grant us success in this way so we can meet Him with a sound and purified heart, amin!
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
