and this citation that the author has adduced fits our times perfectly: how many people speak about those in authority without knowledge; how many speak about the scholars without knowledge; how many speak about students of knowledge without knowledge; how many speak about benefactors who possess wealth—again, without knowledge.

Most people today lack scrupulous restraint. A person simply says whatever comes to his tongue without verifying it. That is outright injustice and aggression against the one about whom he speaks, for he is speaking without knowledge. When the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—defined backbiting as “mentioning your brother with something he dislikes,” they asked, “What if what I say about my brother is actually true?” He replied, “If what you say about him is true, you have backbitten him; and if it is not true, you have slandered him.”

We ask Allah to guide our tongues and yours away from lying and false testimony, to protect us from slips, and to pardon us; indeed, He is Most Generous, Most Bountiful.

1/588- On the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters unknown to many people. Whoever avoids the doubtful matters safeguards his religion and his honor, and whoever falls into the doubtful matters has fallen into the unlawful—like a shepherd who grazes his flock around a sanctuary; it is only a matter of time before he grazes within it. Truly, every king has a sanctuary, and truly the sanctuary of Allah is His prohibitions. Indeed, in the body there is a piece of flesh: if it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt—and that piece is the heart.” (Agreed upon.)