Are we backbiting…?

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful

The Muslim Ummah has reached a point of weakness that, one may argue, it never saw before. The weakness of the Ummah is multi-dimensional: i.e. militarily, economically, politically, and technologically weak.

However, this multi-faceted problem stems from one central problem: that is the Ummah is ignorant –to a large degree- about its religion. Some of the responses we got to the information we have on our website are a reflection of this central problem.

Constructive critique is being confused with backbiting. We kindly request the visitor of this web site –and all others- to bear in mind the following: 

1. It is an established Islamic practice that an evil (or a mistake) that is done in public must be renounced publicly.

2. There is a fundamental difference between backbiting and clarifying public errors of people especially those who have followers. Actually Keller himself agrees with us on this issue. He translated the following[1]:

“When one notices a student of Sacred Law going to learn from a teacher who is guilty of reprehensible[2] innovation in religious matters[3] or who is corrupt, and one apprehends harm to the student thereby, one must advise him and explain how the teacher really is”

The words ‘reprehensible’ and ‘religious matters’ are not in the original Arabic text. 

The original text reads: “ …a teacher who is guilty of innovation or…”

That is what the web site is all about…

3. The discussion on this web site does not touch the private life, characteristics, or intentions of the person in question. Rather, it is focused on his works that are available for the public.

4. This type of critique is healthy for the person whose work is being criticized because it gives a chance to review it. It is also beneficial to his followers so they have the opportunity to hear other people take on the work of their sheikh.

5. The early scholars had practiced this sort of critique with each other. In fact, they went the extra step into criticizing other people’s private life and personal characteristics. Take for example the books of Imam al-Bukhari, Imam al-Oqaily, Imam ibn Hibban, Imam adh-Dhabi, ibn Hajar, and others regarding the narrators of hadith.

updated: JAN 7th 2002