4- THE FEAR OF BEING ACCUSED OF HAVING FAULTS

The fourth of the maladies of the heart is to worry and become sad because of the ill treatment of the people, such as their ill criticism or gossip. The third reason which causes "Kufr al-juhudi" is being ashamed of the people and also being in fear of the people thinking that they will find him at fault and will gossip about him. This is the exact reason why Abu Talib stayed as disbeliever. Abu Talib is the father of Hadrat Ali, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him, and the uncle of Rasulullah, peace be upon him. Abu Talib knew that Rasulullah was the prophet. He did not come into the circle of Muslims because he thought that people will blame him and talk ill of him. While Abu Talib was in the stage of death, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, went by him and told him, "O my uncle! Please say 'la ilaha illallah' so that I may intercede for you!" He replied, "O my brother's son! I know you are telling the truth. But I don't want people to say that I became Muslim because of the fear of death." "Baidawi Tafsir --an interpretation of Qur'an--" says that the 56th verse of the Qasas chapter of the Qur'an which states, "It is not in your hand to bring your dead ones into the circle of the saved!" was revealed upon this incident. According to a narration, the following is said took place: The leaders of the disbelievers of the Quraish clan came by Abu Talib and said following to him, "You are our leader! We obey your orders. But, we are afraid that after you pass away, the animosity between us and Muhammad will continue. Tell him not to talk ill of our religion." Abu Talib called Rasulullah, peace be upon him, and related to him what they have said. And, upon understanding that Rasulullah will not make peace with them, he said some words which could be interpreted as he was ready to accept Islam and Muhammad, peace be upon him, upon hearing these told him that he should declare his belief. Abu Talib answered, "I would have loved to make you happy by declaring my belief if I would not be afraid of the people's gossip and ill talk." When he was taking his last few breaths, he said some words which was very difficult to hear. In order to hear what he was saying, Abdullah ibn Abbas approached him closely and said that he was declaring his belief. The issue of his belief is among the doubtful matters. According to "Ahl as-Sunnat scholars" he did not believe. Imam Azam Abu Hanifa, may Allahu ta'ala be pleased with him, said that Abu Talib passed away as a disbeliever. Hadrat Ali, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him, came to Rasulullah, peace be upon him, and told him, "Your uncle who was in the wrong path passed away!" Rasulullah, peace be upon him, replied, "Wash him, wrap him with special clothing 'Kafan' and than bury him! We will pray for him until we are prohibited to do so." For a few days he did not come out of his house and prayed much for him. When the companions heard about this, they also started to pray for their relatives who passed away as disbelievers. Soon after, 113th verse of the Tawba chapter of Qur'an descended, saying, "Prophet and believers should not pray and ask forgiveness for these disbelievers even though they may be their relatives." In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "On the day of Judgement, Abu Talib will be among the disbelievers who will have the least punishment. He will wear slippers made of fire and from the heat of these, his brains will boil up."

As a remedy for this disease, one should think in the following manner: If their ill speaking reflects the truth, they are showing me my defects. I decided not to do these actions. By thinking this way one should feel comfortable about the ill talk and thank them. They informed Hasan al-Basri, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him, that someone was backbiting him. Hasan sent a plate full of sweets to his backbiter with the following message: "I have heard that you were giving me your rewards. That is why I am sending you these sweets to thank you!" They told Imam Azam Abu Hanifa, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him, that someone was backbiting him. Imam Azam sent a bag of gold coins to the backbiter and said, "If he increases the rewards that he is giving to us, we will likewise increase our gift of gold!" If ill talk is a lie and slander, it will harm the person who originates it. One who is slandered should think and comfort himself by saying to himself, "His rewards will be given to me and my sins will be given to him." Slandering and carrying words between Muslims is worse than backbiting. [Please read the 2nd Volume, 123rd letter of the Maktubat-i Ma'sumiyya.]