بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Dishonorable Conduct of Assailing Muslims with
Predatory Slurs
قال الله تعالى : وَلا تَلْمِزُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَلا تَنَابَزُوا بِالأَلْقَابِ بِئْسَ الاِسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الإِيمَانِ وَمَن لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ
عَنْ عَبْدِ الله قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم- لَيْسَ الْمُؤْمِنُ بِالطَّعَّانِ وَلاَ اللَّعَّانِ وَلاَ الْفَاحِشِ وَلاَ الْبَذِىءِ
Allah the Most High said: nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad is it, to insult one’s brother after having Faith. And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed Zalimun .[Al-Hujurat 11]
Ibn Mas’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “A true believer is not involved in taunting, or frequently cursing (others) or in indecency or abusing.”[1]
The dishonorable conduct of assailing Muslims with predatory slurs today is the iconic nature of people of desires and innovation. The method is calling them names, laughing at them, attacking their ideas, all in order to keep people from trusting them or giving them an ear. The people of desires and innovation choose a name that vilipends their target and use it at every opportunity they have, to get their supporters to laugh at their victim. The Muslim brotherhood is being cremated; since giving Dawah has become a numbers competition, where opponents are shown up to appear stupid, depraved , undesirable and deplorable by attaching the names,” DONKEY, KHABEETH, FOOL and MISKEEN to their name and honor.
Allah the Most High said: “nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad is it, to insult one’s brother after having Faith. And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed Zalimun.”
The prohibition is clear in Allah’s Speech against defaming and insulting a person with predatory slurs. Defaming and insulting a person is done whenever a person calls someone by other than his real name. Ikramah said: “ It’s when a person says to someone else,” Sinner, Hypocrite ,Kafir”. Also ‘Atta said: “It’s when you call your Muslim brother: “Dog, Donkey, Pig”.[2]
Atta’s words ,”Muslim brother”, need to be redefined for some Muslims that express themselves as the Salafis and thus unfortunately are trapped into thinking that everyone who disagrees with them is an innovator and a filthy animal; in view of the fact that this is the Shia’s doctrine. The Raafi’dah cult attacks the people of the Sunnah with names like; dog, donkey, ape and pig. In fact in their faith everyone who disagrees with them has roots to those four animals.[3]
Since we ascribe to the Salaf in belief, worship and character, the question is asked, “Was this their practice?” The answer is in fact the Salaf didn’t accept the name-calling list used today in their era.[4]
Sa’eed ibn Al-Musayib said: “Don’t call your Muslim companion with the name donkey, dog or pig, because it will be said to you on the Day of Judgment: “Do you believe I created a dog, a donkey or a pig?”[5]
There are other scholars from the Salaf who stated the same exact words like: Mujahid, Ibrahim, and Bakr ibn Abdillah Al-Muzni(may Allah have mery on them).
The people against the Sunnah, its bearers and its propagation use these slurs to denigrate Muslims they can’t out argue in an academic discussion.
Imam An-Nawawi said: Some culpable words used commonly by people against those they are arguing and disputing with are; you donkey, you billy-goat, you dog and so forth. This kind of behavior is reprehensible from two angles:
- It’s a lie
- It’s harmful
However this is different from calling someone an oppressor (Thalim). Using this word and others similar are acceptable at times in disputes, if what’s being said is truthful. Very few people are exempt from either oppressing themselves or others.[6]
To add to the arsenal of derogatory names used by miscreants today on social media is ,” Khabeeth”. The usage of this word probably outranks the word Miskeen and deviant whenever one is challenged.
Shaykh Ahmed Shamlan said: In most cases the intended usage for this word is for a person who has gross errors; however it’s not permissible to use it for a Muslim, especially for the person known to be upright, even if his errors are numerous we can’t use this word Khabeeth. In the Shariah the word Khabeeth is used for an impudent person, a hypocrite, a disbeliever and for Satan, so how and why is it being used for a Muslim?!.[7]
Needless to say, before entering the bathroom we seek refuge from the Jinn through the words:
اللهم اني اعوذ بك من الخبث والخبائث
“Oh Allah I ask Your Protection against the Male and Female Jinn”
The Salaf held the position that labeling a Muslim with deprecating names allowed the ruler or judge to punish them anyway they saw fit.
Ali ibn Abi Talib(رضي الله عنه ) said about the man who says to another : Oh Khabeeth, or Oh Fasiq. There is no set legal punishment; the ruler has the right to stipulate whatever penalty he sees proper.[8]
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Uthaymeen said: defaming a Muslim by other than accusing him of zina is calling him words like donkey, dog, stingy, bad character, and using these words against a Muslim calls for reprimand, but not capital punishment by the ruler.[9]
Ibn Al-Muflih mentioned numerous insults used today that a person can be punished for in an Islamic Judicial System. Calling a Muslim; kafir, sinner,donkey,billy-goat, pussy, alcoholic, sissy, and queer.[10]
The Muslims who are engaging in the name-calling tactic need to have another look at their Aqeedah and Minhaj. Shaykh Abdur Razzaq Al-Afeefi(may Allah have Mercy on him) said: Sometimes you find people who are good and upright, but they have no control over their tongues. They practice backbiting and slander, and give false testimony. He doesn’t refrain from speaking ill of people, and as a result his tongue causes him to make a lot of mistakes and fall into various trials. This kind of person doesn’t possess the most distinct trait of a true Muslim’s character.[11]
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
“A true believer is not involved in taunting,…” This refers to the Muslim who holds complete faith. He doesn’t busy himself with taunting Muslims or backbiting them. Ibn Al-Arabi said the word taunt is used since it’s the dart from the mouth similar to the arrowhead from a bow. The noise and pain from the tongue and hand are both felt the same way.
“or frequently cursing (others)…” The means a Muslim often curses others with any kind of foul speech in order to reduce their value.
“or in indecency…” This is the use of offensive words that are hated to be heard when talking about issues of the deen.[12]
“or abusing.” To harm a Muslim with vile, dirty and disgusting language, even if it’s true.[13]
Shaykh Muhammad Rslan (may Allah preserve him) said: The Muslim must detach himself from the behavior that the Prophet (ﷺ) warned against. Islam is a great religion and it has explained good manners in detail. Good character is among the things that bring the servant closer to Allah and makes him able to achieve a high level in Paradise. The Muslim with good character earns the reward of a person routinely fasting. Moreover the people closest to the Prophet on the Day of Judgment are those with the best character.
Therefore ,it’s a duty for the Muslim to work hard to learn the milestones of his religion and follow them in their proper place. Also the Muslim must place those milestones in his life and live by them in reality , by sticking to Allah’s Commands and avoiding His prohibitions, and following the character of the Prophet.[14]
Attacking a Muslim’s honor with a name groups him with something that is looked down on in some way. Therefore when anyone associates with that person he will be despised as well. The goal is to socially isolate that person and anyone who associates with him. The more and more he and his associates are isolated the more the fear grows in the people from following that person’s Dawah. What’s overlooked is how Dawah is properly done when correcting someone in error, whether they are a Muslim or a Kafir.[15]
Al-Alamah Abdul Aziz bin Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When you see something wrong correct it with what’s right by using kind words and not obscene and foul language. Don’t call your brother a donkey or a dog, but instead say Abdullah, or so and so, or brother, if the one you are correcting is a Muslim. Use polite words and it’s Haraam to use foul language, so fear Allah Abdullah and follow a better approach.[16]
We ask Allah to return us back to the Dawah of the Prophets and Messengers. We ask Allah to help us pay more attention to Salaf of the past and follow them as our role models.
Prepared by the one in need of Allah’s Mercy
Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Lamont Battle
PhD Student Hadeeth and Its Sciences
Doha,Qatar ©1437. March 1/2016
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[1] Collected by Ahmed (1/404),Bukhari in Adab (312), Ibn Hibban (192) Al-Hakim (1/57) graded as being Sahih by Shaykh Al-Albani(may Allah have mercy on him).
[2] Tafsir Al-Baghawi.
[3] (بذل المجهود إثبات مشابهة الرافضة لليهود) vol 2/180-197,by Abdullah Al-Jamaylee
[4] Generally speaking when we use the word Salaf it refers to those first three generations. However today it refers to only a few people considered elite among themselves and for that reason people are connecting their salafiyyah to living instead of the righteous deceased.-Allah’s Help is sought.
[6] Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd, (المعجم ) pg 575
[7] (تصيح الزلات في العقائد و الأمثال و الكلمات ) pg 237
[8] Al-Bayhaqi (16926) Musnad ibn Al-Ja’d(2236) Al-Albani graded it as being Hasan in Irwa (2393)
[9] (الشرح الممتع ) page 14/314,
[10] الفروع و تصحيح الفروع) ) vol 10/83
[11] (Al-Fatawa of Shaykh Abdur Razzaq) vol 1/299
[12] Allah Akbar!!!. How often is it the method of some people to refute others with offensive mud sticks? They can’t refute any errors in their targets Aqeedah or Minhaj, so they quickly try and tear them down with ; Moron, Donkey, Ahmaq, pretender,fame-seeker, etc.
[13] (التنوير شرح الجامع الصغير) vol 9/ pg 232, by Al-Ameer As-Sana’nee
[14] (شرح الأدب المفرد) vol 2/ 1388.
[15] In the Shariah the Prophet (ﷺ) used dogs of the fire to describe the Khawarij, so there is no harm is using it to describe them, ;as Shaykh Muqbil did in describing one of the major renegades today. And Allah knows best.
[16] Majmu Fatawa 7/113