Bismillah

Taken from “Discourses On Islamic Way of Life” By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (hafidullah) [Darul-Ishaat]

Do Not Call The Dead “Bad People”

Sayyidina Mughira bin Shabiah radiallahu anhu has quoted the Messenger of Allah salalahu alayhi wa salam as saying:

“Do not call those who have died as bad people because to speak ill of the dead will hurt the living”

Also, Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Umar radiallahu anhu has said that the Messenger of Allah salalahu alayhi wa salam said:

“Speak of the good things of those of you who have died and refrain from speaking ill of them”

Both the foregoing ahadith have a similar subject-matter. We must mention the good things but not mention the bad things of anyone who has died, even if the dead man was evil.

It Is Impossible To Get A Dead Man’s Forgiveness

It is wrong, anyway, to speak ill of the living persons and to backbite them. Rather, we must speak well of the living too. For, backbiting is forbidden. Then, why do these ahadith specify the dead alone? The answer is that backbiting the living is forbidden but to backbite the dead is forbidden twice over. There are many reasons for that when anyone backbites the living, he stands the chance of apologising for his wrong behaviour and he may be forgiven. In this way, his sin will be erased. Backbiting is a violation of the rights of fellowmen, and if the victim forgives, the sin stands removed. But, one cannot seek forgiveness of the dead, So, that sin cannot be erased and is, therefore, dual.

Objections Raised Against Allah

The second reason why a dead man must not be criticised is that he has gone to Allah. It is possible that Allah may have forgiven him. So, if we recall his bad nature then it means that we object to Allah’s decision. It is as though we tell Allah, “You may have forgiven him but I will not pardon him.” It is very sinful,.

Difference Between the Living And the Dead

The third reason is that under certain circumstances it is allowed to backbite the living. For instance, there is possibility of other people falling victim to an evil man; in such cases, it is allowed to caution them that this man is likely to cheat because of his nature. The purpose of this backbiting is to save other people from loss. On the other hand, a dead man cannot harm anyone, or cheat them. So it is not permitted to backbite him under any circumstances. This is why the dead man is specified in these ahadith which prohibit us to speak bad about them, or backbite them.

It Will Hurt the Living

The fourth reason is mentioned by the Prophet salalahu alayhi wa salam himself. When we backbite a dead man, we suppose that we cannot hurt him by our speech because he is not alive, and he will not know. But, we overlook the possibility that there may be alive those who love him and they would feel offended by the criticism. If we had backbited one who is alive, we could have approached him and sought forgivness but by backbiting adead man we will have offended all his relatives and friends and fans. It would not be easy for us to locate each of them and ask to be forgiven. This is more difficult than seeking pardon of one who is alive. That is why, the Prophet salalahu alayhi wa salam has disallowed us to remember the bad things of the dead man, but speak only of his good nature.

Backbiting The Dead is Proper If—

Only under one condition is it allowed to backbite the dead. That situation is when anyone has written down misleading ideas in books before he died. The books are well circulated and have a wide readership. Therefore, it is proper to inform the public that this man had misleading beliefs, which he has publicized so that they may not be miscarried by them. We are allowed to mention only this much of his evil nature. We are liable to respect the limits and not speak illl of him more than necessary. We are not allowed to decide or curse him. We do not know that, though he had written misleading things, he may have been inspired by Allah to repent before he died, and Allah may have forgiven him. We cannot decide on his fate or call him as one consigned to Hell. Only Allah decides whether anyone will be sent to Hell or Paradise. We can only tell the people that his views expounded in books are irreligious and misleading and they be wary of that.

The Dead Benefits If We Speak Good Of Him

We must remember the advice of the Prophet salalahu alayhi wa salam that the dead man should be remembered with his good qualities, not bad. The hadith does not merely ask us to refrain from recalling his bad nature but also asks us to mention his good things. I have learnt from my elders that the wisdom behind it is that when a Muslim speaks well, or recalls a good characteristic of a dead man then it is a testimony in favour of the dead man. Sometimes, it is on the basis of such testimony that Allah bestows on the dead man His favour saying: “My pious slaves speak well of you, So I forgive you!”

To speak well of him is better for him and, on the basis of that, it is not unexpected of Allah that He might Forgive you too, saying: “You caused my slave to benefit, so I will benefit you! And I forgive you too!”

Hence, we must refrain from speaking ill of the dead, but we must remember him with good words.

Pray For The Dead

There is yet another Hadith of the same import but its words are different.

“Do not remember your dead except with good words”

To speak of anyone with good words also calls upon us to pray for him:

“O Allah! Forgive him. Be Kind to him. O Allah! Save him from Your Punishment.

This way we will gain a double reward. First, to make a supplication which is a form of worship and rewarding, no matter why it was made. Secondly, to cause another muslim to benefit brings us reward for ourselves too.

Therefore, if we pray for him, not only he stands to gain but we will also be benefitted.

May Allah grant us the ability to act on whatever we have read and thus show us His favour and benevolence. Aameen!