Tradition

اَلْغِيْبَةُ جُهْدُ الْعاجِزِ

Imam ‘Ali (‘a) is narrated to have said: “Backbiting is the last resort of the weak.”1

Brief Commentary

Amongst the greater sins, there are a few sins which showcase the sinner’s weakness and wretched nature- backbiting is one of these sins. Those who gather together in order to seek out the faults of others and to make public their shortcomings are guilty of this grave sin. The fact of the matter is that most people are not without fault and virtually everyone has some point of weakness that they suffer from.

The question remains as to why anyone would behave in such a manner? The answer is that these people act in this way in order to soothe their feelings of jealousy and enmity which they have against others. The only people who would engage in such behavior are those who are so weak that they cannot even strike out against others in a direct fashion and so they engage in this cowardly and indirect type of attack.

They are only capable of stabbing people in the back by backbiting them. It has been mentioned in the traditions that if the one who backbites ends up repenting of his sin, then he will be the last of the people to enter paradise, and if he does not repent, then he will be the first of those to enter the hellfire.

• 1. Nahj al-Balaghah, Words of Wisdom.