This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Ramadan Reflections. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14

Transcript

 

The post IOK Ramadan 2025: Hereafter | Sh Mudassir Mayet appeared first on MuslimMatters.org.

‘The chanting you heard was not directed at you in any way,’ inspector tells Sydney man who complained about neighbour’s Christmas party in Glenmore Park

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A NSW police internal investigation has found that off-duty officers who allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar boom” and “Hezbollah” at a Christmas party after a verbal dispute with a Muslim man who lived next door were indulging in “banter between friends”.

The incident allegedly took place on 13 December at Glenmore Park in western Sydney, after the man complained to his neighbours about water from their swimming pool leaking into his property.

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It begins with a whisper: a message slides into your consciousness with the practiced ease of a skilled assassin. “Have you heard about…” The words hang in the air, and in that suspended moment, a profound power dynamic unfolds. Make no mistake: this is not merely gossip; it’s the redistribution of social capital through character assassination. What masquerades as “just sharing information” reveals itself as a weapon wielded in the silent warfare of reputation. 

Like those who now gather around tables before dawn, carefully choosing what will sustain them through the long hours of fasting ahead, we too should be mindful of what fills our social spaces. But unlike the careful consideration given to what nourishes the body during these sacred days of Ramadan, we rarely scrutinize what passes our lips when it concerns others’ reputations. The irony is stark: we meticulously avoid a drop of water touching our tongues from fajr to maghrib, yet let torrents of destructive speech flow freely when speaking of others.

Precision-Guided Missiles

Let us strip away the comfortable illusions: words are instruments of power. When deployed against the defenseless, they become tools of oppression as real as any physical constraint. “Words are arrows,” warned Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, but this metaphor sanitizes their true nature. Words are precision-guided missiles that destroy not merely reputations but entire lives: careers demolished, family bonds severed, mental health shattered beyond recognition. Behind closed doors, victims of our careless speech collapse under psychological torture, their very sense of self disintegrating as community after community turns against them.

And you, yes you, become complicit with each passive nod, each failure to demand evidence, each cowardly silence that prioritizes your social comfort over another’s dignity. The Qur’an confronts this moral abdication with surgical precision:

“Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think good of themselves and say: ‘This is obvious falsehood’?” [Surah An-Nur: 24:12]

“Words are arrows,” warned Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib [PC: Possessed Photography (unsplash)]

This isn’t gentle guidance; it’s a damning indictment of our collective moral failure.

Imagine standing before your Creator, every instance where you participated in this systemic oppression laid bare: the whispered accusations you amplified, the context you deliberately omitted, the times you cloaked character assassination as “just asking questions.” The angels who recorded your every utterance stand as witnesses, their eternal ledgers containing words you yourself have forgotten speaking. These vigilant scribes who never sleep, never forget, and never fail to capture every syllable now present the complete record of your speech. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ didn’t merely suggest discretion; he recognized that the tongue serves as the primary instrument of injustice. Your defense that you were “just passing along information” will collapse under the weight of its own moral bankruptcy.

Of Sacred Speech And Cowardly Silence

We’ve all experienced that moment when someone leans close, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper: “Did you hear what they did?” In that moment, a moral test presents itself. Your response, whether eager reception or principled rejection, reveals not just your character but your relationship to power itself. Will you participate in the destruction of another’s reputation for the fleeting currency of insider status? And have you considered the chilling reality that tomorrow, the same machinery of social destruction could turn against you with equal efficiency?

The pious predecessors understood what we conveniently forget: that words create reality. Imam Malik ibn Anas would bathe, apply perfume, and don his finest clothes before narrating hadith in Medina. The renowned scholar Muhammad ibn Sirin was known to perform ritual ablution before transmitting even verified information, a physical acknowledgment of speech’s sacred power. The hadith compiler Imam al-Bukhari would pray two rakʿahs of prayer before recording any prophetic tradition. This wasn’t mere symbolism but a profound recognition that words reshape the social landscape, determining who is embraced and who is exiled. If these towering figures approached confirmed knowledge with such reverence, our casual transmission of unverified claims represents not just carelessness but a form of violence.

Examine the mechanics of how truth erodes: a hesitant “I think maybe…” transforms into “I heard definitely…” and finally calcifies as “Everyone knows…“ This isn’t accidental; it’s a deliberate alchemy that transmutes suspicion into social consensus without the inconvenience of evidence. In our digital age, this process accelerates exponentially, creating parallel realities where the accused stands convicted without trial, defense, or appeal.

Consider the devastating scandal that engulfed Aisha , Mother of Believers. For weeks, she suffered in agonizing isolation as rumors consumed her reputation. Her body wasted away until she had no tears left, describing her pain as beyond any physical suffering she had endured, a soul-deep wound inflicted not by enemies but by those she considered family. The power dynamics were unmistakable: accusations flowed from those seeking to undermine the Prophet’s ﷺ mission by attacking his household, while others amplified these claims to secure their own social position.

The divine warning thunders through centuries:

“Those who love to see immorality spread among the believers will have a painful punishment in this life and the Hereafter. And Allah knows and you do not know.” [Surah An-Nur; 24:19]

This isn’t merely cautioning against gossip; it’s exposing our psychological attraction to others’ moral failures, a perverse comfort we find in their downfall that allows us to feel superior while doing nothing to improve ourselves or our communities.

Yet make no mistake: absolute silence in the face of genuine injustice represents not piety but moral cowardice. When actual harm occurs and you remain mute, your silence doesn’t preserve peace; it preserves oppression. One day, those who suffered while you knew and did nothing might rightfully name you as complicit: “You witnessed the truth yet chose your comfort over our protection.” The false binary between harmful speech and unconditional silence serves those in power by neutralizing legitimate criticism under the guise of spiritual discretion.

The Strength Of Moral Discernment

Between reckless accusation and cowardly silence, lies a third path: principled, evidence-based intervention that prioritizes justice over comfort. The Prophet ﷺ advised leaving “what doesn’t concern you,” but this wasn’t permission for apathy. Rather, it demands discernment, the wisdom to distinguish between idle curiosity about others’ affairs and moral responsibility to confront genuine harm. The question isn’t whether to speak or remain silent, but whether your words serve truth or merely your own social interests.

The Prophet ﷺ advised leaving “what doesn’t concern you.” [PC: Dendy Darma Satyazi (unsplash)]

Try this unflinching exercise: When negative information reaches you about someone, close your eyes and visualize them not as an abstract character in a story but as a fully human being. See the dark circles under their eyes from sleepless nights spent wondering who still believes in them. Feel the cold sweat of anxiety as they enter rooms, calculating who has heard what version of their alleged transgressions. Now reverse the roles completely: place yourself as the subject of the same accusations, feeling decades-long relationships disintegrate over claims you cannot effectively disprove. Would you spread such information without certainty? This exercise strips away pretense and confronts you with the moral weight of your speech.

In our networked world, this ethical challenge has gained unprecedented urgency. A rumor that once traveled through neighborhoods now races across continents instantaneously, preserved eternally in digital amber. Each thoughtless share, each “just letting you know” message, each public innuendo fuels a machine of destruction that operates with ruthless efficiency while maintaining plausible deniability for all participants. “I was just sharing what I heard” becomes the modern equivalent of “I was just following orders,” a moral abdication disguised as neutral information sharing.

Those with genuine spiritual maturity instinctively recoil from unverified claims, not from naivety but from acute awareness that our words actively create the communities we inhabit. They recognize that the momentary social currency gained from sharing scandalous news pales against the permanent moral debt incurred by participating in another’s destruction. They live with the constant awareness of the angels at their shoulders, recording each word in an unfading ledger, capturing not just what was said but the intention behind it. Their restraint isn’t weakness but profound strength, the discipline to resist the intoxicating power that comes from controlling others’ reputations.

If you’ve already participated in this system of reputational violence, the path to redemption remains open but demands more than private regret. True repentance requires public repair: seek those you’ve misled and correct yourself without excuses or deflection. Then speak well of those you’ve wronged, not merely to clear your conscience but to begin restoring what your words destroyed. Anything less transforms apology into performance, concerned more with reclaiming your moral standing than repairing the damage you’ve caused.

A person refined by these principles develops not just a reputation but a moral authority that eclipses superficial influence. When they speak, people listen, not because they wield institutional power but because they’ve demonstrated the courage to value truth over convenience, principle over popularity. Their restraint testifies to inner discipline, and their interventions carry the weight of discernment rather than impulse.

“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or remain silent,” declared the Prophet ﷺ with unflinching clarity. This isn’t gentle advice but a fundamental standard that separates superficial faith from authentic conviction. When questionable information about another reaches you, this principle demands not passive acceptance of whatever narrative benefits you, but active interrogation of both the claims and your own motives in receiving them.

In every word, in every silence, your moral compass reveals itself. Each time you pass along unverified information, you aren’t merely sharing news; you’re actively participating in systems of power that destroy lives while maintaining the fiction of your own neutrality. And know with certainty that angels are recording every word, every whisper, every innuendo.. these tireless scribes who never sleep, never tire, and never miss even the subtlest inference in your speech. The Qur’an reminds us:

“Not a word does he utter but there is a vigilant Guardian.” [Surah Qaf; 50:18]

Choose wisely, for in the economy of justice, nothing is forgotten, nothing is without consequence, and no one escapes accountability for the worlds their words create.

 

Related:

– The Top 5 Misconceptions of Backbiting and How To Respond To Them

– The Muslim’s Stance Toward Ethical Crises and Scandals [A Summarized Paper]

 

The post Time To Take Stock Of The Weight Of Our Words: A Moral Indictment Of Our Complicity appeared first on MuslimMatters.org.

This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Ramadan Reflections. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13

Transcript

We start by mentioning Allah, praising Him, thanking Him, and asking Him to bless and honor our beloved Prophet and Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم.  

 As we start our 14th session, we are looking at the 14th juz of the Qur’an, which covers surah 15, surah al-Hijr, and surah 16, surah al-Nahl. Towards the end of surah al-Nahl, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala spends a number of verses, reminding us to be people who keep our promises. If I made a promise, if I entered into a contract, I should wholeheartedly stick to that. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, He says in verse 91, 

وَأَوْفُوا۟ بِعَهْدِ ٱللَّهِ إِذَا عَـٰهَدتُّمْ وَلَا تَنقُضُوا۟ ٱلْأَيْمَـٰنَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا وَقَدْ جَعَلْتُمُ ٱللَّهَ عَلَيْكُمْ كَفِيلًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ ٩١ 

Honour Allah’s covenant when you make a pledge, and do not break your oaths after confirming them, having made Allah your guarantor. Surely Allah knows all you do. (Quran 16:91) 

 Meaning, fulfill the promises you have made to Allah when you made them. This could refer to any promise that we have made to Allah. By me being a human being and a Muslim, I have engaged in a contract with Allah. Oh Allah, I will believe in You. I will worship You and You alone. I will pray five times a day. if I have the wealth, I will give zakaah. If I’m physically able, I will fast. If I have the wealth and ability, I will perform hajj. I’ll be good to my parents. I’ll be good to my spouse. I’ll be good to my kids. I’ll take care of the poor, the weak, and the orphans. I will not be angry, oppressive, tyrannical, arrogant, greedy, hateful, nor envious. Rather, I will be kind, soft, caring, generous, forgiving, and all of these good qualities.  

 And Allah continues to say again that do not break or violate these promises or oaths that you have made. If you say, I swear to God I will do such and such, that is a yameen (oath). Also, anything that when we contractually obligate ourselves with one another. For example, if I have signed a contract, I will give you this money tomorrow at 3pm, then neither should I come late, jip you in the amount, nor should you give me any less than we agreed to. 

 And before we get into the details, there’s a caveat that always comes up, that this is to the best of our human ability. Maybe, there’s just a major thunderstorm, and there’s absolutely no way I could get there at 3 PM. Like, even if I left at 3 PM, I would not have been able to make it. Right? These are things that hopefully Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, our God, will overlook. And us, as human beings with each other, should also overlook if it’s a legitimate reason. If you’re five minutes away from me and were supposed to meet me at 4 PM but I think to myself that I was supposed to be there at 3PM, but I can get there at 7PM. That is breaking and violating this promise and trust which I have engaged in with you.  

 Allah says that He has made you know a contractual obligant in that party. That you are a party to that contract. You have a responsible part in that contract. Allah knows everything that you do. And then Allah gives us an example. Allah paints beautiful examples and parables within the Qur’an to help us understand the importance of the things that He’s teaching us. He says, 

وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّتِى نَقَضَتْ غَزْلَهَا مِنۢ بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ أَنكَـٰثًۭا تَتَّخِذُونَ أَيْمَـٰنَكُمْ دَخَلًۢا بَيْنَكُمْ أَن تَكُونَ أُمَّةٌ هِىَ أَرْبَىٰ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ ۚ إِنَّمَا يَبْلُوكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِهِۦ ۚ وَلَيُبَيِّنَنَّ لَكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ مَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ ٩٢ 

Do not be like the woman who foolishly unravels her yarn after it is firmly spun, by taking your oaths as a means of deceiving one another in favor of a stronger group. Surely Allah tests you through this. And on the Day of Judgment He will certainly make your differences clear to you. (Quran 16:92) 

 That people, when you have made a promise, oath, or entered into a contract, don’t be like this particular woman who was known in Mecca. She would tear and rip apart her spun yarn. Maybe, she sewed or knit some kind of a fabric. After she was done, she would just tear it apart. This was a known woman in Mecca, that would do that. Or maybe this is a hypothetical example of a fable. There was a woman that would do such a thing. Again, you can imagine that she’s knitting a quilt or a shirt. Then, as it’s done or as it’s about to be done, she thinks, “Nope. Never mind. Start over. I don’t want it.” Allah is saying, ‘don’t do that.’ When you have made a promise, engaged in a contract, or committed yourself, stick to it. When you have said, shook hands, signed the paper, you have agreed to something, stick to it. 

Don’t rip your hand out and rip the paper-in our metaphorical terms or literal terms, like that woman who would go and rip her fabric or cloth after having sewed and stitched it together. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is very clear about these things. And Allah says that if you do that, it’s like you’re just falling and slipping out. You’re making a huge mistake. Don’t do this to yourself. You’re hurting yourself. You’re harming yourself. You’re violating your own self. You are going to taste, وَتَذُوقُ السُّوءَ بِمَا صَلَتُمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ You’re going to taste the consequences of what you have done. 

وَلَكُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ And you have a very harsh, severe punishment.

Obviously, these ayahs are kind of intermixed with telling the believers, “Don’t violate your promise and trust to Allah.” But within it is also the scenario for people. For example, a husband by the contract of nikkah, is supposed to take care of his wife and children by giving them food, shelter, housing, and whatever else it is they need for their function. He says, “No, I’m not going to feed you. No, I’m not going to clothe you. No, I’m not going to give you shelter. Go pay for your own medical bills. I’m not going to do any of that.” That person is violating both the contract which they made to Allah by entering into this marriage contract and to his wife and children.  

And again, as we said before, this is to one’s ability. Somebody may have lost their hands, so they cannot work anymore. That is a separate scenario. We’re talking about someone who has the wealth or has the ability. Yet, he says, “Handle it yourself. Not my problem. It is your problem.” This includes any other kind of situation. When we see people who are in positions of leadership and authority who are supposed to protect people, yet they go and hurt and harm people. They are supposed to ensure public safety, yet they spy on people and hurt innocent people. They have made a promise of civil service. Yet, they go and violate that. Whether be it students to their teachers of, I will participate. I will attend class on time. You know, I will be respectful. I will complete my assignments. And they can violate that. Or it can be teachers or any boss or employer who has a responsibility, “I will look after you. I will help you. I will teach you. I will educate you. I will support you”. And then, they fail to do that out of negligence not because he cannot do it. He thinks, “I’m trying my best, but I can’t due to laziness, out of negligence, not caring.” This is breaking a promise. And this is something extremely, extremely, extremely terrible. 

So much so that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم (May God bless and honor him) said, آية المنافق ثلاث that from amongst the many qualities of a hypocrite, of someone who says one thing but believes another thing, are three. And one of them that he mentions is إِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ When he makes a promise, he breaks it. And then, وَإِذَا اؤتُمِنَ خَانَ when he’s trusted with something, he betrays it. For example, if you trust me to help you, you go ahead, and they break that trust. 

Oh people! أَوْفُوا بِالْعُهُود Go and fulfill your promises, trusts, and covenants that you have made with Allah. If someone rightfully expects something from you, give it to them and fulfill it to the best of your ability, lest Allah hold you and I accountable. And when we are people of honesty, trustworthiness, and fulfilling our promises and contracts, then this is the title that people gave the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم , al-Amin, “the trustworthy”.  

May Allah make us trustworthy and people that others can rely on. 

O Allah! You are so perfect. We end by praising You and thanking You. There is nothing worthy of our worship or devotion except for You. We seek Your forgiveness. And we turn to You in repentance. We end by asking You to bless and honor our beloved Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم . 

The post IOK Ramadan 2025: Promises | Sh Mudassir Mayet appeared first on MuslimMatters.org.

Will Washington give envoy Adam Boehler the Andrew Young treatment for meeting Palestinian officials? Or did he help reach a new deal with Hamas?

My cousin Wassim and his wife welcomed a newborn son, Yousef, to the world in 2024. Wassim was killed by an Israeli attack four months later.