The Dilemma of Ill Thoughts

The disease of ill thoughts is one of the most fatal diseases that can
destroy individuals and communities. Once it becomes deep-rooted in
the soul of man, it destroys all ties of intimacy and affection and
incites hatred and resentment. Some people, whose hearts aremorally
diseased, only look at others through dark glasses. For them,
allpeople are, by default, suspects, or even guilty.
There is no doubt that having ill thoughts aboutothers contradicts the
teachings of the Noble Quran, the Sunnah and the guidance of the
righteous predecessors. Allaah The Almighty Says)what means(:}O you
who have believed, avoid much ]negative[ assumption. Indeed, some
assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of
you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest
it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and
Merciful.{]Quran 49:12[
The Prophetsaid:"Beware of ill thoughts, for ill thoughts represent
the worst of false speech.Do not look for other's faults. Do not spy
on one another."The Prophetalso taught Muslims how to think well of
others. A man came to him and said, "My wife has delivered a black
baby)and I suspect that he is not my child(." The Prophetasked
him:"Have you got camels?"The man said, "Yes." The Prophetasked:"What
is their color?"The man said, "They are reddish)brown(." The
Prophetasked:"Are any of them grey?"He said, "There aregrey ones among
them." The Prophetasked:"From where do you think this color came to
them?"The man said, "It probably resulted from hereditary
disposition." The Prophetsaid:"Similarly, this )your child( might be a
hereditary disposition."]Muslim and Al-Bukhaari, with the wording of
Muslim[
The righteous predecessorsavoided this evil quality. Theywould seek
excuses for Muslims to the extent that some of them would say, "I seek
seventy excuses for my brother's misdeed, then I say that he might
have an excuse that I do not know about." Why we donot follow the
example of the righteous predecessorsin this regard? Those who think
ill of Muslims follow the example of the man who said to the
Prophet"This division is not based on justice and it was not intended
to win the pleasure of Allaah," when he was referring tosome wealth
that the Prophethad divided and distributed.
Some scholars divided ill thoughts into two types, both of which are
from the grave major sins:
Ill thoughts about Allaah: This type is one of the most heinous crimes
and sins because it attributes to Allaah what is improper for His
generosity and benevolence.
Ill thoughts about Muslims: This type is also a grave major sin
because whoever judges his brother based on ill thoughts, the devil
will make him belittle his brother, deny his rights, slander him and
spy on him. Obviously, all of these things are forbidden destructive
acts. Some scholars have said, "If you see a person who always thinks
ill of people and seeks to expose their faults, you should know that
he is an evil person. The believer always seeks excuses for others
because he is good and righteous, whereas, the hypocrite searches for
the faults and defects of others given his evil nature."
Hence, dear Muslim, beware of ill thoughts. We advise you to
supplicate to Allaah to protect you from them. If you cannot dismiss
your ill thoughts, then the least you can do is to remain silent and
avoid speaking about them. If you manage to get rid of these ill
thoughts, then you would have escaped a grave danger. Otherwise,
perhaps you will not be saved.