Can I share this information? - 30 Verses For 30 Days 6/30

Salamun alaykum Rahmat Ullah, dear brothers and sisters, today InshaA llah we'll continue with another one of our Tafsir clips. And in today's Tafsir clip, we are going to delve into the meaning of one of the verses of the Qur'an that is situated in the 6th Juz of the Qur'an, or I should say rather the very beginning of the 6th Juz of the Qur'an. This is the first verse of the six Juz: "La yuhibbu Allaha ul-jar'a bi 's-su'i min al-qawli, illa man dhulim, wa kana Allahu sami'an 'alima" (4:148).

So this verse of the Qur'an is a very beautiful one, and it speaks about how Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala does not like it, when someone takes something negative, and makes it public. When there is something negative, a negative flaw, a negative event, something bad that happened, that this person takes it and then makes it public. How many times do we come across this? And how much does this apply to our day to day lives?

Many times you will find siblings for one another, spouses towards one another, parents and children towards one another. They will take a flaw that their loved one has, for example, and they will share this flaw with others. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says when you do Al-Jahr, when you are going to speak out loud, "La yuhibbu Allaha ul-jar'a min al-qawli bi 's-su'" (4:148). He doesn't like it for you to be speaking of negative things out loud.

So this is the first principle that we understand from the Verse, and we really have to give it some more thought. So many times we find, for example, especially in family gatherings, where a spouse might speak of the flaw that their spouse has, in the presence of others. A parent, or a father, might speak of the negative flaws that their child has, or a child of the flaws that a parent has. And this doesn't help the situation. It only makes the situation more difficult. It only makes a relationship even more difficult to deal with.

But then you find there is a small little piece at the end of the Verse that gives way, or gives an option, or flexibility when it comes to those situations where the negative flaw is something that is hurting an individual. The negative flaw is something that is creating injustice. It is violating the rights of this individual. And just with this one word of " illa man dhulim" (4:148), except for the one who is oppressed, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala beautifully, He balances this principle of not going out and sharing something that is negative. But then you are allowed to do that if you are an individual who is oppressed.

Now, when you look at the rulings of our scholars, there is a little bit of a dispute here. Can you just go out there and share it with anyone if you are oppressed? Or can you go out there and share it with those who can help you with the situation? Who can get back your rights? But either way, what we know for sure is that if I am being oppressed, my rights are being taken away from me. This idea of backbiting, this idea that I can't speak of this negative flaw, because others might find out about it, this does not apply at the very least when I'm speaking to those that I can actually speak to, to help me with this situation.

So if you are in the household, God-forbid, someone is dealing with domestic abuse, for example, this person has to reach out for help. Someone might be dealing with a situation where they need a consultation because spouses are having issues with one another, and their rights are being violated. These are situations where one needs to speak at least to a person who can help with their situation. Maybe not with everybody, maybe not just making a general information that's not necessarily a good idea, but at least speaking to those individuals who can help you with your situation.

This is something that verse 148 from Surat un-Nisa' is clearly explaining to us: "La yuhibbu Allaha ul-jar'a bi 's-su'i min al-qawli, illa man dhulim" (4:148). He doesn't like it for you to come out and speak of negative things openly. Except when there is a matter of oppression. Except when the right of an individual is being essentially taken away from them. Except when there is injustice.

In those situations it is completely fine and okay to reach out for help and to ask for those who have the ability to help, to assist you with your situation.