Tell-Tale Tasleem

Ask our children:

1. What does it mean to be a tell-tale and carry tales?
2. Is it good or bad to be a tell-tale?
3. What is gheebah (backbiting)?
4. If we hear someone making gheebah, what should we do?
5. Can we call people mean names which they do not like?

Now tell them the story:

There was once a little girl named Tasleem who had many friends. Everyone liked her and everyone liked to talk to her and play with her. There was just one problem – Tasleem liked to tell tales.

If she heard one friend saying something bad about another friend, she would go to that friend and tell her what the friend said about her. Then, when this friend said something bad about the first friend, she would go back to her and tell her what the second friend had said. In this way, through carrying tales, many friends began to fight, many friendships were broken, and many of the children began to hate one another.

One day, Tasleem was with her friend, Sabeehah, when another girl named Farhaanah walked past. As she walked past, Sabeehah made a mean remark about her. She said, “Look, Tasleem, at how fat Farhaanah is! Her name should be Fatty Farhaanah!”

Tasleem laughed with her friend, but later on, she went to Farhaanah and said, “Farhaanah! Do you know what Sabeehah said about you? She said that you are so fat that your name should be Fatty Farhaanah!” Farhaanah was very hurt to hear these mean words and tears came into her eyes. She also became angry and said, “Well! Sabeehah fails almost every test we have in madrasah! She should be called Stupid Sabeehah!”

Tasleem nodded, but later on, after madrasah, she went to Sabeehah and told her that Farhaanah had called her Stupid Sabeehah. This caused a huge fight between the two girls, with each one calling the other bad and ugly names, until eventually, they became so angry that they even began to hit each other!

As soon as the fight broke out, Aapa heard the noise and came from her classroom to see what was happening. On seeing Sabeehah and Farhaanah fighting, she separated them. Since they were both very angry, she sent them to make wudhu, because the Hadith teaches us that when a person is angry, he should make wudhu.

After they had made wudhu and returned, Aapa told both of them to read two rakaats of taubah salaah, and when they had finished, she asked them, “Why were the two of you fighting?” Farhaanah spoke first and said, “Aapa! Sabeehah is mean! She mocked me for being fat and called me Fatty Farhaanah!” Aapa asked her, “Did she say this to your face?” Farhaanah replied, “No! She didn’t say it to me, but Tasleem told me that she said that!”

Next, Sabeehah spoke up and said, “Aapa! Farhaanah mocked me for failing the tests in madrasah and called me Stupid Sabeehah!” Aapa again asked, “Did she say this to your face?” Sabeehah replied, “No, but she said it to Tasleem, and Tasleem then told me about it.”

Aapa then called Tasleem and said, “Tasleem! What Sabeehah did was not right. She made hurtful remarks about Farhaanah being fat. That is called gheebah, and it is haraam. In the Qur’aan Majeed, Allah Ta‘ala tells us that when you make gheebah of someone, then it is such a bad and disgusting sin, that it is as though you are eating the flesh of the person when he is dead! Then, Sabeehah also called Farhaanah Fatty. To call people by hurtful names is also haraam. But then, you went and told Farhaanah about it. This caused them to hate each other and even start fighting with each other!”

Aapa said, “Tasleem! What you did is called carrying tales. Carrying tales is a very serious sin in Islam. In one Hadith, it is mentioned that carrying tales causes a person to be punished in the grave, and in another Hadith, it is mentioned that the one who carries tales will not enter Jannah! This means that he will first have to be punished in Jahannum before he can enter Jannah!”

When the three girls heard what Aapa had said, their eyes opened wide. They had not realized that what they had done was so serious! Aapa looked at them and said, “Sabeehah, you should not have mocked Farhaanah and called her names. Tasleem, when you heard Farhaanah making gheebah then you should have corrected her. You should have told her that she should not say such things about other people. Then you should not have told Farhaanah about it, causing them to start fighting. Allah Ta‘ala becomes very displeased when a Muslim causes people to fight with one another, and He becomes very pleased when we help people to stop fighting and become friends.”

Finally, Aapa looked at Farhaanah and said, “Farhaanah! You must not allow your temper and your anger to get the better of you! Because you became angry, you began to fight and hit Sabeehah! If you had forgiven her and overlooked what she said about you, Allah Ta‘ala would have given you great reward, and also, you will not get into trouble for fighting.”

The three girls now understood the mistakes that they had made. They all asked each other for maaf, forgave one another, and then remained friends, without making any person’s gheebah or carrying any tales about any person.

Lessons:

1. Carrying tales is to tell one person the bad things that another person is saying about them so that they will dislike each other and start to fight.
2. To carry tales is haraam in Islam. Carrying tales causes one to be punished in the grave and also causes one to be punished in Jahannum
3. Gheebah is to say something hurtful about another person behind his back. Gheebah is haraam and is a very serious sin.
4. If we hear someone making gheebah, we should correct them and tell them that what they are doing is wrong. If we cannot correct them, then we should wake up and go away. We should not remain there and listen to the gheebah.
5. We should never call people by mean and hurtful names such as ‘Fatty’ and ‘Stupid’. This is haraam and causes Allah Ta‘ala to become displeased.