Namima (Talebearing) or Nammāmi (Arabic: النمیمه) is among greater sins and refers to mentioning someone's words to others in order to ruin their friendly relationships. Namima is a sin of the tongue and is criticized in the Qur'an and hadiths. It usually accompanies some other moral vices such as backbiting and tuhma (slander) and originates from vices such as envy. Murder, humiliation, and debasement are mentioned among its consequences in this world and the hereafter.

Ethics


Moral Verses
Ifk VersesAl-Ukhuwwa VerseAl-It'am VerseAl-Naba' VerseNajwa VerseVerse of TrustsAl-Sulh Verse


Moral Hadiths
Hadith of qurb al-nawafilHadith Makarim al-akhlaqHadith of Mi'rajHadith Junud al-'Aql wa l-Jahl


Moral Virtues
HumilityContentmentGenerosityControlling AngerTruthfulnessHilm (forbearance)AsceticismBraveryChastityInsaf (Equity) • Silat al-RahimWara'Islah dhat al-bayn


Moral Vices
HubrisGreedEnvyLieBackbitingNamima (Talebearing)MiserlinessDisobedience to Parents'Ujb (self-conceit)Sum'aCutting blood relationSpreading grave sinsIngratitudeHypocrisyTabdhir


Moral Terminologies
Jihad with the selfSelf-critical soulCommanding SoulSoul at peaceSelf-reckoningMuraqabaMusharataSinMorality lessonsIstidraj


Scholars of Ethics
Muhammad Mahdi NaraqiAhmad al-NaraqiSayyid 'Ali Qadi Tabataba'iSayyid Rida Baha' al-DiniSayyid 'Abd al-Husayn DastghaybMuhammad Taqi Bahjat


References of Ethics

Qur'anNahj al-balaghaMisbah al-shari'a wa miftah al-haqiqaMakarim al-AkhlaqAl-Mahajjat al-bayda'Tanbih al-khawatir wa nuzhat al-nawazirJami' al-sa'adatMi'raj al-sa'adaAl-Muraqabat

Definition

Namima refers to mentioning someone's words to others in order to ruin their friendly relationships. However, it is not limited to speech and includes writing and making gestures as well. Disclosing some issues a person does not want other people to know is also called namima.[1] The person who mentions someone's words to another in order to ruin their friendly relationships is called "Nammam". In some cases, namima accompanies with disclosing a person's secrets, slander, hypocrisy, envy, lying or backbiting.[2]

Differences with Si'aya

Si'aya (tale-bearing) is a kind of namima. Mentioning someone's words to a person they are afraid of (such as kings) is called si'aya.[3] Al-Naraqi considered si'aya the worst kind of namima and regarded its wrongness greater than other kinds of namima. He believed that si'aya originates from greed and envy.[4]

In the Qur'an and Hadiths

The word "namim" is mentioned once in the Qur'an. In verse 11 of Qur'an 68, following namims (calumniators) is prohibited.[5] It is said that the word "humaza" in the first verse of Qur'an 104 is namima.[6] Also, some exegetes interpreted the expression "hammalat al-hatab" about Abu Lahab's wife in the Qur'an referring to her namima (Talebearing).[7]

Some scholars of ethics considered a namima among those criticized in verse 27 of Qur'an 2,[8] and verse 42 Qur'an 42.[9][10]

Namima in hadiths has been criticized as one of moral vices and greater sins. In al-Kafi, al-Kulayni has mentioned three hadiths under the title of al-namima. In these hadiths, a nammam has been mentioned the worst of people and deprived of entering the paradise.[11] Some hadiths have mentioned namima among the causes which bring about the punishments of the grave.[12] In some others, the tendency toward practicing it has been mentioned among characteristics of hypocrites.[13]

In Jurisprudence and Ethics

In the books of ethics, namima is mentioned under moral vices and sins of the tongue (harms of the tongue).[14] Also in the books of jurisprudence, it has been mentioned in discussions about hudud and ta'zirat (discretionary punishments)[15] and makasib al-muharrama (forbidden businesses).[16]

Rulings in Jurisprudence

Namima is among greater sins and is forbidden.[17] In Irshad al-qulub, al-Daylami has mentioned it a sin greater than backbiting.[18] Al-'Allama al-Hilli said that an army commander should not include a namim in his army; and, if a namim participates in the war, he should not receive a share of booties.[19]

In the views of Shi'a jurists, earning property through namima is forbidden.[20] Also, if someone attributes namima to another, he will receive a ta'zir (discretionary punishment).[21]

Exception

In some cases, namima is permissible; including practicing namima among enemy's forces in order to make divisions among them.[22]

Cause and Origin

Al-Naraqi mentioned the origin of namima, raging and sensual faculties.[23] In some books of ethics, some causes have been mentioned for it including:

  • Harming someone whose words are reported.
  • Showing affinity to someone, before whom, another person's speech is mentioned
  • Fun and amusement
  • Telling nonsense[24]
  • Making divisions among people
  • Envy

Consequences

Some consequences are mentioned for namima in hadiths, some of which are:

  • Punishment of the grave: Ibn Abbas narrated that one-third of the punishment of the grave is because of namima.[25]
  • Deprivation of entering the paradise: In a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a), namim is mentioned among those who will be deprived of entering the paradise.[26]
  • Failure in fulfillment of supplications: According to Ka'b al-Ahbar, Israelites were afflicted with famine. Prophet Moses (a) several times asked God for rain, but God did not fulfill his request. Then, God revealed it to Moses (a) that, "there is a namim among your people, and for as long as he insists on namima, I will not answer your requests." Then, prophet Moses (a) asked God to introduce that namim to him. God said, "I prohibit you of namima, how should I practice it?!"[27]
  • Humiliation and debasement: It is narrated that namima is based on lying, envy, and hypocrisy and it is an oven in which the fire cooks humiliation and debasement.[28]
  • Bringing about hatred and division: It is narrated from Imam Ali (a), "Avoid namima, because it sows the seed of hatred and divides between people and God."[29]

Cure

The cure of namima is possible by eliminating its causes such as envy and hatred. Also, it has been recommended in hadiths to reflect upon the consequences of namima in this world and in the hereafter. Fayd Kashani has given recommendations to deal with a namim, which are:

  • Not approving the words of namim
  • Prohibiting him of namima (forbidding from evil)
  • Not having bad assumptions about others after hearing a namim's words
  • Not investigating about the correctness or incorrectness of a namim's words
  • Not reporting the speech of a namim
  • Taking him an enemy[30]

Notes

  1. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 277; Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 2, p. 274.
  2. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 278.
  3. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 279.
  4. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 279.
  5. scandal-monger, talebearer
  6. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 275.
  7. Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 10, p. 428.
  8. —those who break the covenant made with Allah after having pledged it solemnly, and sever what Allah has commanded to be joined, and cause corruption on the earth—it is they who are the losers.
  9. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 279.
  10. The ground for action is only against those who oppress the people and commit tyranny in the land in violation of justice. For such there will be a painful punishment.
  11. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 269.
  12. Ibn Shuʿba al-Ḥarranī, Tuḥaf al-ʿuqūl, p. 14.
  13. Miṣbāḥ al-sharīʿa, p. 145.
  14. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 275-280.
  15. Ḥillī, Qawāʿid al-aḥkām, vol. 3, p. 549.
  16. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 73.
  17. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 13, p. 310.
  18. Daylamī, Irshād al-qulūb, p. 118.
  19. Ḥillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ, vol. 9, p. 51.
  20. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 73.
  21. Ḥillī, Qawāʿid al-aḥkām, vol. 3, p. 549.
  22. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 73.
  23. Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 2, p. 274-280.
  24. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 277; Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 2, p. 274-275.
  25. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 6, p. 245.
  26. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 269.
  27. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 276.
  28. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 279.
  29. Āmadī, Ghurar al-ḥikam, p. 167.
  30. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 5, p. 277-278.

References

  • Miṣbāḥ al-sharīʿa. Beirut: Aʿlamī, 1400 AH.
  • Āmadī, ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. Muḥammad al-Tamīmī al-. Ghurar al-ḥikam wa durar al-kalim. Edited by Sayyid Mahdī Rajāʾī. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmī, 1410 AH.
  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. Murtaḍā al-. Al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, [n.d].
  • Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Qawāʿid al-aḥkām. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, [n.d].
  • Ibn Shuʿba al-Ḥarranī. Tuḥaf al-ʿuqūl. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1404 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī & Muḥammad Ākhūndī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Second edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Najafī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. Edited by ʿAbbās Qūchānī & ʿAlī Ākhūndī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1404 AH.
  • Narāqī, Muḥammad Mahdī. Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Maṭbūʿātī-yi Īrānīyān, 1383 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Qaṣīr al-ʿĀmilī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].

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