A famousstory narrates that once an acquaintance came to Socrates and said, “Do youknow what I just heard about your friend?” “Hold on a minute,” Socratesreplied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’scalled the Triple Filter Test.”
Socratescontinued, “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea totake a moment and filter what you are going to say. That’s why I call it thetriple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely surethat what you are about to tell me is true?”
“No,” theman said, “actually I just heard about it.”
“All right,”said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try thesecond filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me aboutmy friend something good?”
“No, on thecontrary…”the man replied.
“So,”Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you arenot certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, there’s one filterleft: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friendgoing to be useful to me?” “No not really…”
“Well,”concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good noreven useful, why tell it to me at all?”
There aresadly no Socrates’ amidst us. However, the ilks of his friend are galore. Inour society, it has been a routine to speak spitefully or slanderously aboutpeople behind their backs when they are not around to defend themselves. It issimilar to gossip but is more malevolent and obnoxious. Commonly known asback-biting or tale-bearing, people incredibly possess an inexorable tendencyto vilify others.
Wordsreflect thoughts and mentality. Be it social, official or a small bash, theincessant tale-bearing at most of the gatherings reflects the insensitivity ofpeople towards the most disliked and disowned practice by all the religions.
We usuallyforget the old phrase that advises- ‘if you can’t say anything nice, don’t sayanything at all.’ A snooping and equally scandalous habit of trash-talk aboutothers is the hallmark of all and sundry who feel insecure about themselveswhile taking vicarious pleasure out of it. And doing so, they try to projectthemselves as good and better beings.
“O you whobelieve! Avoid much suspicion; indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not,neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat flesh of his deadbrother?”(Holy Quran 49:12). This verse depicts how much repulsive backbitingis considered.
Emphasizingthe significance of tongue, the Prophet (PBUH) said: “When man wakes up in themorning each day, all parts of the body warn the tongue saying, ‘Fear Allah asregards us; for we are at your mercy; if you are upright, we will be uprightand if you are crooked, we become crooked”(Tirmizi, Hadith 2407). Hazrat Ali(RA) said: “The tongue is such a ferocious beast that if let loose, it will actravenously.”
Back-bitingis a loathsome and despicable act that meddles with the social matters sincethey are by and large associated to tongue. This small piece of flesh is ofhuge consequence in social life. Calumny and spitefulness by this organ bringsdisastrous upheaval to social structure. Distrust and distances afflict theties, generating misgivings and alienation.
Bottomline: Thosewho indulge in disparagement and denigration, with a malicious intent todistort realities, do not carry too long. Their seeming success lasts little.For truth never remains de-shaped forever. It gets back to brasstacks.
The mills ofGod grind slowly. Back-biters are destined to face the wrath. Eventually. Butthe damage they wreak is too severe. At times, irreparable!