Defending the honor of a believer

In the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. 

"If a Muslim defends his brother's honor in his absence, Allaah will protect his face from the fire of Hell on the Day of Resurrection. " Sound Hadith from At-Tirmidhi

"The Muslim is the brother of another Muslim, he does not wrong him, let him down or look down upon him. Taqwa (piety, awareness and fear of Allaah) is here" and he pointed to his chest three times- "It is sufficient evil for a man to look down upon his Muslim brother. Every Muslim is sacred to another Muslim, his blood, his property and his honor." Muslim‎

It is often said and rightfully so, that honor is a treasure that needs to be protected by any means necessary.  Someone said it so beautifully that the most tragic thing in the world is a man of  genius who is not a man of honor.

As Muslims, being honorable and of high good morals is rather not optional but part of the fabric that defines the true worth of our Iman and commitment to the dictates of the Shareeah. 

In the Mustadrak of Al-Hakeem a narration which he graded as authentic unlocks the potentials of how a true Muslim's disposition toward others should be. The Prophet (Pbuh) said, "You (people) cannot satisfy people with your wealth, but satisfy them with your cheerful faces and good morals."

One of our Shaykhs said‎: “ There is no value for a smile unless it stems from a smiling soul." 
By implication it means that when we meet our brothers cheerfully then we should defend their 
honor sincerely in their absence. How often don't we see honorable people being defamed through wrongful accusations and speculative narrations, sadly most at times we tend to be instrumental in tarnishing the image of our brothers and sisters.

The society today has many qualified PhD (Pull-Him/Her-Down) holders in this regard cut across major age groups and this has practically crippled our strength as an Ummah (nation).

Above is the hadith of the Prophet (Pbuh) guiding us to that which will safeguard us from the humiliation of the Day of Judgement. We should always strive to remind ourselves first and then others about the benefits of defending the honor of our fellow humans and this can only be achieved when we guard our tongues to avoid uttering things that have been forbidden. 

In addition to the above, we should not be part of those that talk bad of others and if we cannot 
stop people from engaging in tarnishing the image of others then the safety-net principle dictates that we move away from them. 

Allaah says: "When you see those who engage in false conversation about Our verses (of the Qur'an) by mocking at them, stay away from them until they turn to another topic. And if Shaytan causes you to forget, then after the remembrance, sit not you in the company of those people who are wrongdoers." Q6:68

Always speak well of your Muslim brothers and sisters especially in their absence and if they are guilty of certain sins (and I guess we all are guilty of one sin or the other) then the first step is to admonish him and not to taunt him. If you see people defaming the character of a believer then say good things about him instead.‎

It should then be understood that defending a believer's honor is such a great virtue that Allaah takes a person's face away from the fire of Hell on the Day of Resurrection and this means his Jannah is not far-fetched.

DO NOT MAKE SNIDE REMARKS ABOUT OTHERS!

"O Allaah You have made my creation perfect, so make my moral characteristics also be the best."