You have said a word that, if it were mixed with the water of the sea, it would taint it

Explanation

‘Ā’ishah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) said to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): Sufficient for you that Safiyyah—meaning the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her)—one of her physical defects was that she was short. So he replied: You have said a word that, if it were mixed with the water of the sea, would overwhelm, alter, and spoil it. She added: And I mimicked someone disparagingly. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then said: I would not be pleased to speak of anyone's fault, nor to mimic his actions or words disparagingly, even if I were given a great deal of worldly wealth for it.

Lessons

• Warning and deterring against backbiting.
• Imitating others' appearances or actions in a way that belittles or demeans them is considered forbidden backbiting.
• Describing others' physical flaws is a form of backbiting.
• Al-Qādi said: "Mixing" means blending and altering by adding something else to it. The meaning here is that if this backbiting were something that could be mixed with the sea, it would change its state, despite the sea's vastness and abundance. So how much more would it affect a limited amount of deeds if mixed with them?
• Clarifying some of the jealousy that can occur between wives.
• The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did not approve of evil.
• Pointing out the insignificance of worldly matters compared to the pleasure of Allah Almighty and avoiding His displeasure.
• Islam is the religion of good morals, and it commands the protection of people's honor from being violated by words or actions, as such behavior breeds enmity and hatred among Muslims.