It seems evident enough that backbiting isn’t a particularly godly, if goodly, act to partake in. Yet despite this (or because of it) the common practice of talking about other people behind their collective back is ever-present and seemingly unavoidable in our society, surrounding us every which way we turn – from tabloid newspapers to gossip TV shows, from dialogues in enclosed spaces (restroom, train, office kitchen) to monologues in open spaces (radio, political speeches, PR statements). Backbiting is not only endorsed by our social environment, it is fuelled by it, feeding off the consumerist habits it seems to spawn, leading to an increase in paper sales, TV ratings and public awareness and a decrease in standards of social moral, media ethic and human decency.

So basically, if you’re not currently engaging in backbiting, you are probably being exposed to it. Although the Jiminy Cricket in all of us tells us that backbiting is bad, acknowledging this fact tends to make us guiltily “indulge” in this practice instead of actually giving it up. But backbiting is not tiramisu and the moral leeway we make in order to incorporate it into our daily lives will lead to more than just a higher dietary intake. In fact its consequence cannot even be likened unto a few extra kilos. No, the price we pay is a much higher one as the effects of backbiting unfortunately cross over into that particular realm where currency and calories no longer count. Yes, Jiminy tried to warn us. The spiritual dimension is where backbiting leads to: do not enter unless you are equipped with virtue and armed with faith.

“Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner. Shouldst thou transgress this command, accursed wouldst thou be, and to this I bear witness.” The heavy words of religion, ordained by God and uttered by Baha’u’llah, founding prophet of the Baha’i Faith, and again, in case you didn’t get it the first time, “backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul.” The consequences of backbiting are not to be taken lightly. More severe than just a gnawing at your conscious and that forgotten New Year’s resolution to be a nicer person, speaking ill of another person stunts our spiritual growth and has the potential to destroy the very part of us that we spend our whole lives trying to search, save and salvage: our soul.

And for the pragmatics amongst us, the repercussions of backbiting will always and inevitably make themselves manifest in this life. If people we don’t know make for winning conversation material, then people we do know are the gossip jackpot. Whilst celebrities often belong to the first category, it is friends who predominantly make up the second. And it is friends we end up losing when we speak ill of them behind their back. So the next time you find yourself on the verge of backbiting, refrain. Because an unkind comment at a friend’s expense may be one you can’t afford. It may end up costing you a friendship. And if that is a price you are willing to pay, then you may need to consider whether backbiting hasn’t already quenched the light of your heart.

1. Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words, No. 27
2. Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 264