Those Who Backbite & Slander

A whole surah of the Qur'an is given to one social sin. That fact alone tells a child something about how seriously it is treated.

What It Explains

Surah Al-Humazah and what it condemns — the person who slanders and mocks, who gathers wealth and counts it, and who imagines it will keep him for ever. The surah names the behavior precisely, which is what makes it teachable.

The book then explains backbiting and slandering others in terms a child recognizes: what it sounds like in a playground, why it feels harmless at the time, and what it does to the person being talked about and to the one doing the talking.

The Activity That Does the Work

Which statement is backbiting? — and this is the most useful page in the whole series.

Children do not fail to avoid backbiting because they think it is permitted. They fail because they cannot tell which of the things they say counts. An exercise that puts real statements in front of them and asks them to sort it out teaches the distinction better than any definition.

Others in the Series

Each book in the Children's Gift & Lessons Series takes one subject, illustrates it in full color, and closes with an activity section. Also available:

• The Gift of Ramadan
• The Night of Decree
• The Gift of Eid
• The Gift of Jumu'ah
• The Gift of My Mother
• The Surahs to Seek Refuge
• Angel Jibra'eel Returns Again
• Abu Lahab and his Wife Arwah

The boxed set brings eight of them together.