THE HARMS OF DEBATE AND THE EXPLANATION OF THE BAD CHARACTER TRAITS ARISING FROM DEBATE
Know well: Debates conducted to gain superiority over one’s opponent, to silence them, to boast of attaining status and virtue among people, and thereby attract people to oneself, are the source of all bad character traits in the sight of Allah, and are a state pleasing to Shayṭān. The relationship of such disputes to other moral diseases such as arrogance, self-admiration, envy, self-purification, love of station, and the like, is like the relationship of drinking wine to other evils such as adultery, false accusation (qadhf, i.e., slandering a chaste woman), murder, and theft. Just as a person who is given the choice between committing one of these evils and chooses wine thinking it the lesser evil, but then, under the influence of intoxication, commits all the other evils, so too does the one who loves to prevail in debates and to boast of it, and who is enamored of status, gather within himself all evils and drag himself into every kind of wickedness. The fact that these traits are evil will be explained in the "DESTRUCTIVE TRAITS" section of our work with evidence from the Qur'an and ḥadīth.
However, here let us briefly indicate the main evils that arise from debate:
1 — Envy (ḥasad): The first of the diseases arising from debate is envy. Regarding envy, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Just as fire consumes wood, so does envy consume good deeds." (110)
(110) Abū Dāwūd, from Abū Hurayra.
One who debates can never save himself from envy. For such a person is sometimes victorious and sometimes defeated. Sometimes his own words are praised, sometimes his opponent’s. As long as he is in this world, either he is praised for his strong knowledge and understanding, or another is praised for understanding better and expressing more beautifully. He inevitably wishes for the disappearance of this blessing from others and for all people to turn to him, and thus envies those superior to himself. Yet envy is a consuming fire. (If fire finds nothing to burn, it consumes itself.) One afflicted with envy suffers torment even in this world; the torment in the Hereafter is even greater and more severe. For this reason, Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Take knowledge wherever you find it, but do not accept what jurists say about one another; for they are like goats playing with each other in the pen."
2 — Arrogance and boasting, seeking superiority over people. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in a ḥadīth:
"Allah will abase the arrogant and elevate the humble." (111)
In a ḥadīth qudsī, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also reports that Allah the Exalted said:
"Majesty is My cloak and greatness is My robe. Whoever contends with Me regarding these two, I will destroy him." (112)
One who debates cannot restrain himself from arrogance toward his peers and equals, nor from seeking to rise above his current rank. Indeed, debaters go so far as to quarrel, boasting to each other about sitting at the head of the assembly or being annoyed at being seated below. They always desire to be in front. For this, they offer excuses such as, "I want to protect the honor of knowledge, and indeed, a believer is forbidden from humiliating himself," and say:
"A believer is forbidden from humiliating himself." (113)
With this ḥadīth, they call humility, which Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) have praised, humiliation, and call arrogance, which they have forbidden, honor. They change names to mislead people, just as they have changed the words for wisdom, knowledge, and other terms.
3 — Rancor (ḥiqd): The debater cannot save himself from rancor. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"A believer does not harbor rancor." (114)
There are many reports condemning ḥiqd. We cannot imagine a debater who does not harbor rancor toward someone who nods at his opponent’s words but hesitates at his own and does not show good opinion. He inevitably bears rancor toward such a person and nurtures it within. His utmost effort is to conceal his hypocrisy. But in any case, this hypocrisy leaks out. How can a debater save himself from this disease? For it is impossible for all listeners to always prefer his words and admire him in every circumstance. If he sees even the slightest sign that someone values his opponent’s words, a seed of rancor is planted in his qalb (the heart) that will never be removed until death.
4 — Backbiting (ghība): One of the calamities of debate is backbiting. Allah the Exalted has likened backbiting to eating the flesh of a dead brother. The debater continually eats dead flesh, for he cannot refrain from recounting his opponent’s words and disparaging him. At best, his only precaution is not to lie in his stories about him. But he will certainly mention his opponent’s shortcomings, weaknesses, and lack of virtue. This is backbiting. If he lies, then it is slander. Likewise, he cannot refrain from attacking those who do not listen to his words but incline toward his opponent and prefer his opponent’s words. He even goes so far as to accuse them of stupidity, foolishness, and ignorance.
(119) Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, from Abū Hurayra.
(lid) Source not found.
5 — Self-purification (tazkiyat al-nafs): Another calamity of debate is self-purification and self-praise. Yet Allah the Exalted says in the Qur'an:
"So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him." (Qur'an, 53:32)
They asked a sage, "What is the ugliest form of truthful speech?" The sage replied, "A person praising himself." Yet the debater cannot refrain from saying, "My knowledge is greater, I can defeat my opponent, I am always superior to my peers in virtue," and during debate, sometimes boasts and sometimes, to make his words more accepted, says things like, "Would I not know these things? I have expertise in rational and transmitted sciences, I know the principles, I have mastery in ḥadīth." He cannot restrain himself from such statements. Yet excessive self-assertion and boasting are condemned both by the sharia (the sacred law) and by reason. (One must avoid this.)
6 — Spying (tajassus): Another calamity of debate is spying and seeking out people’s hidden faults. Yet Allah the Exalted says:
"And do not spy on one another." (Qur'an, 49:12)
The debater is always searching for the slips and faults of his peers and opponents. When he hears that such a debater has come to his town, he seeks out people who know all his bodily defects, baldness, and even his childhood secrets and hidden states. He uses all these faults as capital to disgrace him if necessary. When he senses that his opponent may prevail, if he is one who speaks in veiled terms, he alludes to his faults by insinuation. Outwardly, this seems fine. But if he is someone who takes pride in his sharp tongue and wit, he does not hesitate to openly disgrace him. Indeed, it is reported that the great debaters who considered themselves among the "fuḥūl al-ʿulamāʾ" (the leading scholars) resorted to this method.
7 — Another calamity of debate is rejoicing at others’ distress and grieving at their joy. (For if his opponent prevails and rejoices, he himself is saddened; if his opponent is defeated, he rejoices.) Yet whoever does not love for his brother what he loves for himself is far from the character of the believers. One who seeks to display his virtue and superiority over his peers will certainly be pleased at his opponent’s slip, and enmity arises between them as among co-wives. Just as one co-wife’s face pales and her heart pounds when she sees the other from afar, so too do debaters, when they see each other, feel as if they have seen a raging Shayṭān or a ferocious beast, out of fear of victory or defeat. Where is the camaraderie of religious scholars who, when they meet, strive to ensure each other’s comfort, and where is the mutual aid and brotherhood reported from them in hardship and ease? Indeed, Imām al-Shāfiʿī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Knowledge, virtue, and intellect are means of closeness and friendship among their possessors." While he said this, I cannot comprehend how those who become enemies with each other because of their knowledge can claim to follow his school without hesitation. Is it possible to imagine camaraderie among those who constantly claim superiority over each other? Where is it? Very far. It is enough for something to be evil that it distances you from the character of the righteous and makes you adopt the traits of the wicked.
8 — Another calamity of debate is hypocrisy (nifāq). There is no need to bring witnesses to explain the evil of hypocrisy. Debaters are compelled to hypocrisy. For when they meet their opponents and their opponents’ friends and followers, they show nothing but respect, sincerity, and friendship with their tongues. Yet anyone who addresses or is addressed by them, or even anyone who hears, knows that this is false and hypocritical, not sincere. They are friends with their tongues but enemies in their qalb (the heart). We seek refuge in Allah the Exalted from this vile trait. The noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in a ḥadīth:
"When people learn knowledge but abandon action, love each other with their tongues but harbor enmity in their hearts, and sever the ties of kinship, Allah will curse them, make their ears deaf and their eyes blind." (115)
(115) Ṭabarānī, from Salmān.
This truth we have described has been confirmed by observation of these states.
9 — Another calamity of debate is to dislike and not accept the truth, and to persist in argument even when in the wrong. Indeed, the thing most disliked by the arguer is for his opponent to express the truth. Even if his opponent speaks the truth, he strives with all his might to deny it, resorting to every means and device to refute it. Thus, argumentativeness becomes so ingrained in him that he begins to object to every statement he hears, even to the rulings of the sharia (the sacred law) and the evidences of the Qur'an, mixing them up. Yet (let alone opposing the truth) even arguing against falsehood is blameworthy. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), to encourage abandoning argument even for the truth against falsehood, said:
"Whoever abandons argument while in the wrong, Allah will build for him a house on the outskirts of Paradise; and whoever abandons argument while in the right, Allah will build for him a house in the highest part of Paradise." (116)
Allah the Exalted has equated those who falsely attribute lies to Him with those who deny the truth. As stated in the Qur'an:
"And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah or denies the truth when it has come to him?" (Qur'an, 39:32)
He has said.
(116) Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, from Anas.
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