Backbiting

In the Name of Allah; Most-Merciful, Most-Compassionate.

"O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful." (49:12)

Often times we are not clear as to what gheebah (backbiting) actually is, which may result in us engaging in it without knowledge. al-Muttalib ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Gheebah (backbiting, gossip) means that a man mentions about a person something which is true, behind his back." (al Suyuti, Malik). And, abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do you know what gheebah is?" They said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "mentioning about your brother something that he dislikes." (Muslim, abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ahmed).

al Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The scholars agree that it is a major sin" and ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "backbiting is forbidden by consensus, and in general there is no exception to that, save in circumstances where it is necessary to speak about people, such as establishing the status and authenticity of hadeeth narrators and giving advice." And we have many Prophetic narrations explaining how dangerous gheebah is, and how one must strive to avoid backbiting. For example, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a person had spoken about another after he left, whereupon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Clean the bits of meat from between your teeth!" The man said: "What should I clean from between my teeth? I haven't eaten any meat! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have eaten the flesh of your brother." (al Tabarani).

And what greater warning than the following narration, wherein the person who commits and engages in backbiting will be exposed on the greatest of all days, the Day of Judgement, by Allah Himself, Most-Just and All-Knowing:

abu Barzah al Aslami and al Bara' ibn Azib (may Allah be pleased with them) narrate that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O you people who pay lip service to faith when it has not entered your hearts! Do not gossip about the Muslims and do not expose their faults. Whoever exposes the faults of his Muslim brother, Allah will expose his faults, and if Allah exposes his faults it will be open for everyone to see, even if he hid in the innermost part of his house." (Tirmidhi, Hibban).

Conversely, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever defends the honour of his brother in his absence, Allah will protect his face from the fire on the Day of Resurrection." (Tirmidhi).