Surah Al-Hujuraat (49) — Ayah 12

12. O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion [19], for indeed some suspicion is a sin. And do not spy on one another, nor backbite [21] one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would surely detest it. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is Most Accepting of repentance, Most Merciful.

[19]
Avoidance of Evil Suspicion:

Allah Almighty did not say to avoid suspicion altogether, but rather said to avoid much suspicion. Because every human being is compelled to have suspicion at some time or another. And if suspicion becomes a habit, it is a very bad thing because most suspicions are based on evil thoughts, and harboring evil suspicion about someone is itself a major sin. In contrast, the teaching of Islam is that one should have a good opinion of every person until such time as he commits an act that changes good opinion into evil suspicion. Another important point is that if a bad thought arises about someone, until it is expressed by the tongue, it is not held accountable. In this verse, in fact, it is forbidden that some people have the habit that if they have a disagreement or quarrel with someone, they try to find a bad aspect even in his good deeds. For example, if in a matter there are four aspects that can be interpreted positively and one aspect that can be interpreted negatively, their gaze will always turn to the negative aspect. Such people are generally in the habit of thinking badly about others instead of having a good opinion.

[20]
Avoidance of Spying:

Tajassus (spying) is generally related to such actions that have either never occurred or have not become apparent. For example, to keep prying into someone’s affairs, to peep into someone’s house, to secretly listen to someone’s conversations, to look at someone’s letters, or to listen in on telephone conversations, etc.—all these fall under this category. The purpose of such actions is to find out something by which the person can be defamed and dishonored. The prohibition of such spying is not only for individuals but also for the Islamic government. It is not the job of the Islamic government to search out people’s faults and bring them to public attention and then punish them. Rather, its job is only to eradicate those evils that become apparent, by means of power. However, in the course of investigating a criminal, it may do such things. And as for those evils that are not apparent but are hidden or inside homes, their remedy is not spying, but their correction through education, admonition, public training, and by creating a pure social environment.

[21]
Avoidance of Backbiting:

The definition of backbiting that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself stated is that you mention your brother in a way that he dislikes. The Companions asked: “If what I say is actually found in my brother, then what?” He ﷺ replied: “If what you say is found in him, then you have backbitten him, and if it is not found in him, then you have slandered him.” [مسلم۔ کتاب البر والصلۃ والادب۔ باب تحریم الغیبۃ]
And it is clear that slander is an even greater crime than backbiting, and whether backbiting is done about a living person behind his back or about a deceased person, there is no difference in the nature of the crime. Allah Almighty has likened backbiting to eating the flesh of one’s dead brother, because the one who backbites attacks his honor, as if he is cutting him up and eating him, and “dead” is mentioned because the one who is being backbitten is not present.

Exceptions to the Prohibition of Backbiting:

However, in view of certain important needs, the Shariah has made some exceptions to this prohibition. For example:
1. The oppressed may mention the oppressor’s wrongdoing before the ruler in order to seek redress for his oppression. The basis for this is Surah An-Nisa, verse 148. Because without this, the system of justice cannot function. The oppressed is not allowed to backbite the oppressor before the general public without need or for the sake of humiliation, nor to narrate his story of oppression. Just as an oppressed person may mention the oppressor’s wrongdoing before the court, similarly, in the case of seeking a fatwa, he may mention it before the mufti.
2. To inform a believing brother of someone’s faults and merits in order to protect him from that person’s harm or loss. For example, if someone wants to marry, or enter into a business partnership, or buy a house in someone’s neighborhood, or wants to lend him money or entrust him with something, and he consults another brother, then the one giving advice should honestly mention the relevant person’s faults and merits so that he is not deceived. The basis for this is the hadith in which a man came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said that he had contracted marriage with a woman from the Ansar. The Prophet ﷺ asked: “Have you seen her?” He said, “No.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Go and see her, for there is something (a defect) in the eyes of the women of the Ansar.” [مسلم۔ کتاب النکاح۔ باب ندب من اراد نکاح امراۃً]
3. The law of jarh wa ta'dil among the hadith scholars, upon which the entire science of hadith criticism depends, and by which the general Muslims are protected from misguidance. In this case, mentioning the faults and merits of narrators is not only permissible but unanimously obligatory. Its basis is also the same hadith mentioned above, as well as verse 6 of this surah, i.e., the necessity of verifying the report of a transgressor.
4. To openly raise one’s voice and criticize those who are spreading immorality and wickedness, or propagating innovations and misguidance, or plunging the creation of Allah into the trials of irreligion and oppression.