❖ Backbiting: A Major Sin and Prohibited Act — Evidences from Qur’an and Hadith ❖
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
What do you say about backbiting (ghībah)?
Answer:
Backbiting is harām and a major sin. This is established by the Qur’an, authentic aḥādīth, and the consensus of the Ummah.
Definition:
Mentioning something about your brother behind his back which he dislikes — whether related to physical faults (e.g., blind, lame, bald, short, tall, dark, pale, etc.), religious shortcomings (e.g., sinner, thief, negligent in prayer, disobedient to parents, etc.), or worldly flaws (e.g., rude, arrogant, overly talkative, gluttonous, oversleeping, etc.). All such mentions constitute ghībah.
✿ Qur’anic Evidence
Allah ﷻ says:
﴿وَلَا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللهَ إِنَّ اللهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴾
(al-Ḥujurāt: 12)
“Do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would surely detest it. So fear Allah; indeed Allah is Oft-Relenting, Most Merciful.”
✿ Hadith Evidence
❀ Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
أتدرون ما الغيبة؟ قالوا: الله ورسوله أعلم، قال: ذكرك أخاك بما يكره … فإن كان فيه ما تقول، فقد اغتبته، وإن لم يكن فيه فقد بهته.
“Do you know what backbiting is? They said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: It is to mention about your brother that which he dislikes. It was asked: What if what I say is true of my brother? He replied: If it is in him, you have backbitten him; and if it is not, you have slandered him.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2589)
✿ Consensus of Scholars
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Nawawī رحمه الله (676H) said:
أما حكمهما، فهما محرمتان بإجماع المسلمين …
“As for their ruling, both backbiting and tale-carrying are prohibited by the consensus of Muslims, with clear evidences from Qur’an, Sunnah, and the consensus of the Ummah.”
(al-Adhkār, p. 337)
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله (774H) said:
الغيبة محرمة بالإجماع.
“Backbiting is harām by consensus.”
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: 7/380)
✿ Exception Cases
Backbiting is permissible only where there is a Sharʿī or worldly benefit, such as:
- Quoting scholars’ statements of jarḥ wa taʿdīl (criticism of narrators) for the protection of religion.
- Warning others against a person’s harm.
- Mentioning a well-known physical attribute used as identification, if it is not disliked by the person himself (e.g., the Companion known as Dhu al-Yadayn due to his long hands — al-Bukhārī: 714, Muslim: 573).
Conclusion:Backbiting is unanimously considered harām and a major sin, likened by the Qur’an to eating the flesh of one’s dead brother. It is permitted only in cases of legitimate necessity such as protecting religion or warning against harm.
