This excerpt is taken from Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi's book Halal and Haram in Islam, translated into Urdu by Muhammad Tahir Naqash.
Backbiting
The sixth matter which is prohibited in the mentioned verse of Surah Al-Hujurat is backbiting. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) defined backbiting as follows:
آتدرون ما الغيبة؟ قالوا الله ورسوله أعلم - قال: ذكرك أخاك بما يكره قيل أفرأيت إن كان فى أخي ما أقول - قال: إن كان فيه ما تقول فقد اغتبته وإن لم يكن فيه ما تقول فقد بهته
"Do you know what backbiting is?" The companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: "It is to mention your brother in a way that he dislikes." It was asked: "What if that is actually in him?" He said: "If that is actually in him, then you have backbitten him, and if it is not, then you have slandered him."
Reference: Muslim, Book of Virtue, Enjoining Good Manners, and Joining of the Ties of Kinship, Chapter: The Prohibition of Backbiting, Hadith: 2589
Generally, the things that people dislike are related to their creation, character, lineage, etc. Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said that I said to the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Is it enough for Sayyida Safiya (may Allah be pleased with her) that she is short in stature?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
لقد قلت كلمة لو مزجت بماء البحر لمزجته
"You have said something that if it were mixed in the sea, it would make its water change."
Reference: Abu Dawood, Book of Manners, Chapter on Backbiting, Hadith: 4875; Tirmidhi, Book on the Description of the Day of Resurrection, Chapter: 51, Hadith: 2502
Backbiting is the desire to demean, humiliate, and disgrace others, and to harm their honor in their absence. It is a sign of weakness and cowardice because it is equivalent to attacking from behind. Backbiting is a negative and evil act because a person who has no concern of his own engages in backbiting others. Therefore, the Qur'an has described the abhorrence and evil of backbiting, and there is nothing surprising in this:
وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ
"And do not backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it."
Reference: (Al-Hujurat: 12)
A person naturally detests eating the flesh of any human being. Then, when it is the flesh of his own dead brother, how much more disgusting it will be?
The Prophet (peace be upon him) constantly tried to instill this Qur'anic image in minds and make people detest backbiting. Thus, Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that once we were in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when a man got up and left the gathering. After he left, another person spoke insultingly about him. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Pick it out." He said: "Why should I pick it out? I have not eaten flesh." He said:
إنك أكلت لحم أخيك
"You have eaten the flesh of your brother."
Reference: Tabarani in Al-Kabir: 10/126
And Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said that we were in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when a foul smell came. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: آتدرون ما هٰذه الريح؟ هٰذه ريح الذين يغتابون المؤمنين
"Do you know what this smell is? It is the smell of those who backbite the believers."
Reference: Musnad Ahmad: 3513; Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad: 753
Limits of Permission Regarding Backbiting
These texts prove that the personal sanctity of an individual is very sacred in Islam. However, there are certain situations which Islamic scholars have exempted from the prohibition of backbiting. This exception should be used only as much as necessary, for example:
◈ An important point in this regard is that the oppressed has the right to complain about the oppressor.
Allah Almighty says:
لَا يُحِبُّ اللَّهُ الْجَهْرَ بِالسُّوءِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ إِلَّا مَنْ ظُلِمَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ سَمِيعًا عَلِيمًا
Allah does not like that the tongue should speak ill except of one who has been wronged. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
Reference: (An-Nisa: 148)
◈ The second situation is when a person asks about a specific individual for the purpose of business partnership, or the marriage of his daughter, or entrusting some important responsibility to him. In such a case, two conflicting matters arise. One is that kindness and goodwill are obligatory in religion, and the other is that the honor of the absent person must also be protected. But since the first matter is more important and sacred, it should be given preference over the second. Thus, when Sayyida Fatimah bint Qais (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) about two messengers, he said about one that he was bankrupt and had no wealth, and about the other that he beat women a lot.
Reference: Muslim, Book of Divorce, Chapter: The irrevocably divorced woman who has no maintenance, Hadith: 1480
◈ Similarly, backbiting is permissible for the purpose of seeking a fatwa (religious ruling).
◈ And also for the purpose of obtaining cooperation to remove wrongdoing.
◈ If a person’s name, title, or description is such that he dislikes it, but he is famous by that name, for example, Arij (lame), Amash (weak-sighted), Ibn so-and-so, etc., then in such a case it is permissible to call him by that name.
◈ Likewise, it is permissible to criticize witnesses and narrators of hadith.
However, in the above-mentioned permissible cases, caution should also be observed that one should not enter the domain of mentioning unpleasant matters about an absent person unless there is a strong necessity. And as long as an allusion or hint suffices, explicit mention should be avoided. Similarly, generalization should be preferred over specification, and nothing should be said that is not actually present, otherwise it will be slander, which is forbidden.
Moreover, in all these matters, the decisive factor is intention. A person knows his own inner and religious motives better than others. It is only through intention that the difference between backbiting, criticism, advice, and publicizing faults can be distinguished. It is also true that a believer holds himself accountable with great strictness.
In Islam, the one who listens to backbiting is equally involved in the sin as the one who commits or utters it. Therefore, it is the responsibility of a Muslim to help his brother in his absence and defend him. The Prophetic hadith states:
من ذب عن عرض أخيه الغيبة كان حقا على الله أن يعتقه من النار
“Whoever does not prevent an attack on the honor of his brother in his absence, Allah has the right to save him from the fire.”
Reference: Musnad Ahmad: 6/461, Makarem al-Akhlaq by Al-Kharati and Abu Nu'aim in Al-Hilya: 6/67, Ibn al-Mubarak in Az-Zuhd p. 240, Hadith: 687, and the hadith has supporting narrations
In another hadith it is stated:
من رد عن عرض أخيه فى الدنيا رد الله عن وجهه النار يوم القيامة
“Whoever protects the honor of his brother in this world, Allah will protect his face from the fire on the Day of Resurrection.”
Reference: Tirmidhi, Book of Virtue and Maintaining Ties, Chapter: What has been narrated about defending the honor of a Muslim, Hadith: 1931
But whoever does not have the courage to do this and cannot stop those who attack his brother’s honor, he should leave such a gathering and completely avoid such people until they do not engage in other matters; otherwise, it is not surprising that he will be counted among the backbiters. Allah Almighty says:
إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِّثْلُهُمْ
“Otherwise, you are like them.”
Reference: (Surah An-Nisa: 140)
Backbiting
A bad habit similar to backbiting is gossiping, which Islam has strictly prohibited. Gossiping is when a person hears something about someone else and conveys it to that other person with the intention of damaging mutual relations and creating discord. The Quran condemned this bad trait early in the Meccan period as follows:
وَلَا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍ مَّهِينٍ 10 هَمَّازٍ مَّشَّاءٍ بِنَمِيمٍ
“Do not obey the one who swears much and is worthless, who gives a taunt and devours gossip.”
Reference: (Surah Al-Qalam: 10-11)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
لا يدخل الجنة قتات
“No gossiper will enter Paradise.”
Reference: Bukhari, Book of Manners, Chapter on What is Disliked Regarding Gossip, Hadith: 6056; Muslim, Book of Faith, Chapter on Clarifying the Prohibition of Gossip, Hadith: 105
He also said:
شرار عباد الله المشاءون بالنميمة المفرقون بين الأحبة الباغون للبرآء العيب
“The worst of people in the sight of Allah are those who gossip, cause division among friends, and desire faults in the innocent.”
Reference: Musnad Ahmad: 4/227
Islam permits, for the purpose of settling disputes and reconciliation, that if a person has spoken ill of another, the one who seeks to reform may conceal it and add something good from his side. The hadith states:
ليس بكذاب من أصلح بين اثنين فقال خيرا أو نمى خيرا
“The person is not a liar who says good things or attributes good things to one of two people in order to reconcile them.”
Reference: Bukhari, Book of Reconciliation, Chapter: The One Who Reconciles People is Not a Liar, Hadith: 2692; Muslim, Book of Virtue and Maintaining Ties, Chapter on Prohibition of Lying and Clarification of What is Permissible, Hadith: 2605
Islam strongly disapproves of those who, upon hearing something bad, immediately spread it around with the intention of causing discord and mischief. Such people do not stop at merely repeating what they heard; they embellish it and even fabricate additional things from their own side.
A person once came to Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) and began to speak ill of another person. He said: If you wish, we will consider your matter. If you are lying, then you are among those mentioned in the verse ﴿إِن جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا﴾
Reference: (Surah Al-Hujurat: 6)
, and if you wish, we will forgive you. The person said: O Commander of the Faithful! Please forgive me. I will never do such a thing again.
