Gheebah

Backbiting in Islam is called Gheebah (غيبة). It is generally regarded as a major sin in Islam and compared in the Qur'an to the abomination of eating the flesh of a dead brother.

Qur'an

There are two verses in the Quran about backbiting. Verse 12 of Surah Al-Hujurat says:

Believers, beware of many ideas. Surely some ideas are wrong. And don't look for secrets. Let none of you slander anyone behind his back. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of their dead brother? In fact, you hate it. Fear Allah. Surely Allah is Accepting repentance, Most Merciful. Surah Al-Hujurat (49): Verse: 12

Verse 148 of Surah Nisa says:

Allah does not like the spread of evil, but it is different when someone is wronged. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

— Surah Nisa (4): Verse: 148

Hadith

The hadith defines backbiting and generally advises not to do it and not to publicize and keep secrets (كتمان الاسرار) of others.

Yahya Ibn Ayyub, Qutaybah and Ibn Hujar (R.A.) ..... Abu Hurairah (R.A.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: Do you know what backbiting is? They said, Allah and His Messenger know best. He said, (backbiting is) discussing something about your brother that he dislikes. The question is, what do you say if what I am saying is true in my brother? He said, "If what you say about him is true in him, then you have slandered him." And if it is not in him, then you slander him.

— Muslim 2589

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "During the Mi'raj (the Night of Ascension), I saw a group of people who were scratching their chests and faces with their copper nails. I asked, 'Who are these people, O Jibril?' Jibril replied: 'These are the people who ate flesh of others (by backbiting) and trampled people's honour."'

— [Sahih al-Bukhari 6581, 7517, Abu Dawud 4748, 4878]

Rasulullah (s.a.w.) said, 'You do not find the faults and mistakes of Muslims. Whoever finds and exposes the faults of others, Allah himself exposes his faults. And Allah humiliates him in his own house whose fault he exposes. (Abu Dawud: 4880, Tirmidhi, Hadith: 2032)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever keeps his Muslim brother's secret secret, Allah will keep his secret secret on the Day of Resurrection." And whoever reveals the secrets of his Muslim brother, Allah will reveal his secrets. Even because of this, he will humiliate him even in his house.

— (Ibn Majah: 2546)

Narrated by Abu Huraira (R.A.), Rasulullah (S.A.W.) said, 'The sins of all my Ummah will be forgiven; But the fault-finder will not be forgiven. He expresses the fault in the way that a person did something during the night, and then the morning came. Almighty Allah kept his work secret. He says (to people in the morning), O so-and-so! I did this last night. But he spent the night in such a state that Allah kept his deeds secret and he removed this veil of Allah in the morning.'

— (Bukhari, Hadith: 6069)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever conceals the faults of others, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the hereafter." (Muslim: 2699)

Scope of validity

Based on the mentioned second verse and some reliable hadiths Islamic jurists including Al-Nawawi in his book Gardens of the Righteous have declared slanderer or slander in 6 cases to be valid according to hadiths: Sahih al-Bukhari 6032, 6054, 6131, Muslim 2591, Tirmidhi 1996, Abu Dawud 4791, 4792, Ahmad 23586, 23984, 24277, 24726, 24878, Muwatta Malik 1672 -

1. oppressed and seeking justice against a tyrant ruler or
2. seeking a solution to a problem from a judicial person or someone reliable,
3. exposing religious errors while propagating Islam,
4. about a person engaged in openly persistent deadly sins or bid'ah which harm people,
5. warning someone of danger and harm in case of marriage, business and contract, and
6. defining one's characteristic with the popular negative traits without which he can not be recognised easily.

Explanation

1. It is permissible for an oppressed person to speak before the judge or someone in a similar position of authority to help him or her establish his or her rights by telling him `so-and-so wronged me and has done such and such to me' etc.
2. It is permissible to seek somebody's assistance in forbidding evil and helping someone change his or her immoral conduct. One can say to the person who can offer such assistance, `so-and-so does such and such evil deeds. Can you exhort him?' etc. This is permissible as long as one intends to forbid evil. If, however, one intends something else apart from this, then this act becomes unlawful.
3. One who seeks legal verdict on a certain matter may point out the defaults of another person or relate something else. One in this case can say to the Mufti (religious scholar who issues verdicts): "My father or brother (for example) treated me unjustly. Can I get my right established?" etc. This is permissible to say only if need be, but it is better to say `What do you think of someone who did such and such?' This does not mean, however, that naming the person in question is not permissible, Hadith No. 1536 of Riyadh as Salihin by Al-Nawawi makes this point clear.
4. One who criticizes those who openly commit acts of disobedience, such as drinking wine, gambling, engaging in immoral habits, fornication, hypocrisy, and making mischief.
5. It is permissible to call into question the narrators of Hadith, and witnesses in the court when the need arises. It is also permissible to mention the bad qualities of somebody for marriage purposes in case an advice is sought. Also, if one has noticed that a "seeker of knowledge frequently goes to the gatherings of an innovator in religion and one fears that this "seeker of knowledge may be affected by this so-called scholar, then he must in this case give counsel to the "seeker of knowledge" by telling him about the "innovator," etc.
6. It is permissible to use names such as "Al-a`mash" which means 'the blear-eyed' to talk about people who are known by such names for the sake of identification and not for disparaging people and underestimating them. To identify them without resorting to such names is however better.

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: A man sought permission for audience with the Prophet (ﷺ). He said, "Give him permission but he is a bad member of his tribe."

— [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Imam Al-Bukhari has obviously justified the backbiting of wicked people to save people from being deceived from their appearance. If people are not informed of the real conduct of such persons, their religious as well as worldly life will be exposed to a grave danger. For this reason, the backbiting of wicked persons for the purpose of warning others is permissible.

Related pages

• Taqwa