{"id":5015,"date":"2021-10-13T10:50:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T09:50:13","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-10-13T10:50:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T09:50:13","slug":"why-people-backbite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/5015\/why-people-backbite\/","title":{"rendered":"Why People Backbite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why People Backbite<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Why People Backbite: <\/strong>The excuse presented to them for this, rather than any other obvious transgression, is perhaps heedlessness about its being prohibited despite all the discussions of verses and narratives warning us all in its regard. This is the least excuse presented by those who are habitual in being thus heedless. Perhaps they take these sins as being not affecting their status of mastership on account of this type of contemptible behavior being hidden from those who seek a station with the ignorant ones. If Satan insinuates to them to drink wine or commit adultery with chaste women, they would not obey him because it is seen as a sin by the masses of people who see its place as being low. To them, it is one of the clearly visible sins.
\nHad people referred to their power of reasoning and sought light from their intellects, they would have found a distant difference between both sins and a great deal of variation. Nay! There is no way to compare sins which undermine the right of All\u0101h, Praise to Him, in particular and what is relevant of them to His servants, especially the latter\u2019s honor, for honor is greater than wealth and more precious. The more precious a thing is, the greater is the sin of violating it in addition to total corruption as we, God willing, will be witnessing.
\nI liked to place in this message a group of statements about backbiting, how the Book and the Sunnah prohibit it, how reason leads to this conclusion, naming it Kashf al-Reeba an Ahkam al-Gheeba (removing doubt about the rulings relevant to backbiting), following it with whatever relates to backbiting and some rulings about envy, concluding it with urging communication, enjoining love and kindness. I have arranged it into an Introduction, Chapters and a Conclusion.
\nAbout the Introduction, its definition and a group of prohibitions which carry warnings, here below are some of them: We say that gheeba, backbiting, as an expression, has two definitions: One of them is famous: It is mentioning someone\u2019s condition during his absence in a way which he hates, attributing to him what is regarded as a shortcoming according to convention in order to belittle and speak ill of him. Beware of underestimating something wrong when you speak to the doctor, for example, or when you plead to the ruler for mercy when you condemn time or talks about a blind man and point out their shortcomings. One can do away with doing so by voicing displeasure with these things which are attributed to him.
\nThe other is attracting one\u2019s attention to something whereby he hates to be identified. This is more general than the first because of making a statement, a reference, or narrating a tale or other things, and it is better because of what we will be explaining about backbiting not being restricted to only making statements.
\nA famous tradition cites the Prophet (\u0635) asking his companions, \u201cDo you know what backbiting is?\u201d They said, \u201cAll\u0101h and His Messenger know best.\u201d He said, \u201cIt is when you say something about your brother which he hates.\u201d It was said to him, \u201cSuppose what I say about my brother is true.\u201d He said, \u201cIf what you say is true, it is backbiting, and if it is not, it is slandering.\u201d This is recorded in Tanb\u012bh al-Khwatir, Vol. 1, p. 118. It is also recorded in Al-Targheeb wal Tarheeb, Vol. 3, p. 515.
\nSome people mentioned the name of a man in the presence of the Prophet (\u0635), saying, \u201cHow weak he is!\u201d He (\u0635) said, \u201cYou have backbitten your fellow.\u201d They said, \u201cO Messenger of All\u0101h! What we have said about him is true!\u201d He (\u0635) said, \u201cIf you wrongfully attribute something to him, you will be slandering him.\u201d This is stated in Ad-Durr Al-Manthoor, Vol. 6, p. 96.
\nThere is consensus about prohibiting backbiting. It is a major sin due to both the Book of All\u0101h and the Sunnah warning against it.
\nAll\u0101h Almighty clearly holds it in contempt in His Book, making a similitude between one who is guilty of it to one who eats the flesh of his dead brother. He says, \u201cO you who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible), for suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy on each other, nor speak ill of others by way of backbiting. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay! You would abhor it… but fear All\u0101h, for All\u0101h is oft-Returning, Most Merciful\u201d (Qur\u2019\u0101n, 49:12).
\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) has said, \u201cA Muslim, all of him, is prohibited from harming another Muslim, whether shedding his blood, or robbing him of his possessions, or harming his honor\u201d (Vol. 1, p. 115 of Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir).
\nJ\u0101bir [ibn Abdull\u0101h al-Ans\u0101ri] and Ab\u016b Sa`\u012bd al-Khudri have said, \u201cHe (\u0635) has said, \u2018Beware of backbiting, for backbiting is worse than adultery. An adulterer repents, so All\u0101h accepts his repentance, but one who backbites is not forgiven unless his fellow [whom he had backbitten] forgives him\u2019\u201d (Vol. 1, p. 115 of Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir; p. 116 of Irsh\u0101d al-Qul\u016bb).
\nIn a famous lengthy narrative, the Prophet (\u0635) is quoted as having said, \u201cThe recording angels report the deeds of a servant of All\u0101h, and he has a light like the rays of the sun which stays on till it reaches the lower heavens as the recording angels think greatly of his deeds and testify for him. But when it reaches the gate, the angel in charge of the gate says, \u2018Smite the face of the doer of this deed! I am in charge of monitoring backbiting; my Lord ordered me not to let any good deed of one who backbites people reach my Lord\u2019\u201d (see p. 74, Vol. 1 of Al-Targhib wal Tarhib).
\nAnas is said as having quoted the Prophet (\u0635) saying, \u201cDuring the night of isr\u0101\u2019, I passed by people who were scratching their noses with their nails. I asked Gabriel about them. Gabriel said, \u2018These are the people who backbite others and speak ill of their honor\u2019\u201d (p. 115, Vol. 1 of Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir; p. 116 of Irsh\u0101d al-Qul\u016bb).
\nAl-Bar\u0101\u2019 [ibn `\u0100zib] has said, \u201cThe Messenger of All\u0101h delivered a sermon to us once till the free ladies in their own homes heard him. He said, \u2018O folks who have believed in tongue but not in heart! Do not backbite the Muslims, and do not trace their shortcomings, for if one keeps track of the shortcoming of his brother, All\u0101h will track his shortcoming, and if All\u0101h tracks his shortcoming, He will expose him even in the deepest depth of his home\u2019\u201d (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 115).
\nSulaym\u0101n ibn J\u0101bir has said, \u201cI went to see the Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be with him and his progeny, and said to him, \u2018Teach me something good whereby All\u0101h benefits me.\u2019 He said, \u2018Do not underestimate any good deed even if it is an act of pouring from your bucket into a cup of one seeking a drink, and when you meet your brother, meet him with a smile. When he goes away, do not backbite him\u2019\u201d (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 115).
\nAnas [ibn M\u0101lik] has said, \u201cThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) delivered a sermon to us once and mentioned usury, touching upon its magnanimity. He said, \u2018One dirham is won by a man through usury is looked upon by All\u0101h as greater than thirty-six acts of adultery a man commits. The most serious type of usury is when one speaks ill of a Muslim\u2019s honor\u2019\u201d (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 116).
\nJ\u0101bir has said, \u201cWe were in the company of the Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) when he approached two graves of persons being tormented. He said, \u2018They are not being tormented because of having committed a major sin. One of them used to backbite people. The other was too careless to cleanse himself after urinating.\u2019 He (\u0635) called for a fresh palm leaf or two which he broke, planting one on each grave. He (\u0635) said, \u2018This will lighten their torment as long as they are not dry\u2019\u201d (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 116).
\nAnas has said, \u201cThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) ordered people once to fast then said, \u2018Nobody should break his fast till I give him permission.\u2019 People fasted. When it was evening, a man would come and say, \u2018O Messenger of All\u0101h! I have kept my fast; so, please grant me permission to break my fast,\u2019 and he would give him permission. A man came and said, \u2018O Messenger of All\u0101h! Two young women from among your folks have kept fasting, but they are too shy to come to you; so, please give them permission to break their fast.\u2019 The Prophet (\u0635) turned away from him. The man repeated his request, whereupon the Prophet said to him, \u2018They did not uphold their fast. How can one fast while eating people\u2019s flesh? Go and tell them that if they were fasting, they should vomit.\u2019 The man returned to the young women and narrated the above to them. They vomited. Each of them vomited a clot of blood. The man returned to the Prophet (\u0635) and told him about it. He (\u0635) said to him, \u2018I swear by the One Who holds the soul of Muhammad in His hand that had they (clots) remained in their stomachs, they would have consumed them like fire.\u2019\u201d Another version of this incident says that when the Prophet turned away from the man, the latter returned and said, \u201cO Messenger of All\u0101h! They, by All\u0101h, have almost died [of hunger and thirst].\u201d The Prophet (\u0635) told the man to bring him the two women whom he ordered to vomit. Each vomited blood, filling a whole container. He (\u0635) then said, \u201cThese women abstained from what All\u0101h had permitted them and broke their fast on what All\u0101h had prohibited them. Each sat with the other and both kept eating people\u2019s flesh\u201d (Ihy\u0101 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 134. Ad-Durr al-Manth\u016br, Vol. 6, p. 96).
\nIt has also been reported that \u201cOne who eats his brother\u2019s flesh in the short life will have the flesh brought near to him in the Hereafter and it will be said to him, \u2018Eat it dead as you ate it alive.\u2019 He will eat it and will cry out and frown indignantly\u201d (Ihy\u0101\u2019 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 135).
\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) stoned a man once on account of having committed adultery. Someone said to his fellow, \u201cThis man used to squirt like dogs.\u201d The Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) brought them a carcass and said to them, \u201cEat it.\u201d They said, \u201cO Messenger of All\u0101h! Must we really eat a stinking carcass?!\u201d He (\u0635) said, \u201cWhat you have just eaten of the flesh of your brother is more stinking than it\u201d (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 116).
\nIm\u0101m al-S\u0101diq (\u0639) has said, \u201cBackbiting is prohibited on every Muslim. It consumes good deeds as the fire consumes firewood\u201d (Musb\u0101h al-Shar\u012b`a, pp. 204-205).
\nAl-Sad\u016bq has cited his forefathers citing Ali (\u0639) saying that the Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) said, \u201cFour persons shall add harm to the residents of the fire to the harm from which they already suffer: They shall be given to drink of the boiling water in hell. They shall lament, so much so that the people of the fire shall say to each other, \u2018What is wrong with these four harming us in addition to the harm from which we already suffer?\u2019 One of them will be dangling from a coffin made of burning timbers and a man runs with him. A man\u2019s mouth will be dripping blood and pus. And a man will be eating his own flesh. It will be said to the man of the coffin, \u2018What is wrong with the furthermost man, for he has added to our harm?\u2019 He will say, \u2018The furthermost man died owing people money; he did not feel like paying them back or fulfilling his obligations to them.\u2019 Then it will be said to the man running with him, \u2018What is wrong with the furthermost man who has added harm to our harm?\u2019 He will say, \u2018The furthermost man used not to care where his urine fell on his body.\u2019 Then it will be said to the man whose mouth drips blood and pus, \u2018What is wrong with the furthermost man, for he has added to our harm?\u2019 He will say, \u2018The furthermost man used to mimic people: He would look at every foul word, praise then repeat it.\u2019 Then it will be said to the one who eats his own flesh, \u2018What is wrong with the furthermost man, for he has added to our harm?\u2019 He will say, \u2018The furthermost man used to eat of people\u2019s flesh through backbiting, slandering others\u2019\u201d (`Iqb\u0101l-A`m\u0101l, p. 294).
\nThrough tracking the isn\u0101d back to the Prophet (\u0635), the Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) said once, \u201cOne who delves into backbiting his brother, revealing his shortcomings, will have placed his first step in hell, and All\u0101h will reveal his shortcoming to all creation\u201d (`Iq\u0101b al-A`m\u0101l, p. 337).
\nOne who backbites a Muslim will have his fast nullified, and his ablution will be void; so, if he dies in such a state, he will be regarded as having permitted what All\u0101h prohibits (`Iq\u0101b al-A`m\u0101l, p. 332).
\nAb\u016b Abdull\u0101h (\u0639) has said that the Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) said, \u201cBackbiting is more swift in undermining a Muslim\u2019s creed than the food in his stomach\u201d (Al-K\u0101fi, Vol. 2, p. 357; see also Al-Ikhtis\u0101s, p. 228).
\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) has said, \u201cSitting in a mosque waiting for the prayer is adoration as long as one does not do something awful.\u201d It was said to him, \u201cO Messenger of All\u0101h! What is this awful thing?\u201d He said, \u201cBackbiting\u201d (Rawdat al-W\u0101izeen, p. 470; see also Al-K\u0101fi, Vol. 2, p. 257).
\nThe son of Ab\u016b Omer has cited Ab\u016b Abdull\u0101h (\u0639) saying, \u201cOne who mentions what he sees in a believer with his own eyes and hears with his own ears is included among those about whom All\u0101h has said, \u201cThose who love (to see) scandal publicized widely among the believers will have a grievous penalty in this life and in the hereafter\u201d (Qur\u2019\u0101n, 24:19); Al-K\u0101fi, Vol. 2, p. 357.
\nAl-Mufaddal quotes [Abdull\u0101h] ibn Omer saying that Ab\u016b Abdull\u0101h has said, \u201cOne who tells a tale about a believer whereby he intends to dishonor him, undermine his prestige and make people think lowly of him, All\u0101h gets him out of His protection to the protection of Satan, and even Satan will not accept to protect him\u201d (Al-K\u0101fi, Vol. 2, p. 358; see also Al-Ikhtis\u0101s, p. 32).
\nAll\u0101h Almighty has inspired to Moses son of Imran [Amram] that if a backbiter repents, he will be the last to enter Paradise, and if he does not, he will be the first to enter hell (Mas\u0101bih al-Shar\u012b\u2019a, p. 205).
\nIt has been narrated that Jesus, peace be with him, and his disciples passed once by the carcass of a dog. The disciples said, \u201cHow foul its stink is!\u201d Jesus, peace be with him, said, \u201cHow white his teeth are!\u201d (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 117). It is as though the prophet was prohibiting them from speaking ill of the dog, attracting their attention to mentioning only what is best of All\u0101h\u2019s creations.
\nIt has been indicated with regard to the interpretation of this verse of the Almighty: \u201cWoe unto every (kind of) scandal-monger and backbiter\u201d (Qur\u2019\u0101n, 104:1) that the scandal-monger is one who slanders people, while the backbiter is the one who eats people\u2019s live flesh (Ihy\u0101 `Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 135).
\nAl-Hassan has said, \u201cBy All\u0101h! Backbiting is faster in [bearing an impact on] the faith of a believer than what he eats bears on his body\u201d (Ihy\u0101 `Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 135).
\nBe informed that the reason which requires emphasizing the issue of backbiting and making it look greater than many major transgressions is its inclusion of all what contradicts the goal of the Wise One, Praised is He, unlike the rest of transgressions, for these cause partial harms.
\nThe explanation of the above is this: The important goal of the legislator is to unite the souls on one concern, one way, which is: treading the path of All\u0101h in all its provisions, what it allows or prohibits, and this cannot materialize except through cooperation and solidarity among humankinds. The latter depends on their determination being united, on their innermost becoming pure, and on their collective fellowship and love so they may be like one single slave obeying his Master. This, too, will never materialize except by getting rid of grudge, hatred, envy and the like. One who backbites his brother incurs his grudge and prompts a similar reaction. This surely is the opposite of what the legislator ultimately seeks. It is an overwhelming harm; therefore, All\u0101h and His Messenger (\u0635) have emphasized its prohibition, warning against it, and surely success comes only from All\u0101h.
\nHaving completed what the Introduction requires, let us start delving into this book\u2019s Chapters:<\/p>\n

Types of Gheeba
\nSince you have come to know that gheeba means mentioning something which displeases your brother if he comes to know about it, or if he is informed of it or his attention is brought to it, including anything relevant to a shortcoming in his physique, lineage, conduct, or anything he says or does about his creed or worldly affairs, even if it is about what he wears or rides.
\nIm\u0101m al-S\u0101diq (\u0639) has pointed to this saying, \u201cThe facets of backbiting is that you mention a defect in form [or conduct], deeds, treatment, sect, ignorance or the like\u201d (Musbah al-Sharee\u2019a, p. 205).
\nRegarding one\u2019s physique, you may refer to his being blear-eyed, cross-eyed, one-eyed, bald, short, tall, black, yellow and anything one can imagine as being “defective” or deforming.
\nAs for lineage, one may say that someone\u2019s father is a debauchee, mean, low, a shoe-mender, merchant, weaver, ignorant or the like, anything which one may dislike no matter what it is, period.
\nAs for conduct, one may say that someone is bad-mannered, tricky, haughty, bragging, irritable, coward, weak-hearted, etc.
\nAs regarding his creed-related deeds, you may say that he is a thief, liar, wine drinker, betrayer, oppressor, does not take his daily prayers seriously, his bowing and prostrating are not good, he takes no precautions with regard to cleansiness, unkind to his parents, does not safeguard himself from backbiting or speaking ill of people\u2019s honor, etc.
\nAs regarding his worldly deeds, it is like your saying that he is impolite, does not take people seriously, feels no obligation towards anyone, talkative, glutton, sleeps too much or sits where he does not belong, etc.
\nWith regard to dressing himself, you may say that his sleeves are too wide, his robe drags behind him, his clothes are not clean, and the like.
\nBe informed that backbiting is not confined to articulation. Rather, it is prohibited because it conveys to others a shortcoming in\/about your brother, identifying him in a way which he hates. Exposing him is similar to scandalizing him about anything relevant to any action such as speech, signal, gesture, beckon, defamation, censure, motion\u2026 and everything which lets the other person form a bad impression. All these fall in the category of backbiting and are equivalent to articulation of a thought the pronouncement of which is prohibitive.
\nAn example for this is narrated about `Aisha having said, \u201cA woman came to us once. When she left, I signaled with my hand that she was short. The Prophet (\u0635) told me that I had thus backbitten her\u201d (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 118).
\nAnother example is mimicking. One walks as though he is lame or imitating someone\u2019s gait. It is backbiting. It is even more so; it is greater in conveying a picture and thus getting an idea across. It also includes backbiting by writing. A book, it is said, is one of the two tongues. Also included is one who mentions a particular classifier and misrepresents his statements in his own book unless he mentions excuses requiring it such as ijtih\u0101d issues without which the goal behind a fatwa is not reached, or producing evidence for the point he drives unless he labels as “wrong” someone else\u2019s statements and the like.
\nStill included is one saying something like this: “One of those who passed by us, etc.,” or “Someone we saw today looks like such-and-such, etc.” Thus, a particular individual is understood to be implied by the statement. What one should avoid is getting others to identify who exactly he means. If such an individual is not thus identified, understood to be the one spoken about, it is alright. The Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635), whenever he saw someone doing something which he hated would say, “What is wrong with people who do such-and-such?” (Ihy\u0101 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 137). He would not specify.
\nAmong the most harmful types of backbiting is one done by pretenders who would like others to characterize them as being men of understanding. They convey their thoughts in the method employed by true righteous and pious people so they may pretend to be above backbiting while transmitting their thought. Due to their ignorance, they thus combine two sins: pretension and backbiting.
\nAn example for it is that one hears someone mentioning the name of someone else, so he says, “Praise be to All\u0101h Who did not afflict us with love for authority” or for love for this world, or to seem in a particular way similar to the individual mentioned. Or one may say, “We seek refuge with All\u0101h against immodesty” or against ill luck, or “We plead to All\u0101h to protect us from such-and-such.” Actually, one merely praising All\u0101h for not making him the opposite of what another person is characterized is regarded as backbiting in the form of supplication while hiding under the cloak of men of righteousness. His intention is actually to mention that person\u2019s fault by saying something which includes both backbiting and pretension even as he supplicates to All\u0101h to rid him of sins, not knowing that he already has committed these sins; in fact, he has committed the worst of these sins.
\nAn example for the above is when one starts by praising someone whom he wants to backbite, so he says, “How good the condition of so-and so! He never fell short of performing his acts of adoration, but lately he has slackened and has been afflicted with that whereby we all are afflicted: impatience.” Thus, he speaks ill of himself while in reality he intends to speak ill of someone else. He praises himself by comparing himself with the righteous as the latter condemn their evil-insinuating selves.
\nThus, he backbites; he is being a pretender. He praises himself, combining three sins while, due to his ignorance, he thinks he is among the righteous who are above backbiting others. Thus does Satan play havoc with ignorant folks if they seek knowledge but act without having become fully acquainted with the paths of such knowledge. Satan follows them and surrounds their deeds with his schemes, laughing at them and making fun of them.
\nAlso included is one who mentions someone\u2019s shortcoming, but nobody among his audience notices it, so he says, “Praise be to All\u0101h! How strange it is!” The backbiter indicates so in the hope the inattentive person may listen to him carefully and get to understand his hint. He mentions the Name of All\u0101h, Praise to Him, using His Name as a means to achieve his own meanness and falsehood. Due to his ignorance and conceit, he thinks he is doing All\u0101h a favor by mentioning His Name.
\nAlso included is one who says that someone did such-and-such or has been afflicted with such-and-such. He may even say, “Our fellow, friend, may All\u0101h grant him and our own selves acceptance of repentance\u2026, etc.” Thus, he pretends to supplicate for him, feeling pain on his account, being a friend and a fellow, while All\u0101h is acquainted with the meanness of his inner self and the corruption of his conscience. Due to his ignorance, he does not know that he has exposed himself to a greater contempt than that to which the ignorant ones are exposed when they openly backbite.
\nAmong its hidden types is listening to backbiting in the way of expressing amazement. One demonstrates amazement in order to energize the backbiter as the latter is at it, encouraging him to continue backbiting, as if he is extracting backbiting out of him in such a way. He may say, “I have been amazed at what you have just stated. Till now, I never knew it! I did not know that that individual is like that!” He wants to testify to the backbiter being truthful, asking him in a nice way to provide him with more. Testifying to the truth of backbiting, actually even listening to it, even remaining silent about it, is by itself an act of backbiting.
\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) has said, “One who listens (to backbiting) is one of the two backbiters” (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 119). Im\u0101m Ali (\u0639) has said, “One who listens to backbiting is one of those who backbite” (Ghurar al-Hikam, p. 74).
\nHe (\u0639) means that if one listens to backbiting with enjoyment, not (necessarily) agreeing, or who can deny what he hears but does not do so, is included in the sin. Since both individuals, the one who listens to, or who hears in such a way of enjoyment, actually backbite, this is due to his sharing the pleasure which the backbiter feels when he backbites. It is due to their minds, both of them, being conditioned with contemptible images which should not be there even when they differ in the fact that one of them is articulating and the other is being receptive. But each of them is using a mechanism that helps him backbite: One of them uses his tongue to express a soul that has been polluted by drawing images of lies, prohibitions and the determination to be involved in them. The other listens as his soul accepts such effects due to taking such a bad option, becoming used to them, accustomed to it, enabling the poisoning of the subconscious mind with falsehood.
\nAn example for the above is the wise saying that the listener is the speaker\u2019s partner. In the previous example, there is an indication that when the Prophet (\u0635) said to one of the men who said about another that the latter squirted like dogs, “Eat of this carcass!”, thus putting them both in the same box although one of them was a speaker and the other a listener. The listener does not get out of the sin of backbiting except if he rejects it by his tongue, but if he fears, he rejects it by his heart. If he can stand and leave or interrupt such talk with something else but does not, the sin will be attached to him. Had he said with his tongue, “Shut your mouth!” while inwardly he liked to hear, it would have been hypocrisy, another sin added. Nothing gets him out of the sin (of backbiting) unless he sincerely hates it with his heart.
\nThe Prophet (\u0635) is reported as having said, “One who witnesses a believer being humiliated without supporting him, while being able to do so, will be humiliated by All\u0101h on the Day of Judgment as the creation looks on” (Ihy\u0101 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 138).
\nAb\u016b al-Dard\u0101\u2019 is quoted as having said that the Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) had said, “One who protects his brother\u2019s honor as it is charged with backbiting, All\u0101h will protect his honor on the Judgment Day” (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 119).
\nHe (\u0635) has also said, “One who defends his brother\u2019s honor with regard to backbiting, All\u0101h will set him free from the fire” (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 119).
\nThrough his isn\u0101d to the Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635), al-Sad\u016bq has stated that the Prophet (\u0635) said, “One who defends on behalf of his brother, because of backbiting which he had heard in a gathering and which he refutes, All\u0101h will close a thousand gates of evil in his face in the life of this world and in the hereafter. But if he does not refute it while being able to do so, his burden will be seventy times as much as that of the person who had backbitten him” (Al-Sad\u016bq\u2019s A`m\u0101li, p. 350).
\nThrough isn\u0101d to Im\u0101m al-B\u0101qir (\u0639), the Im\u0101m said, “One who listens to his believing brother being backbitten, so he defends and supports him, All\u0101h will support him in the life of this world and in the hereafter. All\u0101h will abandon one who does not defend such a brother, while being able to defend and help him, in the life of this world and in the hereafter” (Al-Mah\u0101sin, p. 103, tradition No. 81).
\nBe informed that one is prohibited from speaking ill of a believer, and he is prohibited from mentioning the wrongdoings of others. He also is prohibited from thinking ill and from contemplating it inwardly. What is meant by the inwardly evil thought, which is prohibited, is judging one as being a wrongdoer without making sure about it.
\nAs regarding illicit thoughts, and since its insinuations are forgiven, doubt in this sense is also forgiven; All\u0101h Almighty has said, “O you who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible), for suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy on each other, nor speak ill of others by way of backbiting. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay! You would abhor it… but fear All\u0101h, for All\u0101h is oft-Returning, Most Merciful” (Qur\u2019\u0101n, 49:12).
\nYou have no right to think ill of someone unless you see with your own eyes what has no room for interpretation. If you do not know something, yet it finds its place in your heart, Satan places it there, and you ought to belie it, for it is the worst type of sin. All\u0101h Almighty has said, “O you who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth lest you should harm people unwittingly and afterwards become full of repentance for what you have done” (Qur\u2019\u0101n, 49:6). Eblis must not be believed.
\nIn such a situation, the Shar\u012b`a says that if you detect the smell of wine in someone, you cannot judge that he has drunk wine, and he is not to be penalized on its account, for it is possible he gargled it and detested it, or he was forced to drink it, and both are possible; so, a Muslim must not be the object of our suspicion.
\nThe Prophet (\u0635) has said, “All\u0101h Almighty prohibits a Muslim from having a free hand in another Muslim\u2019s life or possession even if he thinks ill of him” (Ihy\u0101\u2019 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 142). Hence, ill thoughts are not permitted unless the shedding of blood and the confiscation of wealth become permissible: One is sure by seeing or due to fair evidence, or their equivalent among matters which bring about conviction, or whatever the Shar\u012b`a deems as being certain.
\nThe father of Abdull\u0101h (\u0639) is quoted as having said, “If a believer accuses his believing brother of something, conviction (im\u0101n) melts in his heart just as salt melts in water” (Al-K\u0101fi, Vol. 2, p. 361).
\nHe (\u0639) has also said, “If one charges his brother about his creed, the sanctity between them will be violated” (Al-K\u0101fi, Vol. 2, p. 361). He (\u0639) has also said, “The Commander of the Faithful (\u0639) has said, \u2018Think best of your brother till something convinces you of the contrary, and do not think ill of something which your brother says if you can at all find a good justification for it” (Al-K\u0101fi, Vol. 2, p. 362), that is, think well of what your brother says or does even if it can be interpreted differently without having to spy on him till you come to know about something which has no room for interpretation, for ill thoughts can be wrong whereas spying is prohibitive.
\nThe way whereby one can get to know what the heart contemplates, whether it is an ill thought or an insinuation, is that you subject yourself to a test. If you change and your heart is displeased with him, or if you belittle him, or if you are reluctant to look after him, to find out how he is doing, to honor him, to care about his condition and feel sad because his condition has changed\u2026, it is a sign that doubt has entertained your mind.
\nThe Im\u0101m (\u0639) has said, “Three things in a believer for which there is a way out: One\u2019s exit out of an ill thought is not to think of it as being certain (Ihy\u0101\u2019 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 143), that is, do not carry out an investigation through thoughts or actions, neither in the heart nor in the senses. As regarding the heart, it is through turning it towards revulsion and contempt. Regarding the senses, it is acting upon them. What ought to be done when an illicit thought about a believer is entertained is that one increases paying good attention to him and supplicating for him, for this angers Satan and it thus is pushed away from you. Satan will then avoid casting an illicit thought in your mind out of his fear you would supplicate for your brother and look after him, which is the opposite of his goal.
\nNo matter how many faults about a believer you come to know, advise him inwardly, and do not let Satan deceive you and call upon you to backbite him. If you admonish him, do not do so while you are pleased you came to know about his shortcoming so he may think highly of you while you think lowly of him, while you see yourself as being higher in status than him by token of your admonishment of him. Rather, let your objective be ridding him of the sin, and you feel sorry for him just as you would feel sorry for yourself if a shortcoming is attached to you.
\nYou ought to think inwardly that leaving him without advising him is dearer to you than leaving him on account of an advice with which you admonished him. If you do so, you will have combined the rewards of admonishment with the rewards of feeling sad about your brother\u2019s misfortune as well as the reward for helping him keep his faith strong.
\nOne of the fruits of ill thoughts is spying. The heart is not convinced with doubts. It demands an investigation. Thus, one occupies himself by spying, something which is prohibitive.
\nAll\u0101h Almighty says, “\u2026 And do not spy (on each other)” (Qur\u2019\u0101n, 49:12). All\u0101h, praise belongs to Him, has prohibited in this verse backbiting, ill thoughts and spying. The meaning of spying is that you do not leave the servants of All\u0101h being shielded by All\u0101h\u2019s covering, so you seek to familiarize yourself (with what they try to hide or conceal), thus tearing apart this covering. Had you kept that covering as it is, it would have been better for your heart and creed; so, think about it, may you be guided rightly, and surely success comes from All\u0101h.<\/p>\n

Preventive Treatment of Gheeba
\nBe informed that all ill manners are treated with a mixture of knowledge and the acting upon such knowledge. The treatment of an ailment is done with the opposite of its cause, its antidote. So, let us look first for the cause behind backbiting, we will then state how a tongue is restrained from articulating it in a way that suits the treatment of these causes.
\nWe are stating below some of the causes that have been indicated as resulting in backbiting, and they are ten in number. Im\u0101m al-S\u0101diq (\u0639) has drawn attention to it by saying that the root of backbiting is of ten types: 1. seeking satisfaction for one\u2019s anger, 2. agreeing with some people, 3. believing a report without verifying it, 4. an accusation, 5. ill thinking, 6. jealousy, 7. ridicule, 8. conceit, 9. displeasure, and 10. bragging (Misbah al-Shari\u2019a, p. 205).
\nNow we point out to them in detail:
\nFirst: One seeks to satisfy his anger. If one has a reason to be angry, and when his anger rages, he seeks to quell it by mentioning the faults of the individual who caused him to grow angry, and he would first do so by his tongue unless he is pious, God-fearing. One may avoid having to satisfy his anger, so his anger is stored inwardly, turning into a fixed grudge. This will become a permanent cause for mentioning those faults.
\nGrudge and anger are major causes for backbiting.
\nSecond: Agreeing with some companions and being nice to fellows by assisting them with such talk. If they have fun speaking ill of some people\u2019s honor, one may see that if he disagrees or terminates a gathering, he will be belittled by the others who will avoid him, so he agrees with them, seeing that doing so is indicative of good companionship, and he thinks he is just being nice to his companions. His companions may get angry, so he, too, feels he should be angry, too, seeing it as a sign of good companionship when sharing with his fellows their sentiments openly as well as inwardly. He, therefore, takes part in mentioning others\u2019 faults and shortcomings.
\nThird: One may sense that someone targets him and speaks ill of him or of his condition in front of a good person, or he may testify against him, so he takes the initiative and speaks ill of him in order to foil the impact of his testimony and action. Or he may start by mentioning how one truly is so after that he may tell lies about him. Thus, he circulates his lies by first being truthful. He seeks support from facts saying, “It is not my habit to tell a lie, for I have told you such-and-such about his conditions, and he has been just as I had said.”
\nFourth: Something may be attributed to someone, so the latter wants to clear himself of it. He, hence, speaks ill of the person who had done so. He had the right to clear himself of the charge without mentioning the name of the person who charged him. He does not have to make a connection between the charge and the person who made it. He does not have to tell others that he was a partner in an action in order to pave the way for finding for himself an excuse for his deed.
\nFifth: Affectation and bragging: One may try to raise his status above that of others, so he labels someone as ignorant, weak of understanding, weak in stating something with the goal being to prove that he is better than him. He wants to show others that he is better than that person, or he may thus take a precaution against people honoring someone as much as they honor that person, so he belittles him.
\nSixth: Jealousy: One may feel jealous of someone praised, loved or honored by others, so he wants these blessings to be removed from that individual. He finds no way to do so except by speaking ill of him. He wants to discredit that person to people so they may stop honoring and praising him because it is heavy on his heart to see people praising him, honoring him. Such is jealousy, and it is anger and grudge. One may be jealous of a benevolent friend or a relative who is in harmony with him.
\nSeventh: Sporting, jesting, agreeing with others and having fun laughing at others: One may mention someone else in a way that prompts the listeners to laugh when he imitates him or seeks to show that he is better than him.
\nEighth: Ridiculing, making fun of someone in order to downgrade him: This may take place in the presence of someone or behind someone\u2019s back as well, and it originates in one being arrogant and desiring to belittle one whom he ridicules.
\nNinth: This is difficult to detect and may cause even the elite or cautious persons to fall into speaking ill of others: One may feel sad because of something with which someone is afflicted, so he says, “Poor so-and-so, I am really sad about what has happened to him and about his affliction.” He would then mention the cause of his sadness. He will then be truthful if it comes to the reason behind his grief, but his grief distracts him from taking precaution, so he mentions his name and says something which that person hates. He will in that case be backbiting him. His grief and his seeking All\u0101h\u2019s mercy for him are acts of righteousness, but they led him to evil without being aware of it. Seeking All\u0101h\u2019s mercy for someone and feeling sad about someone are both possible without one having to mention the name of an individual then attributing to him what he dislikes. Satan stirs him to mention his name in order to void the rewards of his grief and his pleading to All\u0101h to have mercy on him.
\nTenth: Feeling angry for the sake of All\u0101h Almighty: One may feel angry because of something wrong which someone did, so he shows his anger and mentions that person\u2019s wrongdoing, thus committing a wrongdoing himself without prohibiting a wrong deed. What he should have done is to show his anger specifically in that manner. This is a pitfall in which even the elite may fall. They think that feeling angry for the sake of All\u0101h Almighty is an excuse no matter how it is expressed, but it is not so.
\nIf you come to know that these are the causes of backbiting, be informed that the path towards preventing the tongue from backbiting is of two types: One of them is general, whereas the other is particular: Regarding generality, one must know that he exposes himself to the wrath of All\u0101h Almighty when he backbites, as you have already come to know from the previous reports. And he must be informed that such wrath voids his good deeds, his acts of righteousness. On the Day of Judgment, backbiting shifts his good deeds to the scales of those whom he had backbitten. If he has no good deeds, the backbitten person\u2019s wrongdoings will then be shifted to the backbiter\u2019s scales, and he remains the object of the wrath of All\u0101h Almighty and will be like one eating dead flesh.
\nIt has been narrated about the Prophet (\u0635) that he said, “Fire burning what is dry is not faster than backbiting as it burns the good deeds of a servant of All\u0101h” (Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 140).
\nIt has been narrated that a man said to a man of virtue, “It has come to my knowledge that you speak ill of me behind my back.” The virtuous man said, “Your status in my eyes does not permit me to let you fare thus with my own good deeds!”
\nNo matter how much one believes in reports coming to him, his tongue must not articulate backbiting. He must fear for his good deeds being thus burnt. It also avails him if he looks at his own self. If he finds fault with himself, he ought to feel ashamed lest he should leave himself out while speaking ill of others. Rather, he ought to know that if others are unable to rise above committing backbiting, whether it is relevant to something which he did by choice or because of a deformity or shortcoming in him, he likewise is unable to rise to admit his own defects and shortcomings.
\nIf the matter is relevant to his physique, speaking ill of it is actually speaking ill of its Creator, for when one faults something, he faults its maker. Someone once said to a wise man, “How ugly your face is!” The wise man said, “I had no choice in creating my face so I would make it very good.” If one does not find fault with himself, let him thank All\u0101h and not pollute himself with the greatest of faults, for finding fault with people and eating their dead flesh is surely the greatest of all faults. He will then be faulty. Had he been fair to himself, he would have realized that his belief that he is faultless proves the extent of his ignorance of himself, which is one of the greatest of all faults.
\nIt behooves him to know that when others suffer because he backbites them, he likewise suffers when others backbite him. If he does not like others to backbite him, he ought not accept others to be backbitten.
\nSuch are general remedies.
\nAs regarding delving into the details, one ought to look into the reason that prompts him to backbite and deal with it, for an ailment is treated by eradicating its cause. And you have already come to know the causes behind backbiting:
\no Regarding anger, he can treat it by saying, “If I overlook my anger with him, perhaps All\u0101h Almighty will overlook His wrath against me because of speaking ill of others behind their backs, for He has prohibited me from doing it, yet I dared to defy his prohibition, taking His prohibition lightly.” He (\u0639) has said, “There is a gate to hell which is entered only by those who satisfied their personal anger by angering All\u0101h Almighty through committing a transgression” (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 121). In one of the Books which All\u0101h Almighty has revealed, it is stated: “O son of Adam! Remember Me when you are angry so I may remember you when I am angry, perhaps I will not include you among those whom I obliterate” (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 121)
\no Regarding agreeing with others, you must come to know that All\u0101h Almighty is angry with you if you seek to anger Him by thus pleasing others. So, how can you honor others while dishonoring your Lord? How can you avoid pleasing Him by seeking to please them, unless your anger is solely for the sake of pleasing All\u0101h Almighty, and this requires you not to speak ill of one with whom you are angry? Rather, you ought to feel angry for the sake of All\u0101h: If your fellows speak ill of Him, they commit the most foul of all sins: backbiting.
\no Regarding one trying to raise his status at the expense of that of others, without mentioning the name of those others, this situation is treated by knowing that if you expose yourself to the wrath of the Creator, it is much more severe than being exposed to the contempt of His creation. If you backbite, you are for sure exposing yourself to the wrath of All\u0101h Almighty while not knowing if you will get rid of people\u2019s wrath or not. So, you save yourself in this life by your whim while permitting yourself to perish in the hereafter. Or you for sure lose the rewards of your good deeds while earning the contempt of the Almighty, expecting people to remove their speaking ill of you, which is the utmost ignorance and loss of all.
\no Regarding your statement that you consume what is prohibitive because so-and-so does it, and if you do such-and-such, someone else is doing the same, or if you fall short in an act of obedience to the Almighty, someone else is likewise guilty of the same\u2026, it is an indication of your ignorance because you are seeking to emulate those whom you are not supposed to emulate. Anyone who violates the command of All\u0101h is not to be emulated whoever he may be.
\nIf someone else is hurled into the fire while you are able not to avoid entering it, you should not be in agreement with that person. Had you agreed with him, you would have lost your wits. What you state is backbiting and an additional transgression which you piled up on that from which you sought an excuse for yourself. The Almighty will then have recorded your name as having combined two sins due to your ignorance and stupidity. You were like a she-camel looking at a goat that fell from the mountain, so it, too, throws itself from up high. Had she had a tongue and articulated an excuse, she would have said, “The goat was wiser, yet she perished, and so did I.” You would then have laughed on account of her ignorance. But your condition is similar to hers, yet you do not wonder, nor do you laugh at yourself.
\no When it comes to your objective behind bragging and praising yourself in order to gain more recognition by speaking ill of others, you ought to know that due to what you stated, you lost your status with All\u0101h while jeopardizing your status among the public: People may think less of you if they come to know that you speak ill of others. You will then have sold what the Creator has for sure in store with Him, trading it for what people have with them due to your own whim. If people think well of you, it will not help you win favor with the Almighty at all.
\no Backbiting someone because of envy combines two types of penalties: You have envied him for a worldly blessing while your envy torments you. Yet you were not satisfied with all of this till you added to it a torment in the hereafter, thus losing in the short life as well as in the hereafter; hence, you combine two punishments. You targeted the one whom you envied while harming your own self. You have given him by way of a gift the rewards of your own good deeds; thus, you are his friend and the enemy of your own self! Your act of backbiting him does not harm him but harms you while benefiting him! It shifts your own good deeds to him or shifts to you his wrongdoings which do not benefit you at all. You thus combine the ugliness of envy with foolish ignorance. Your envy and speaking ill of him may become the reason for the individual whom you envy gaining more prestige. It has been said that if All\u0101h wants a forgotten virtue to be disseminated, He permits an envious tongue to propagate it.
\no You mean by ridiculing someone to demean him by actually demeaning your own self in the sight of All\u0101h, His angels and prophets. Had you contemplated upon your shame, infamy, sigh and sorrow on the Day when you bear the sins of the person whom you ridiculed and when you are led to the fire, this would have shocked you and distracted you from shaming your fellow. Had you come to know your condition, you would have preferred to laugh at its account, for you ridiculed him before a small number of people while exposing yourself to your hands being taken on the Judgment Day and led away before a huge crowd of people. You will be led away under the burden of that person\u2019s own sins like a donkey led to the fire, while he ridicules you and is pleased at you being thus shamed, happy because All\u0101h supports him against you and seeks revenge against you for his own benefit.
\no As regarding pleading to All\u0101h to have mercy on him on account of his own sin, it is something good, but Eblis envied you and made you articulate something because of which the rewards of your good deeds are shifted to someone else. And it is more so than the rewards which you gain for having pleaded to All\u0101h to have mercy on him. Thus, the one for whom mercy is sought gets out of the category of one in need of mercy while you yourself become worthy of being stoned: Your [hypocritical] plea foiled your rewards and diminished your good deeds.
\no Feeling angry for the sake of All\u0101h does not necessitate backbiting. Satan made backbiting look good to you so the rewards for your anger are voided, and you become the target of the wrath of All\u0101h Almighty because of being guilty of backbiting.
\nAs a whole, the treatment for all of this comes through knowledge which is achieved by considering these matters that are among the divisions of conviction (im\u0101n). One whose conviction is strong through combining all of the above prevents himself from committing the sin of backbiting, that is for sure.<\/p>\n

Permissible Backbiting<\/strong>
\nBe informed that mentioning one\u2019s wrongdoing is a sound objective according to the Shar\u012b`a in order to achieve one\u2019s objective for the removal of such wrongdoing. Thus, the sin of backbiting is voided, but this is limited to ten situations:
\nFirst: One seeks redress. If someone mentions the name of a judge as being unjust, treacherous and accepting bribes, he is one who backbites while being a transgressor. As far as a judge is concerned, one can complain about him to someone who he hopes can remove his injustice. He will be attributing injustice to such a judge who is the only person who can grant him what rightfully belongs to him.
\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) has said, “One with a [usurped] right has the right to complain about it” (Ihy\u0101 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 144).
\nH (\u0635) has also said, “A rich person commits injustice if he looks down at others” (Al-`Aw\u0101li, Vol. 4, p. 45).
\nSecond: One seeks help to correct a wrongdoing. One has the right to seek help to correct a wrongdoing and bring an aggressor back to the path of righteousness. In the achievement of this sound objective, the matter is alright but is prohibitive otherwise.
\nThird: One seeks someone\u2019s opinion, such as you may say this to someone: “My father\u2014or brother\u2014has been unfair to me; so, what is the way out of it?” In this regard, it is safest if one refrains from identifying the oppressor. For example, one may say, “What would you say about a man whose father or brother has oppressed him?”
\nIt has been narrated that Hind said to the Prophet (\u0635), “Ab\u016b Sufy\u0101n is a miser man; he does not give me money to meet my needs and those of my children. Should I take some of his money without his knowledge?” He said, “Take only what suffices you and your children fairly” (Ihy\u0101 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 144). She complained about not having enough to spend on herself and her children, so the Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) did not rebuke her since her objective was to seek his opinion.
\nFourth: One warns another Muslim against falling in danger, in evil, and how one seeking counsel is to be advised. If you see someone pretending to be a faq\u012bh (jurist), pretending to be someone whom he is not, you have to attract people\u2019s attention to his shortcoming and inability to rightfully qualify himself. You must alert them about the danger that may fall upon them if they obey him. Also, if you see a man making too frequent visits to the house of a debauchee who is covering up for him, and if you are concerned about this man falling down on account of such companionship in a way which violates the Shar\u012b`a, you have the right to attract his attention to this person being a sinner no matter what motive you have, whether it may be concern about the dissemination of an innovation in the creed or the spread of corruption.
\nThis may be prompted by conceit and Satan\u2019s foolhardiness, for your motive may be envy of that man because of the status which he enjoys. Satan will then confuse you when you pretend to have compassion for people. Also, if you see a man buying a slave, and if you know that this slave has defects, you can mention these defects to the buyer, for if you remain silent, you will be harming the buyer. Your stating these faults harms the slave, but the interest of the buyer ought first to be taken into consideration.
\nAnd you have to mention only the defect which is relevant to the matter and not mention anything relevant to anything else that may undermine the partnership, the contract, or one\u2019s trip. Rather, you must mention in each situation what is relevant to it and not go beyond it aiming at advising rather than harming. If a man shies away from getting married when you advise him that marriage will not be good for him, you will be doing what you ought to be doing. But if one is not dissuaded except when explicitly told about something, let it be so.
\nThe Prophet (\u0635) has said, “Do you hesitate to name a corrupt person before people find it out? Say that against which people ought to guard themselves” (Ihuy\u0101 Ul\u016bm ad-D\u012bn, Vol. 3, p. 144).
\nHe (\u0635) has also said to F\u0101tima daughter of Qays when she consulted him about men seeking her for marriage, “As regarding Mu\u2019\u0101wiyah, he is a penniless pauper. Regarding Ab\u016b Jahm, he never lets the [whipping] baton descend from his shoulder” (Al-`Aw\u0101li, Vol. 1, p. 155).
\nFifth: Slandering and making amends for both an eyewitness and a narrator: Scholars have written about narrators of traditions, dividing them into “trustworthy” and “doubted”, often mentioning the reasons behind their being doubted. A sincere advice is shared in this situation, as we have stated above, when it is meant to protect the Muslims\u2019 wealth, control over what they say and protect them all from telling lies.
\nAnd it is conditional upon one having neither animosity nor fanaticism nor stating anything that violates his testimony and narrative, and he does not stand hostile to others such as being a man of taunting or casting doubts except, perhaps, when he openly commits transgression as we will state later.
\nSixth: The object of the statement must deserve it because he is a pretender on its account such as a sinner who openly shows his sin, so much so that he does not hesitate to talk about the sin which he commits. He must be referred to with regard to what he admits and nothing more.
\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h (\u0635) has said, “One who puts down the covering of modesty from his face, to backbite him is not a sin at all” (Al-`Aw\u0101li, Vol. 1, p. 105). From this, it is quite obvious that to backbite him is permissible even if the sin is not mentioned. Regarding the permission to absolutely backbite the debauchee, the possibility stems from this statement of the Prophet (\u0635): “A debauchee is not backbitten” (Al-`Aw\u0101li, Vol. 1, p. 438, tradition No. 153).
\nIt is stated that the tradition must be understood as applicable to a particular debauchee or to [backbite him in order to] force him to stop his committing sins. Such is better except when the matter is attached to a religious objective and a sound goal which goes back to the backbiter who hopes the individual will on its account stop committing his sin. It will then enter the category of preventing a wrongdoing.
\nSeventh: One must be widely known by a name whereby his defect is identified, such as “the lame” or “the blear-eyed”, etc. There is no sin if one identifies him by it. Scholars have done so due to the need for identification and because it has become so common, the individual himself no longer hates it, having come to know that he has become famous on its account.
\nIn fact, what the reliable scholars have indicated can be relied upon with regard to their narrative.
\nAs regarding identifying those who are still living, it is conditional on the acceptance of the individual to whom it is attributed as a general criterion for prohibition. In that case, it is not categorized as backbiting. How can it be since when one can be identified by some other way, it would have been better?
\nEighth: If the number of individuals, according to whom a penalty is to be exacted for a sin, are eyewitnesses to the committing of that sin, it can be mentioned to the rulers as a testimony even in the presence of the doer or in his absence. It must not be mentioned in any other situation except if it meets other criteria.
\nNinth: It has been said that if two persons witness a transgression committed, and one of them stated it in the absence of that transgressor, it is permissible because mentioning it has no impact on the listener although he ought to protect himself and his tongue from mentioning it for any other purpose especially with the possibility of forgetting the statement or out of concern it will be disseminated because of them.
\nTenth: If someone listened to someone else backbiting another without knowing the rights of the person being backbitten or whether what is being said does not actually exist, the speaker cannot be prevented from articulating it due to the possibility it could be true, and the speaker may be accepted as factual unless he is known to be otherwise.
\nDeterring him from such talk requires the violation of his own sanctity, being one of the individuals involved. It is better to draw attention to such a situation unless general evidences surface that have no room for rebuttal. It is evident that the general will is to be cautious about ignorant folks being tempted in its regard. If this is done to those whom you know, the general evidences would not have surfaced, and they would not have been taken into consideration with regard to the listener due to the speaker perhaps knowing how to make his statement plausible, and it undermines the principle of prohibiting backbiting.
\nThis individual is held as exceptional with regard to hearing backbiting, and it has already been stated that he is one of those who take part in backbiting.
\nGenerally speaking, a virtuous soul takes precaution against backbiting although sometimes it is preferred that one tells what he knows so others may take their own precaution against a particular individual or action.
\nThe testimony for its absolute prohibition, as has already been stated, is this statement of the Prophet (\u0635): “Do you know what backbiting is?” They said, “All\u0101h and His Messenger know best.” He (\u0635) said, “It is saying something about your brother which he does not like” (Tanb\u012bh al-Khaw\u0101tir, Vol. 1, p. 118).
\nAs regarding its permissibility, such as the response to innovations and the shaming of the debauchees from among them, getting people to stay away from them and taking precautions against following them, this is described as obligatory: It is possible and is preferable, and it is relied upon to achieve all these objectives. So, a vigilant person must not overlook the objective and the reform it contains, and surely All\u0101h is the One Who grants success.<\/p>\n

\n

Zekr (Remembering God) is as Virtuous as Dua<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n