What is the advice for one who spends his time speaking about scholars and students of knowledge on the pretext that this falls under the category of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators)?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: What is your advice for one who spends his time speaking about scholars and students of knowledge, and when he is advised, he says that this is part of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators)?

Answer:
This is invalid speech, and it is ghibah (backbiting) and namimah (talebearing). It is among the major sins. Al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) is for the sanad (chains of narration), for the men, for the narrators; it is not for people and the common folk. You do not use it to criticize them. To say that this is al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) is invalid speech. It is a misuse of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) in a place where it does not belong. Al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) is used out of necessity in order to preserve the Sunnah. Is your doing this a preservation of the Sunnah?
Is it a preservation of the hadiths? It is nothing but ghibah (backbiting) and namimah (talebearing). So fear Allah in yourselves. Leave this speech. And advise those who fall into it. This divides the Muslims. It sets hearts ablaze against one another.
It incites groups, partisanship, and enmity. This is not al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators); rather, it is a severe calamity. Yes.