On the poet’s statement: “Censure is not backbiting in six cases…”, are these six cases agreed upon?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. A questioner asks about the poet’s statement: “Censure is not backbiting in six cases: the one who is wronged, the one who is known, the one who is warned against, the one who displays open sinfulness, the one who seeks a ruling, and the one who seeks assistance in removing an evil.” The question is: Are these six matters agreed upon as not being backbiting? And does the one who displays open sinfulness get censured only for what he sinned with, or does the censure extend to other things?
Answer:
This has been discussed previously in the explanation of *Bulugh al-Maram*. We said that if the speech is about an absent person for the sake of denouncing him, and it is said, “So-and-so does such and such,” in order to hold him accountable and report him to the authorities, is this not backbiting? Likewise, the litigant who complains about his opponent and says, “So-and-so denied my right,” “So-and-so is oppressive,” or “So-and-so is delaying,” in order to obtain his right, this is not backbiting.
Umm Hind bint 'Utbah said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), “Abu Sufyan is a stingy man who does not give me what suffices me and my children.” She said “stingy.” The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not consider this backbiting because it falls under the category of complaining in order to obtain one’s right. In order to obtain one’s right. And it is not possible to obtain the right except through this.
Likewise, the open sinner, if it is for the sake of warning against him so that people are not deceived by him, or the innovator, warning against him, this is also not backbiting. And likewise, the critique and vindication of narrators among the hadith scholars is not backbiting; rather, it is a matter of advising the Muslims and for the sake of the religion of Allah, so that weak hadiths and fabricated hadiths do not circulate. In this, the benefit is stronger. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. A questioner asks about the poet’s statement: “Censure is not backbiting in six cases: the one who is wronged, the one who is known, the one who is warned against, the one who displays open sinfulness, the one who seeks a ruling, and the one who seeks assistance in removing an evil.” The question is: Are these six matters agreed upon as not being backbiting? And does the one who displays open sinfulness get censured only for what he sinned with, or does the censure extend to other things?
Answer:
This has been discussed previously in the explanation of *Bulugh al-Maram*. We said that if the speech is about an absent person for the sake of denouncing him, and it is said, “So-and-so does such and such,” in order to hold him accountable and report him to the authorities, is this not backbiting? Likewise, the litigant who complains about his opponent and says, “So-and-so denied my right,” “So-and-so is oppressive,” or “So-and-so is delaying,” in order to obtain his right, this is not backbiting.
Umm Hind bint 'Utbah said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), “Abu Sufyan is a stingy man who does not give me what suffices me and my children.” She said “stingy.” The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not consider this backbiting because it falls under the category of complaining in order to obtain one’s right. In order to obtain one’s right. And it is not possible to obtain the right except through this.
Likewise, the open sinner, if it is for the sake of warning against him so that people are not deceived by him, or the innovator, warning against him, this is also not backbiting. And likewise, the critique and vindication of narrators among the hadith scholars is not backbiting; rather, it is a matter of advising the Muslims and for the sake of the religion of Allah, so that weak hadiths and fabricated hadiths do not circulate. In this, the benefit is stronger. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [57 -954] في قول الناظم: الذّم ليس بغيبة في ستة .. الخ، هل هذه الست متفق عليها؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.