The Difference Between Backbiting Scholars and Backbiting the General Public

The questioner : The distinction between backbiting scholars and backbiting the general public.

The Shaykh : I testify to the change regarding scholars.

The questioner : And I am with death.

The Shaykh : No, because it is more dangerous, because backbiting scholars diminishes their status, and when their status is diminished, people refrain from following their guidance, and this is a great harm. For example, if you want to criticize one of the scholars whom people rely on for their rulings, you do not lower his value in their eyes; you lower his value. If his value is lowered, it means that the rulings by which he guides people are removed or weakened, or doubted. To clarify: No, no, the error must be made clear, the error must be made clear, but it is said, for example, that this matter is a subject of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), and a person errs and hits the mark, and we do not know whether we are the ones who erred or he is the one who erred, even though not specifying the individual is preferable; not specifying the individual is preferable.