The Ruling on Backbiting, Talebearing, and the Sin of Listening to Them in Gatherings Without Rebuking

Question:
May Allah reward you and benefit you with your knowledge. The sender is "Ha 'Ayn Fa Ha" from al-Hafar al-Batin. She sent a number of questions in her message, saying in her first question: If I sit in a gathering and some of them start talking to one another about a third person, meaning about a third person, with a sin such as backbiting or talebearing, and I am hearing it, am I a partner in this sin? And have I engaged in talebearing or backbiting with them?

Answer:
Yes, if you know that the conversation between these two women is backbiting and talebearing, then this is wrong, and it is obligatory for you to advise them and remind them of the sin of backbiting and talebearing. Allah the Exalted said: , and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . As for talebearing, Allah the Glorious and Exalted says: "a slanderer, a goer about with evil, stirring up dissension." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The warning in this is severe. This is wrong, and it must be rebuked, and you must advise those you see doing it. This is your duty. May Allah reward you. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: . The third [person] is [hurt] because of that, meaning one of you does not speak to the other in secret while the third is isolated and does not hear, because he fears that you will think ill of him and it will sadden him. So he also feels that his rights are being violated and that he is being belittled. The result is that this whispering between two people is either of the forbidden whispering, yes, the one that is prohibited, even if it is in permissible speech. The second matter is that it is backbiting or talebearing, in which case the matter is more severe. Yes.