The Ruling on Backbiting the Sinner

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Some Muslims fall into backbiting the sinner, to the point that some of them think it is permissible to backbite him. Is there any advice regarding this?

Answer:
This backbiting is not permissible except in three cases: when you are complaining, and you complain about someone, saying, "So-and-so did such and such; he wronged me and ate my right"; or when you bring the matter of the sinner to the one in authority so that he may discipline him, saying, "So-and-so abandons the congregational prayer, so-and-so does such and such, or drinks intoxicants"; or in the case of advice, if someone consults you about marrying a person and asks about him, you mention the defects he has, because this falls under the category of advice, not backbiting. There is nothing wrong with these three cases. Apart from them, backbiting is forbidden, whether the person is a sinner or not. This is not permissible.