The Description of Backbiting, Talebearing, and Hypocrisy
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Fatwa No. ( 12721 )
Q: A conversation took place among a group of people in the mountains of al-Rayth , in the south of the Kingdom. After they had filled themselves with their occasion, they engaged in a conversation that included the following: They spoke in backbiting about other people, talking about what is a defect in them , and these were not their real names. One person would speak to make everyone around him in the gathering laugh. I felt a sense of protectiveness over our religion
and its teachings, so I stood up and delivered a sermon. I told them: You are speaking about a matter called backbiting, and it is accompanied by hypocrisy and talebearing, as they say: So-and-so said this, and so-and-so said that. I wish they had spoken about their good deeds, but instead they spoke ill. I continued my sermon until I concluded my speech with the invocation upon the Messenger of Allah. Then one of the attendees stood up and said: Backbiting has crept into this gathering, but there was no hypocrisy or talebearing. He argued the point until he made the others doubt my statement: that there is hypocrisy in it? Because if they had found the people they were speaking about, they would have shown them sweetness from the tip of the tongue, but in their absence they devoured their flesh. So I said: Here there is hypocrisy, backbiting, and slander. I ask for clarification of this matter, including the hypocrisy, backbiting, talebearing, slander, and injustice involved. I ask for a detailed explanation supported by scriptural evidence. May Allah guide you, prolong your life, and make you a support for Islam and the Muslims.
A : First: Backbiting is: mentioning one’s brother with what is in him of defects and shortcomings in a way that involves disdain, belittling, and blame, such as: So-and-so is blind, or squinting, or short, or poor. Second: Talebearing is: conveying a message by way of sowing discord and causing strife to create corruption among people. Third: Hypocrisy is of two types: creedal and practical. Creedal hypocrisy is: concealing disbelief and displaying Islam. Practical hypocrisy is: being characterized by the traits of the hypocrites, or some of them, such as: lying, betrayal, breaking promises, treachery, and others.
From this, it becomes clear to you that those who criticized their absent brothers in the gathering have backbitten them, and backbiting alone is sufficient as a sin. It is obligatory to repent and seek forgiveness for what occurred, and to ask those they backbitten for forgiveness and pardon. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: A conversation took place among a group of people in the mountains of al-Rayth , in the south of the Kingdom. After they had filled themselves with their occasion, they engaged in a conversation that included the following: They spoke in backbiting about other people, talking about what is a defect in them , and these were not their real names. One person would speak to make everyone around him in the gathering laugh. I felt a sense of protectiveness over our religion
and its teachings, so I stood up and delivered a sermon. I told them: You are speaking about a matter called backbiting, and it is accompanied by hypocrisy and talebearing, as they say: So-and-so said this, and so-and-so said that. I wish they had spoken about their good deeds, but instead they spoke ill. I continued my sermon until I concluded my speech with the invocation upon the Messenger of Allah. Then one of the attendees stood up and said: Backbiting has crept into this gathering, but there was no hypocrisy or talebearing. He argued the point until he made the others doubt my statement: that there is hypocrisy in it? Because if they had found the people they were speaking about, they would have shown them sweetness from the tip of the tongue, but in their absence they devoured their flesh. So I said: Here there is hypocrisy, backbiting, and slander. I ask for clarification of this matter, including the hypocrisy, backbiting, talebearing, slander, and injustice involved. I ask for a detailed explanation supported by scriptural evidence. May Allah guide you, prolong your life, and make you a support for Islam and the Muslims.
A : First: Backbiting is: mentioning one’s brother with what is in him of defects and shortcomings in a way that involves disdain, belittling, and blame, such as: So-and-so is blind, or squinting, or short, or poor. Second: Talebearing is: conveying a message by way of sowing discord and causing strife to create corruption among people. Third: Hypocrisy is of two types: creedal and practical. Creedal hypocrisy is: concealing disbelief and displaying Islam. Practical hypocrisy is: being characterized by the traits of the hypocrites, or some of them, such as: lying, betrayal, breaking promises, treachery, and others.
From this, it becomes clear to you that those who criticized their absent brothers in the gathering have backbitten them, and backbiting alone is sufficient as a sin. It is obligatory to repent and seek forgiveness for what occurred, and to ask those they backbitten for forgiveness and pardon. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.