What is the criterion for backbiting?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner asks: If we say that so-and-so shaves his beard, is that backbiting?
Answer:
We say: There is no benefit in you talking about him, saying so-and-so does this and so-and-so does that. But advising him, telling him to leave this ugly habit, is different. As for talking about him, that accomplishes nothing. Yes, talking about him while he is absent accomplishes nothing.
This questioner asks: If we say that so-and-so shaves his beard, is that backbiting?
Answer:
We say: There is no benefit in you talking about him, saying so-and-so does this and so-and-so does that. But advising him, telling him to leave this ugly habit, is different. As for talking about him, that accomplishes nothing. Yes, talking about him while he is absent accomplishes nothing.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما هو ضابط الغيبة؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.