The Ruling on Backbiting in General

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on backbiting in general, O Honorable Shaykh?

Answer:
Backbiting in general is forbidden and is not permissible except in specific circumstances, such as in a dispute where you complain about a person and say that he is delaying, that he ate my right, or something similar, in order to remove the injustice from the wronged person, or for the sake of enjoining good and forbidding evil, so that the sinner is taken to task and it is said, "So-and-so does such and such."
So that he is taken to task by the committee or by the men of hisbah (public order); there is no harm in that. Likewise, backbiting is permissible in a third case as well; it is permissible, as we mentioned in the first two cases, and it is also permissible in consultation. If a person consults you because he wants to marry someone or partner with him, you mention what you know of the defects of the person being consulted about, so that the one who consulted you is not deceived and does not partner with him or marry him; this is made clear to him. This is an exception to backbiting, and other than that, backbiting is forbidden. "Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it." Yes.