What is the ruling on speaking ill of six categories of people?

The questioner : It is not backbiting in the case of six: the one who has been wronged, the one seeking information, the one warning, the one openly committing open sinfulness, the one seeking a ruling, and the one seeking assistance in removing a wrong.

The Shaykh : It is permissible, whether it is this or that.

The questioner : May you be safe. Even your Amir sometimes envied people.

The Shaykh : Hello.

The questioner : Any good, any good.

The Shaykh: King. For the one who has the means, it is permissible to expose his character as a punishment. Leniency is delay. And as came in the hadith But in the first hadith there is a benefit.
The second hadith establishes that this delay is injustice, but the second hadith gives the wronged person the authority to expose the defect. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who has the means," meaning the rich person who delays the owner of the right in his right, "has his honor made lawful," meaning to speak ill of him regarding the injustice in him, "and his punishment," meaning by the ruler, and that is by imprisoning him until he pays the right to its owner. Islam is, in truth, a middle path. So at the time when it forbids backbiting, and says backbiting is mentioning your brother with what he dislikes, and when it was said to him, "What do you think if he has what you said?" he said, "If you said what is in him, you have backbitten him, and if not, you have slandered him and fabricated against him." At this time when the door of backbiting was closed, he left an outlet for some people who, if they backbite, have an excuse for the backbiting, because their backbiting of Muslims is not for the sake of entertainment, but rather for the sake of either educating these people or reaching the wronged right. These types were gathered by that poet jurist in those two verses: "Speaking ill is not backbiting in six: the wronged, the one seeking information, the warning, the one openly committing open sinfulness, the one seeking a ruling, and the one seeking assistance in removing a wrong. Every type of these types..."
There is wisdom in the wise legislator's permission to mention them with what speaks ill of them. The first of these is the one who has been wronged, and we mentioned the previous verse, and a story occurred in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) related to this first type, which is the one who has been wronged. It happened that a man wronged his neighbor, so he complained to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, "Put that man's goods on the back of the road or the edge of the road." So he took the house's belongings out to the street, and whenever people passed by, they said to this wronged man, "What is the matter with you?" He would say, "My neighbor has wronged me." So they would do nothing but curse him and insult him, saying, "May Allah kill him, may Allah curse him, may Allah kill him, may Allah curse him," and the neighbor would hear with his ear. So he went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, "O Messenger of Allah, my neighbor is returning his goods to his house, and the people have cursed me." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, "Those in the heavens have cursed you before those on the earth cursed you." This is the affair of the one who has been wronged: "So-and-so has wronged me?"
So this noble Prophetic method was a cause for the wrongdoer to desist from his injustice. This is the one who has been wronged. The second type is the one seeking information. There is an example that occurred in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And it repeats in every time and every place. As for the example.
A woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said to him, "O Messenger of Allah, Abu Jahm, with the mīm, Abu Jahm, and Mu'awiyah have proposed to me."

The questioner : From Mu'awiyah.

The Shaykh : And the son of Abu Sufyan.

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : As if she is saying, "Which of the two do you advise?"

The questioner : She is consulting the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not advise her with either of them. But he mentioned the defect of each of them, that defect which is a defect in the eyes of women, and this is from the category of "religion is sincere advice." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This one is a vagabond." At that time, of course, later he became...

The questioner : To my right.

The Shaykh : No, Muslim, how? A Muslim woman is asking the Messenger.

The questioner : And no.

The Shaykh : Because he was poor, he did not have that status and that greatness.

The questioner : The one who appeared in pictures for him.

The Shaykh : Hmm.

The questioner : The word "vagabond" here takes the meaning of, meaning, little. The last one is "az'ar."

The Shaykh : No, far from that.

The questioner : That is the point.

The Shaykh : This.

The questioner : Influence.

The Shaykh : It means that foreignness entered the Arabic.

The questioner : From a long time.

The Shaykh : From a long time, correct. As for Mu'awiyah, he was a man who was a vagabond, meaning women do not desire the like of him; he has no status, he has no rank. This is the meaning of "vagabond." And as for Abu Jahm, he is a man who does not put the stick down from his shoulder.

The questioner : Safety. Once. Dignity.

The Shaykh : Hardship.

The questioner : Praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh : Glory, this is one meaning of this phrase. He does not put the stick on his shoulder, interpreted by another meaning, which is that he travels a lot, because when the Arabs travel...

The questioner : Okay.

The Shaykh : But the first meaning is the one that was supported by another narration. And you see that neither of the descriptions is desirable to women. The one who strikes women for the slightest slip or mistake, without a doubt, life does not go well with these strikers. Likewise, those who travel a lot and are absent from the home, so naturally she did not lean toward this one or that one. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) advised her to marry Usamah, I think you remember? Thank you.

The questioner : Yes, a settler.

The Shaykh : Usamah, I think, yes. So she was pleased with him, meaning she married him?

The questioner : The old woman of the Messenger of Allah.

The Shaykh : Well done. So this is an example of what? Information seeking. The wronged and the one seeking information. Today we are in need of this type of speaking ill that many people who pretend to righteousness and piety are scrupulous about. So often, for example, a person comes to a friend of his and says, "What do you think? So-and-so came to me and asked me for a loan, or asked me for a partnership in a business. What do you think of him?" The one seeking advice knows evil in him. But he does not mention what is in him, thinking that it is forbidden backbiting. And he says, "My brother, all people are good and blessed."

The questioner : This is the one who does not know people.

The Shaykh : Okay.

The questioner : The one who does not know people.

The Shaykh : No, he knows him but he conceals the truth.

The questioner : Their jealousy. Meaning, he...

The Shaykh : He does not want to backbite. Yes, in his opinion, if he said, "By Allah, so-and-so partnered with so-and-so and ate his money, borrowed from so-and-so and did not pay him," he considers this backbiting. And so he says, "All people are good and blessed." This is wrong. Religion is sincere advice, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith, repeating it three times: "Religion is sincere advice, religion is sincere advice, religion is sincere advice." They said, "To whom?" He said, "To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and their common people." So if you seek advice, give advice, even if there is something of backbiting in this advice, because you do not intend backbiting, you intend advice. Likewise, for example, so-and-so, a young man, came to a friend of a neighbor who has a daughter. He asks him, "What do you think of this girl? I am thinking of proposing to her for my son, for example." He knows things about her that are not pleasing. So he conceals them and does not speak of them, and may say the opposite of what he knows. And so the man goes to propose to her, and the incident occurs.

The questioner : Brothers in faith, the continuation of the speech is in the next tape. And so the man goes to propose to her, and the incident occurs, because she turned out to be different from what was told to him. This is also from ignorance of Islam. And what you know has come from his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, "As for so-and-so, he is such and such, and as for so-and-so, he is such and such." And so when the Muslim seeks advice, he must advise from that. For example, if you see a young man mixing with a man, and this man is known to have a bad conduct, you do not have to act like a spy and conceal and not advise the young man. This is walking with this man under the claim that this is backbiting. No, and this falls into what follows in the third category: the wronged, the one seeking information, and the warning. That is enough, my brother. May Allah bless you, may Allah reward you with good. And the warning: Wake up, you are walking with this man. His belief is defective, his morals are bad. And all of this is within the category of "religion is sincere advice." The type comes.

The Shaykh : The fourth.