Speaking about one's brother in one's heart without anyone hearing: is this considered backbiting?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: If I speak about a person in an audible voice, but no one hears me except myself, does this fall under the prohibited backbiting?
Answer:
Yes, it is not permissible for a person to speak about the reputations of absent people, whether with others or with himself, by speaking words that he or someone else hears. This is considered backbiting, because it is disparaging the one being spoken about. So a Muslim avoids this, but if he says it in a gathering or in the presence of others, the matter is more severe. Yes.
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: If I speak about a person in an audible voice, but no one hears me except myself, does this fall under the prohibited backbiting?
Answer:
Yes, it is not permissible for a person to speak about the reputations of absent people, whether with others or with himself, by speaking words that he or someone else hears. This is considered backbiting, because it is disparaging the one being spoken about. So a Muslim avoids this, but if he says it in a gathering or in the presence of others, the matter is more severe. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 6030- من تكلم على أخيه ولكن في نفسه دون أن يسمع أحدا، هل يعد من الغيبة؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.