Expiating for backbiting and slander through supplication
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh Salih. I move on to another question. The questioner says: Is it permissible, after repenting from backbiting and slander, given the large number of people I have backbitten, to say, “O Allah, forgive all those I have backbitten”? And does that suffice to be absolved by them?
Answer:
For those you are able to seek forgiveness from and ask for their pardon, it is obligatory for you to do so; because this is a right of theirs that is not waived except by their pardon. As for those you are unable to reach, or if asking for their pardon would result in them becoming angry with you or harboring resentment against you, it is sufficient for you to make supplication for them and speak well of them. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh Salih. I move on to another question. The questioner says: Is it permissible, after repenting from backbiting and slander, given the large number of people I have backbitten, to say, “O Allah, forgive all those I have backbitten”? And does that suffice to be absolved by them?
Answer:
For those you are able to seek forgiveness from and ask for their pardon, it is obligatory for you to do so; because this is a right of theirs that is not waived except by their pardon. As for those you are unable to reach, or if asking for their pardon would result in them becoming angry with you or harboring resentment against you, it is sufficient for you to make supplication for them and speak well of them. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/256 — archive.org (3:19)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.