The Difference Between Backbiting and Talebearing, and Warning Against the People of Innovation
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: How can we distinguish between what Your Eminence has warned us about regarding backbiting and talebearing, and speaking about the people of innovation and misguidance and warning against them?
Answer:
This depends on the benefit and the intention. If you speak about the people of innovation, and you are certain that they are indeed people of innovation, and you are certain of what they are upon, and you warn people against them, then this is advice and not backbiting or talebearing. This is advice. As for not knowing the innovations, and labeling every innovator as such, that is the problem now: people who do not know what the innovations are throwing accusations of innovation at one another. It is merely something in their hearts against each other. It is obligatory that a person does not speak except based on knowledge, and does not speak except to the extent of the need and to the extent of the benefit, and does not increase evil by making it worse. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: How can we distinguish between what Your Eminence has warned us about regarding backbiting and talebearing, and speaking about the people of innovation and misguidance and warning against them?
Answer:
This depends on the benefit and the intention. If you speak about the people of innovation, and you are certain that they are indeed people of innovation, and you are certain of what they are upon, and you warn people against them, then this is advice and not backbiting or talebearing. This is advice. As for not knowing the innovations, and labeling every innovator as such, that is the problem now: people who do not know what the innovations are throwing accusations of innovation at one another. It is merely something in their hearts against each other. It is obligatory that a person does not speak except based on knowledge, and does not speak except to the extent of the need and to the extent of the benefit, and does not increase evil by making it worse. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، فصل ومن حيله ومكايده : الكلام الباطل والآراء المتهافتة والخيالات — islamhouse.com (1:00:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.