The Ruling on Discussing the Mistakes of Employees and the Manager

The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah reward you. We are employees who discuss the mistakes of some of the employees in the administration, and we also discuss the manager. Is this permissible? And is it considered forbidden backbiting? May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh:
Yes.

The questioner:
He says: Your Eminence the Shaykh! We are employees who discuss the mistakes of some of the employees in the administration, and we also discuss the manager. Is this permissible? And is it considered forbidden backbiting? May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh:
There is a distinction here. If the discussion is without naming specific people, such as saying "some people do this," for the sake of mutual advice, there is nothing wrong with it. But if the discussion involves naming people, saying "so-and-so does not do this" or "so-and-so does not do that," this is backbiting, whether it is about the manager or anyone else. It is backbiting. Backbiting is mentioning your brother in a way he would dislike. Allah says: So if someone talks about so-and-so being short, so-and-so not coming, so-and-so having an accident, so-and-so being late, so-and-so doing this, so-and-so doing that, so-and-so flirting, so-and-so not being right, advise him. May Allah reward you with good. If he is late, advise him so that he comes on time. If he leaves before the end of the workday, advise him. If he is involved in any of the forbidden things, advise him. If he is involved in smoking, intoxicants, or sitting in gatherings of suspicion, advise him. But speaking about his honor in a way that Allah has concealed is not pleasing to Him, unless he has exposed himself by openly committing sins in the markets and among people. In that case, there is no backbiting. We ask Allah for well-being.