What are the harms resulting from backbiting scholars and rulers?

Question : What are the harms and evils resulting from the backbiting of the current rulers, namely the scholars and the princes?

Answer : Yes. As for the scholars, the great harm is that backbiting a scholar leads to him being diminished in the eyes of the people, and this is a personal crime against him. It also leads to a lack of trust in what he says regarding the Shari'ah of Allah, and this is a crime against the Islamic Shari'ah. Because if people do not trust the scholar, they will not seek his legal opinion or listen to his words, and the great knowledge he carries will be lost due to his good character. Thus, the one who backbites the scholars is a criminal against the scholar himself and against the Islamic Shari'ah. As for the rulers, their backbiting also leads to two great prohibitions: the first is the personal crime against them, and the second is the crime against the entire society. Because if the ruler is disparaged in the eyes of the people, they will not care about disobeying him, so the order will be corrupted and chaos will ensue. So we ask Allah to protect our tongues from the backbiting of the servants of Allah.