A detailed explanation of the issue of backbiting, and a mention of the types exempted from forbidden backbiting.

The Shaykh : We must know the detailed ruling regarding backbiting, and this hadith gives us an example of this detail. The principle is that backbiting is forbidden, and its criterion is that the one who backbites has no religious benefit when he backbites the one being backbitten; rather, it is for exposing character flaws, for entertainment, for idle talk, or the like. All of this is forbidden backbiting. However, if the backbiting is not intended for personal amusement, but rather for an Islamic benefit, then it is permissible backbiting. This naturally varies in many forms, and some scholars have gathered them in a verse of poetry, saying: "Censure is not backbiting in six cases: the aggrieved, the one who identifies, the one who warns, the one who openly commits open sinfulness, the one who seeks a ruling, and the one seeking assistance in removing a wrong." There are many branches under each of these six characteristics, but the summary of these six characteristics is what has been permitted and exempted from forbidden backbiting. So the scholar-poet said: "Censure is not backbiting in six cases." The first is: "The aggrieved": The aggrieved means the one who has been wronged. The one who has been wronged has the right to say, "So-and-so wronged me," why? Because he tried all possible means to reach his right from that wrongdoer but failed and did not succeed. What remains is to expose him to the people so that he may feel a little pressure and offer the right to this wronged person. Therefore, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly stated this ruling and this permissibility, saying: . The one who delays, as in the other hadith: . The one who has the means is the rich one. That is, the delay of the one who has the means, i.e., the rich one who finds what suffices for the right, is considered oppression by the wise Lawgiver. So he (peace be upon him) said in the previous hadith: . It is permissible to attack his honor; it is permissible to criticize him and attack him, but one does not say, for example, "So-and-so is a liar" if he is known to be truthful. Rather, he speaks with honesty, criticizing his honor specifically regarding what concerns this wronged person. This only is the meaning of . Who punishes him? The Muslim ruler. The Muslim ruler has the right to summon the wrongdoer who refuses to perform the right owed to this wronged person, and punish him by flogging him fifteen times, as he sees fit for his discipline, so that he does not return to encroaching on the rights of people. So this hadith is explicit in permitting the backbiting of the wrongdoer. "The one who has the means, his honor is permissible to attack": This means criticizing him and punishing him. So the first characteristic among those exempted from forbidden backbiting is the wronged person. The aggrieved: This means he complains of his oppression to the people, saying, "So-and-so wronged me." This ruling is not only in the hadith but also in the Noble Qur'an, where Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: . It is permissible for the one who has been wronged to speak openly of the bad things regarding the one who wronged him. This is the first type exempted from forbidden backbiting: the aggrieved. "And the one who identifies": This is an example before us now from many examples. The Messenger (peace be upon him) asked some of the Companions from Banu Salim: . They said: "Jud ibn Qays." He was asking them to identify him, so they identified him for him (peace be upon him), and they said: "We consider him stingy." And clearer than this example: When a woman came and two men had proposed to her, she came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so and so-and-so have proposed to me." She said Abu Jahm with a meem, not Abu Jahl with a lam. Abu Jahm was a Companion, and Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan; each of them proposed to me. So it was as if she was saying: I am confused, should I agree to this one or this one? And as if she was saying: Advise me, O Messenger of Allah, should I agree to this one or this one? The Messenger (peace be upon him) did not say to her, "Take this one" or "Take that one," because the matter is sensitive; women's intentions and goals differ. So what the Messenger (peace be upon him) did was describe each of the two suitors to the woman to whom each had proposed. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said: . Here we find that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) criticized both suitors for that woman so that she would be fully informed. The scholars mentioned in explaining his (peace and blessings be upon him) statement about Abu Jahm and his saying about him: But the first meaning is the most correct, as stated by the scholars. As for Mu'awiyah, "a vagabond" means a poor man. So if we reflect on these two descriptions, we find that neither of the two men would be pleased to be mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specifically for a vice. Abu Jahm does not want to be exposed before the women, especially before his fiancée, as a man who beats women. And Mu'awiyah, in his turn, it does not suit him to be said and known by the women as a poor vagabond with no status and no value in society. This is backbiting, and this is backbiting, but the benefit of advice, as he (peace be upon him) said in explaining the right of a Muslim upon a Muslim: . So if one asks his neighbor or his friend, "What do you think of so-and-so?" and he says, "Good, if Allah wills, I want to partner with him," and he knows that he is a traitor and a deceiver and such and such, he must mention what is in him, because religion is advice. He does not say, "This is backbiting?" No, this is not from forbidden backbiting. "O Abu So-and-so, what do you think of so-and-so?" "Good, if Allah wills." And by Allah, a suitor from our side also; you must clarify his defects so that if there is an agreement on the marriage, they are fully informed of the matter, not that people say, "By Allah, this is forbidden backbiting." This description and identification, even if it includes backbiting, is not forbidden.
Censure is not backbiting in six cases: the aggrieved, the one who identifies, and the one who warns.
The third characteristic: I see so-and-so associating with so-and-so, and I say to him: "Beware of walking with so-and-so. Why, if Allah wills? His character is such and such." Why am I backbiting him? Because the intention here is to warn the righteous young man not to mix with the corrupt young man. The young man of good character is forbidden from associating with the young man of bad character. Why? Because the nature of people is that it spreads, just as beautiful fruit, if placed next to rotten fruit, gets spoiled and the corruption spreads to it. This is the Sunnah of Allah in His creation . For this reason, the Messenger (peace be upon him) warned against the company of the bad, saying: . The companion of the righteous man is, in any case, a gain for him, like sitting with a perfumer: either he gives to you for free, or you buy from him for money, or at the very least you smell the pleasant fragrance. As for the companion of the bad, he (peace be upon him) said, in the completion of the hadith: . This and that are like the companion of the righteous and the companion of the bad. So if we see a righteous person mixing with a wicked person, we warn him and say to him: "Do not walk with him; he does such and such, says such and such, and believes such and such, etc." Or do we say that we do not want to backbite people? This is not disliked backbiting; rather, this is obligatory backbiting, not just permissible. This warning—"Beware of walking with so-and-so because his character is such and such"—is obligatory. So we have now reached six characteristics: "the one complaining of injustice, the one informing, and the one warning." The fourth characteristic: "and the one who openly commits open sinfulness." The one who openly commits open sinfulness is a man who drinks intoxicants in public; he does not fear Allah and he does not feel shy of the servants of Allah. This is the open sinner who is open about his sinfulness. He is to be backbitten. It is said: "This is a man who drinks intoxicants and does not feel shy of people at all." This falls under the general text: ? In terms of meaning, it falls under it, but in terms of the specific evidences, this type is excluded from this general text. This is the sinner who declares his sinfulness and lewdness. For example, so-and-so opened a "bar," a place selling intoxicants. This is never of the forbidden backbiting; it is excluded from forbidden backbiting. The fifth type, after he said: "and the one who openly commits open sinfulness," he said: "and the one seeking a ruling." This is the fifth category of backbiting excluded from prohibition. The one seeking a ruling has many examples, cases, and types. A man comes to the scholar and says: "My wife does such and such and such. What is the ruling?" Or a woman comes to the scholar and says: "My husband does such and such and such." Each of them describes the other with the description of backbiting. Is this permissible or forbidden? This is permissible. This is excluded from forbidden backbiting. The evidence for this is the story of Hind when she came to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: . Look at how she describes him as stingy, a man who is miserly, meaning he is not fulfilling the rights of his children and his wife. "Is it permissible for me to take from his wealth what suffices me and my children?" He (peace be upon him) said: .