Is it better to explicitly state the faults of a person when he is mentioned, or is it sufficient to merely hint with the eye that there is something wrong with him?

The questioner : Okay, I have a second question: When we are sitting together and we mention a specific person, one of the people makes a certain gesture and sign when this person is mentioned, meaning that there is something wrong with him. When asked what this gesture and sign means, he remains silent and says, "May Allah protect him." Is it better to mention what is wrong with him so that the listener understands this gesture, as the person gesturing believes it to be a religious fault or a specific fault in this person, or is it better to remain silent?

The Shaykh : First, gesturing is not prescribed by the Shari'ah, even if we assume that he is sincere in his gesture. He must be explicit and speak out about what he believes, even if it constitutes backbiting, as long as it is not slander or fabrication. This is because in some hadiths, a man in a gathering gestured to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with his eye, and he was sincere in his gesture, but the Messenger did not approve of that gesture from him. This is the first point. Based on your details, was it better for him to be explicit or not? Without a doubt, the answer is understood from his rejection of the gesture. If he is sincere, that requires explicit verbal statement, because the well-known saying of him (peace and blessings be upon him) in "Sahih Muslim" and others This authentic text is qualified by many, many hadiths. The scholars have summarized from the totality of those texts that there are six characteristics that are excluded from forbidden backbiting. Then, certain known rulings apply to these exceptions, such as permissibility, recommendation, and obligation. Sometimes, backbiting your Muslim brother may be obligatory, let alone recommended, let alone permissible. Some jurist-poets have summarized this in two lines of poetry, saying:
"Criticism is not backbiting in six cases: *** The aggrieved, the one seeking knowledge, and the one warning
The one openly committing open sinfulness, the one seeking a ruling, and the one *** Seeking assistance in removing a wrong."
And our critique of hadith and the critique of hadith narrators is only from this category. So when the Imam, the Hafiz, and the critics among the Imams of the Muslims say, "So-and-so is a liar," "So-and-so is a fabricator," "So-and-so has poor memory," "So-and-so is a prompter," and so on, up to the last of the hurtful expressions, all of this falls under the category of backbiting. But there is no doubt that it is excluded from the forbidden backbiting that falls under the generality of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying In this case, if a conversation about a person or persons took place in the gathering and one of them made a gesture, gesturing is not permissible. Rather, he must be explicit with his opinion if he is sincere. And if he is aware of such ranks of exceptions from forbidden backbiting, the research into this is long in reality. And I think there are tapes with our brother Abu AhmadAbu Layla : More than once, we have explained the evidence for these exceptions. And it is sufficient for you now with the well-known verse Allah loves that from him, even though it is backbiting, because it falls under the generality of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying Perhaps I have answered your question, if Allah wills.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And you as well.