Discussion of the third instance in which backbiting is permissible, which is warning.

The Shaykh : And regarding this third characteristic, I see so-and-so associating with so-and-so, and he comes to say to him, "Look, it is better to walk with so-and-so, if Allah wills. His character is such and such." But this is backbiting. Why? Because the purpose here is to warn the righteous young man; we warn him from mixing with the corrupt young man. The young man of good character is forbidden from mixing with the young man of bad character. Why? Because the nature of people is that it spreads, like beautiful fruits: if you place them next to rotten fruit, it spoils them and the infection spreads to them. This is the law of Allah in His creation, and you will not find any change in the law of Allah. And for that reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against the company of the bad, saying: meaning he gives it to you for free So the righteous companion is a gainer in any case. He is like the one who sits with the perfumer: either he gives it to him for free, or he buys it from him for money, or at least he is content with smelling the pleasant fragrance. As for the bad companion, he said (peace and blessings be upon him) in the rest of the hadith: This and that are like the righteous companion and the bad companion. So if we see a righteous person mixing with a bad person, we warn him. We say, "So-and-so, do not walk with him; he says such and such and believes such and such." Or we refrain and say, "We do not, we do not backbite people." This is not disliked backbiting, but rather obligatory backbiting, not just permissible. This is a warning: beware of walking with so-and-so because he is such and such. So this is obligatory. Thus, we now have six characteristics: the wronged, the known, and the one being warned.