The Shaykh’s remarks on permissible backbiting based on what was mentioned in the previous hadith, specifically the sixth characteristic in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, which is: “When you are asked for advice, give it.”

The Shaykh : Backbiting, which is forbidden by the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described in a well-known way in Sahih Muslim , is this backbiting. Mentioning your brother with what he dislikes is sometimes permissible, and it may even be obligatory, as we mentioned earlier. The scholars have a long discussion on this topic. Imam al-Ghazali, in his book *Ihya’*, has a specific book among his many works titled “The Condemnation of Backbiting and Talebearing”. And Imam al-Shawkani (may Allah have mercy on him) has a specific treatise on this topic. The important point is that the prohibition of backbiting is a matter of scholarly consensus, with no room for debate, especially since the topic, with its authentic hadiths, has already been presented to us in this book “Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib”. The purpose now is to clarify what is permissible regarding backbiting, from which many people hesitate, either out of scrupulousness or out of ignorance of Islam. This type of knowledge is what should be spread and disseminated among people until it becomes known, just as the original ruling on backbiting is known to everyone. The original ruling on backbiting is prohibition, so I do not think any Muslim is unaware that backbiting a Muslim is forbidden. However, the masses are unaware that some backbiting is permissible, and may even be obligatory. Here, I direct my speech to connect it to the topic of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying . For example, if a person comes to a Muslim man asking about another, either wanting to partner with him, or wanting to marry from his family, such as his daughter or his sister, and so on. He asks him, “What do you know about this man? What do you know about his sister or his daughter?” The custom in such a question is to answer in the known colloquial dialect: “Everyone is good and blessed”. And he may know that the person being asked about does not possess all good and all blessing, but rather the opposite, possessing all evil. This person who conceals the truth from the inquiring advisor claims, “I want to partner with him, for example, with money. Is he trustworthy?” He may have been his employee, tested him, and known him closely and thoroughly, and found that he is not trustworthy, yet he conceals this from him and covers it up, claiming that the general rule of backbiting applies to this type of situation.