Some people, when a person is mentioned in their presence, say, "Let us leave him alone; praise be to Allah who has spared us." Is this gesture considered backbiting?

The questioner : O Shaykh, some of the brothers, when a person is mentioned in their presence, say, "Let us leave this man alone; praise be to Allah who has spared us," or something like that. Do you consider this gesture to be backbiting?

The Shaykh : How could it not be?! You know the hadith in the Sunan that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting with Aisha beside him, and a short woman passed by, and she gestured with her hand like this.

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace. She gestured with her hand like this, meaning she was indicating that she was short. So he (peace be upon him) said to her: And you, O Arabs, know, if Allah wills, that the word "said" is used to mean "gestured." One says, "So-and-so said such and such," meaning he gestured. This means that a gesture often suffices in place of explicit words. So if he says a word in his speech that contains backbiting, it is clear backbiting. And if he gestures in a way that implies backbiting, the ruling is the same.

The questioner : Another question has confused me. When a person is mentioned to me, the one who mentioned him is undoubtedly a backbiter. But I say, "Praise be to Allah who has spared us," meaning, "Leave us alone from this talk." I say this to him. So my phrase implies that the man...

The Shaykh : I am speaking about this phrase.

The questioner : It implies, in your opinion, may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : And beware of it.