Clarification that backbiting varies according to the individuals involved and the danger of backbiting scholars and rulers

The Shaykh : Know that backbiting is not equal; rather, it varies in severity. Backbiting a close relative is more severe than backbiting a distant one. That is, if a man backbites his father, his brother, his paternal uncle, his maternal uncle, or his son, it is more severe than if he backbites others. Backbiting a scholar is more severe than backbiting an ignorant commoner. Backbiting a ruler is more severe than backbiting anyone else, because backbiting varies in severity and ugliness according to its effects and consequences. Backbiting a close relative entails backbiting and severing ties, is that not so, O people? Good. Backbiting a scholar entails backbiting and belittling the scholar. And when the scholar is belittled, what he brings of the truth is not accepted. Thus, backbiting scholars is not merely a defect in the scholars themselves, but it is a defect in the scholars and in the Shari'ah of Allah that they carry. Consequently, the Shari'ah remains without trust in its carriers and its people. Backbiting rulers is not backbiting them in their personal selves, but it is backbiting and corruption in the land. For when people rebel against the rulers, chaos ensues, and every person acts according to his own will and does not care about disobeying the one in authority, because he has been backbitten and his status has been lowered in his own eyes. Therefore, backbiting scholars, backbiting rulers, and backbiting close relatives is more severe than backbiting others, due to the harms and damages that result from it.