If a person angers me or I dislike him, I sometimes speak to myself about his faults to relieve my mind. Am I sinful for doing so, and does this count as backbiting?
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The questioner : If a person angers me or I dislike him, I sometimes speak to myself about his faults to relieve my mind. Am I sinful for doing so? And does this count as backbiting?
The Shaykh : This is not backbiting, meaning that you speak to yourself about the faults of your brother. However, it is better to turn away from this and avoid it, and to try to forget the faults of your brother by which he wronged you.
Yes, if a person remembers the faults of his brother in order to advise him about them, that is good and there is nothing wrong with it. But if he remembers the faults of his brother in order for the enmity and grudges to remain between them, that is an error and it is not befitting for a person. However, it is not the backbiting that is among the major sins.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : This is not backbiting, meaning that you speak to yourself about the faults of your brother. However, it is better to turn away from this and avoid it, and to try to forget the faults of your brother by which he wronged you.
Yes, if a person remembers the faults of his brother in order to advise him about them, that is good and there is nothing wrong with it. But if he remembers the faults of his brother in order for the enmity and grudges to remain between them, that is an error and it is not befitting for a person. However, it is not the backbiting that is among the major sins.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.