Is backbiting considered if a man is mentioned in a bad way without his name being mentioned?

The questioner : If I mention a man in a gathering and do not mention his name, and none of the people present recognize him, is this backbiting?

The Shaykh : It seems the questioner is asking: if I mention him in a bad way, yes. If a person mentions someone in a bad way in a gathering without mentioning his name and without describing him with a distinctive feature by which he is known, there is no harm. For example, if he says, "Some people do such and such," or says "such and such," there is no blame in that. However, this is on the condition that he does not describe him with a description that identifies this man. If he describes him with a description by which this man is identified, it is as if he named him by his name. Let it be known that backbiting is among the major sins, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has warned against it by the comparison He mentioned in His saying: I believe that a person dislikes eating the carrion of a beast, so how much more so the carrion of his brother? The one who backbites his brother is in the position of one who eats his flesh while he is dead. The point of comparison in it being dead flesh is that this backbitten person cannot defend himself because he is not present, so Allah compared him to a dead person whose flesh is eaten by the one who backbites him. Let a person beware of backbiting his Muslim brothers, and let him fear Allah regarding himself before his brothers. This is especially true if the backbiting is of the scholars, for it is more severe, greater in danger, and worse in outcome. We do not say that scholars do not make mistakes, for every son of Adam makes mistakes. But if one of the scholars makes a mistake, if he is alive, contact him and ask him, for perhaps the report from him was incorrect. If the matter is as it was reported to you, say to him: if you have something indicating that what he said is wrong, tell him what is your answer to the saying of Allah the Exalted, or the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), such and such. If he debates you, either the truth is with you, in which case it is obligatory for him to return to your saying, or the truth is with him, in which case it is obligatory for you to return to his saying. This is if he is alive. As for if he is dead and has made a mistake, it is better for a person to defend the honor of this dead person and say to people: everyone makes mistakes, so who is protected from error except whom Allah the Exalted has protected? Therefore, it is not permissible for us to backbite any of the Muslims, whether alive or dead, especially if he is among the scholars, because of the harm that is not only to the scholar personally, but to him and his knowledge, and indeed to Islam as a whole.