How to reconcile the hadiths on talebearing with the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Allah does not like the open utterance of evil except by one who has been wronged”?
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The questioner : How is it reconciled between these hadiths and the saying of Allah the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:148]?
The Shaykh : This wronged person complains about the wrongdoer to the one in authority. The talebearer, may Allah reward you, we mentioned him, but we mentioned his definition according to the scholars, and we mentioned an example of him: he comes to a person and says, “So-and-so is saying such and such about you,” in order to sow enmity between them. Which is more severe: the liar or the talebearer?
The student: The talebearer.
The Shaykh : The poet says:
“I have a way to deal with the one who tells tales, *** but I have no way to deal with the liar.
Whoever fabricates what he says, *** my way to deal with him is little.”
The student: According to the poet, the liar is more severe.
The Shaykh : According to the poet, the liar is more severe, because the talebearer means he conveys words that actually occurred, but he is certainly corrupting. As for the liar, he brings words from himself; he may be a talebearer or he may not be, but generally the effect of talebearing is very bad.
Allah does not like the public mention of evil except by one who has been wronged
لا يحب الله الجهر بالسوء من القول إلا من ظلمThe Shaykh : This wronged person complains about the wrongdoer to the one in authority. The talebearer, may Allah reward you, we mentioned him, but we mentioned his definition according to the scholars, and we mentioned an example of him: he comes to a person and says, “So-and-so is saying such and such about you,” in order to sow enmity between them. Which is more severe: the liar or the talebearer?
The student: The talebearer.
The Shaykh : The poet says:
“I have a way to deal with the one who tells tales, *** but I have no way to deal with the liar.
Whoever fabricates what he says, *** my way to deal with him is little.”
The student: According to the poet, the liar is more severe.
The Shaykh : According to the poet, the liar is more severe, because the talebearer means he conveys words that actually occurred, but he is certainly corrupting. As for the liar, he brings words from himself; he may be a talebearer or he may not be, but generally the effect of talebearing is very bad.