I ask your eminence about backbiting, specifically regarding backbiting a minor who has not reached the age of puberty. Will a sin be recorded against us if we backbite him, especially a minor who constantly...
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The questioner : I am asking your eminence about backbiting, specifically regarding backbiting a minor who has not reached the age of puberty. Will a sin be recorded against us if we backbite him, especially a minor who constantly...
The Shaykh : So, about backbiting?
The questioner : Yes, he constantly causes us intense agitation that drives a person out of his composure, causing him to curse him, or more accurately, to backbite him by speaking about him. Please inform us, may Allah guide you?
The Shaykh : Backbiting is mentioning a person in his absence with what he dislikes. That is backbiting.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because it is an action from the unseen (ghayb). However, if he is present, then mentioning him with what he dislikes is not called backbiting, but rather cursing and reviling. It is not permissible to curse or revile a minor; rather, it is obligatory for a person to restrain himself from what is not permissible for him to do, whether it is speech or action. Among the high and noble etiquettes is to suppress one's anger and hold back one's rage, especially in dealing with minors. Because if minors see someone dealing with them in this manner with anger, cursing, and reviling, they become accustomed to it and see it as a matter with no harm. Therefore, cursing a minor is like cursing an adult, and it may even be more severe, because the upbringing of a minor based on what is said or done to him, or raising a minor on what is said or done to him, is more severe than raising an adult on that.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This questioner is asking, saying: Does the Tawaf of Ifadah suffice for the Tawaf of Farewell? He says: I, the questioner, was granted a daughter, and I am of Hadrami nationality.
The Shaykh : So, about backbiting?
The questioner : Yes, he constantly causes us intense agitation that drives a person out of his composure, causing him to curse him, or more accurately, to backbite him by speaking about him. Please inform us, may Allah guide you?
The Shaykh : Backbiting is mentioning a person in his absence with what he dislikes. That is backbiting.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because it is an action from the unseen (ghayb). However, if he is present, then mentioning him with what he dislikes is not called backbiting, but rather cursing and reviling. It is not permissible to curse or revile a minor; rather, it is obligatory for a person to restrain himself from what is not permissible for him to do, whether it is speech or action. Among the high and noble etiquettes is to suppress one's anger and hold back one's rage, especially in dealing with minors. Because if minors see someone dealing with them in this manner with anger, cursing, and reviling, they become accustomed to it and see it as a matter with no harm. Therefore, cursing a minor is like cursing an adult, and it may even be more severe, because the upbringing of a minor based on what is said or done to him, or raising a minor on what is said or done to him, is more severe than raising an adult on that.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This questioner is asking, saying: Does the Tawaf of Ifadah suffice for the Tawaf of Farewell? He says: I, the questioner, was granted a daughter, and I am of Hadrami nationality.