The Book of Faith-02b

The reciter: Amr ibn Ali and Hasan al-Halwani both narrated to me from Afan ibn Muslim, who said: "We were with Isma'il ibn Ulayyah, and a man narrated from another man, so I said, 'This man is not reliable.' The man said, 'You have backbitten him.' Isma'il said, 'He did not backbite him, but he judged that he is not reliable.'"

The Shaykh : From this, it is derived in Islamic jurisprudence that reporting on a person's condition—whether he is trustworthy or not, a liar or truthful—is not backbitting in any way, but rather it is advice. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Fatimah bint Qays when she consulted him about those who proposed to her: He described their conditions, and this is not considered backbitting, but rather it is advice.