Continuation of the Chapter on the Prohibition of Backbiting and the Command to Guard the Tongue: Allah the Exalted said

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Chapter on the Prohibition of Backbiting and the Command to Guard the Tongue. Allah the Exalted said:

or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful.

ولا يغتب بعضكم بعضًا أيحب أحدكم أن يأكل لحم أخيه ميتًا فكرهتموه واتقوا الله إن الله تواب رحيم

[Al-Hujurat 49:12]

And He said:

And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned.

ولا تقف ما ليس لك به علم إن السمع والبصر والفؤاد كل أولئك كان عنه مسؤولًا

[Al-Isra 17:36]

And He said:

Man does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record].

ما يلفظ من قول إلا لديه رقيب عتيد

[Qaf 50:18]

”

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Saliheen*: “The Chapter on the Prohibition of Backbiting and the Obligation to Guard the Tongue”. We have previously established in the last lesson that backbiting is mentioning your brother in a way he dislikes, whether regarding his religion, his character, his physical features, or anything else that he dislikes; you do not mention him with it in his absence. We have also established that backbiting is one of the major sins, and that prayer, charity, fasting, or Hajj do not expiate it, except that, like other major sins, it is weighed against good deeds. We have also established that the ruling on backbiting and its ugliness vary according to the harms it leads to. We have also established that backbiting rulers, whether scholars or princes, is more severe than backbiting others because of the great harms that result from it. As for the verses the author cited, the first is the saying of Allah the Exalted: This is connected to what was mentioned at the beginning of the verse: So Allah prohibited backbiting, then He gave an example that repels everyone, saying: Therefore, if you mention your brother with what he dislikes in his presence, that is not called backbiting but rather cursing and insulting. So He commanded the fear of Allah the Mighty and Majestic after prohibiting backbiting, and this is an indication that those who backbite people have not feared Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Know that if you focus on your brother’s faults, spread them, and pursue his private matters, then Allah the Exalted will appoint someone to expose you and pursue your private matters, whether you are alive or dead. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: However, if backbiting is for the sake of advice and clarification, then there is no harm in it.