Chapter on the Prohibition of Insulting a Muslim Without Right: Allah the Exalted said

The reciter: Praise be 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: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Insulting a Muslim Without Right. Allah the Exalted said:

And those who harm believing men and believing women for [something] other than what they have earned have certainly born upon themselves a slander and manifest sin.

والذين يؤذون المؤمنين والمؤمنات بغير ما اكتسبوا فقد احتملوا بهتانا وإثما مبينا

[Al-Ahzab 33:58]

From Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Abusing a Muslim is an outrage and fighting against him is unbelief

سباب المسلم فسوق وقتاله كفر

Sahih Muslim 64a

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim."

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-Salihin*: "Chapter on the Prohibition of Insulting a Muslim Without Right"
Insulting him means criticizing him and describing him with what he dislikes, but only in his presence. If it is in his absence, it is backbiting. Then the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Those" is the subject, and "have certainly taken upon themselves" is the predicate of the subject. The meaning is that those who harm believing men and believing women without what the believing man and believing woman who were harmed, or the two who were harmed, have earned, have certainly taken upon themselves a slander, meaning a lie, and an evident sin, meaning a punishment, and may Allah protect us from that. This includes every kind of harm, whether by word or by deed. The more a person deserves respect, the greater the harm to him is in sin. So harming a close relative is not like harming a distant one, and harming a neighbor is not like harming a non-neighbor, and harming one who has a right over you is not like harming one who has no right over you. The important point is that the sin and crime of harm vary according to the one who is harmed. And it is amazing that many Muslims today harm their neighbors with harassment, prying into their private matters, and other things. This is among the greatest of sins. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning his oppression and injustice.
And His saying the Exalted: It is understood from this that if a believer is harmed for what he has earned, there is no harm in that. Meaning, if you harm a person in response to an action of his that harmed you, then there is no harm. Or if a person is harmed to establish a limit for Allah the Mighty and Majestic, or if he is harmed to fulfill a right that he refused to perform, there is no harm. Rather, Allah the Exalted commanded regarding those who commit the obscene act, saying: So He commanded to harm them. If they repent and turn away and make amendment, then turn away from them. This was before the killing of the active and passive parties in sodomy was legislated. In the beginning, the sodomite was not flogged or killed, but was harmed until he repented. Then Allah the Exalted commanded the killing of the active and passive parties on the tongue of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the Companions agreed upon that.
Then the author mentioned the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: This indicates that open sinfulness is less severe than disbelief, because he made insult open sinfulness and made fighting disbelief. He made fighting disbelief. So on this basis, if a Muslim insults his brother, this one who insults becomes an open sinner. His testimony is not accepted, and he is not given authority, nor over his daughter, nor over his daughter's marriage, because he has become an open sinner. It is not valid for him to be an imam for the Muslims, nor valid for him to be the one who calls to prayer. This is what many of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said. In some issues of this, there is scholarly disagreement. However, the important point is that whoever insults his brother commits open sinfulness. As for whoever fights him, he commits disbelief. If he considers fighting without right permissible, he is a disbeliever with a disbelief that takes him out of the religion. If he does not consider it permissible, but does it out of a passion in his soul, he becomes a disbeliever, but it is a disbelief that does not take him out of the religion. The evidence for that is the saying of Allah the Exalted: So Allah made the two fighting groups brothers to the group that reconciles. This indicates that they do not go out of faith, but it is a disbelief less than disbelief. And success is from Allah.