Backbiting

by Hasnain Asharia

“O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible):
for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not
on each other behind their backs. Would any of you
like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye
would abhor it...But fear Allah. For Allah is Oft-
Returning, Most Merciful.” – Quran 49:12

WHAT IS GHEEBAT?
Imam Musa al-Kadhim has said: “If one speaks of a
person in his absence about those of his traits which
are actually present in him and people are also aware
of it, it is not Gheebat. But if he mentions something
which is present in the person but people are unaware
of it, it would be Gheebat. Moreover if what he
says is not present in the man, it is allegation
(Bohtaan).”

Other definitions from the Prophet (saw) and
Imam Ja’far Sadiq (as) have stated Gheebat is
remembering your brother in a way he dislikes as
well as exposing that aspect of your brother
which Allah had concealed.

EXCEPTIONS FOR GHEEBAT?


Gheebat is allowed in three instances.

1) Gheebat of a person whose defect is not
hidden i.e. it is known to all. For example
one who walks the streets with alcohol in
his hand. The riwayah says: “One who
sins openly is not worthy of respect and
his Gheebat is not haram…one who has
thrown away the robe of shame and commits
sins openly is not Gheebat.”
(Makasib Muhrima Pg 27 Vol 4)

2) If an oppressed person complains about
the oppressor and mentions his acts of
injustice, it is not Gheebat. As the Almighty
Allah (swt) says: “A;;ah does not
love the public utterance of hurtful speech
unless it be by one to whom injustice has
been done” – Quran 4:148

3) Advice to those who ask for it; for instance
when seeking advice on a certain
person for marriage.

WHAT IS THE PUNISHMENT OF GHEEBAT?


The Holy Prophet (saw) has been recorded to
have said: “Gheebat is worse than fornication because
if a fornicator repents, Allah forgives him but
He does not forgive the backbiter till the person
about whom he has backbitten forgives.” (Makasibe
Muhrima Vol. 3 Pg 310)

“Even if the backbiter repents he will be the last to
enter Paradise and one who dies without repenting
will be first in Hell.”

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (as) has said: “Gheebat is
haram for all Muslims and there is no doubt that
Gheebat destroys good deeds like fire destroys wood.”
“Gheebat destroys good deeds” means that Gheebat
invalidates all the good actions that one has performed
or that the sin of Gheebat exceeds the
rewards he has accumulated from the past good
deeds or that the deeds of the backbiter are
transferred to the scroll of deeds of the one
about whom he has backbitten. There are numerous
narrations where these have been cited form
the Holy Prophet (saww).

Even listening to Gheebat is Haraam. Imam ja’far
Sadiq (as) has said: “Gheebat is equal to infidelity i.e.
one who does it is a Kaafir and listening to it and
being pleased with it is like polytheism i.e. he is a
mushrik.” The Prophet (saw) has said: “One who
listens to Gheebat is one of those who do Gheebat”
and He has also said: “One who lends ear to
backbiting is one of the backbiters.”

Therefore all Muslims are obliged not to hear the
Gheebat of a believer. They must restrain the
backbiter so that the honour of the momin is
preserved. They should help the mu’min in saving
his honour. Thus, I urge myself before I urge you
brother and sisters, let us make this Holy Month
of forgiveness to repent and remove such a vulgar
habit.

The Holy Prophet (saw) has said: “If one defends
his believing brother’s honour while backbiting is done
about him in a way that he proves him faltless, Allah
shall remove from him thousands of mischiefs from
the world and the hereafter. But if he does not dispel
them in spite of being able to do so, his sin shall be
seventy times that of the backbiter.”