In a Hadith found in Sahih Muslim, number 6593, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, explained the meaning of backbiting and slander.
Backbiting is when one criticizes someone in their absence in a way which would be displeasing to them, even though it is the truth. Whereas, slander is similar to backbiting except that the statement is not true. These sins mainly involve speech but can include other things, such as using hand signals. These are both major sins and backbiting has been compared to eating the flesh of the corpse of one’s brother, in the Holy Quran. Chapter 49 Al Hujurat, verse 12:
“…And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it…”
It is important to understand that these sins are worse than most of the sins which are between a person and Allah, the Exalted. This is because the sins between a person and Allah, the Exalted, will be forgiven by Him, if the sinner sincerely repents. But Allah, the Exalted, will not forgive a backbiter or a slanderer until their victim forgives them first. If they do not, then on Judgment Day the good deeds of the backbiter/slanderer will be given to their victim as compensation and if needed, the sins of the victim will be given to their backbiter/slanderer until justice is established. This may well cause the backbiter/slanderer to be hurled into Hell. This has been confirmed in a Hadith found in Sahih Muslim, number 6579.
Backbiting is only lawful when one is warning and protecting another person from harm or if a person is resolving a complaint against another person with a third party, such as a legal case.
One should avoid backbiting and slandering by firstly gaining knowledge on the evil consequences of these major sins. Secondly, a person should only utter words which they would happily say in front of the person, full well knowing they would not take it in an offensive way. Thirdly, a muslim should only utter words about another if they would not mind someone else saying those or similar words about them. Meaning, they should talk about others how they want people to talk about them. Finally, a muslim should concentrate on fixing their own faults and when done sincerely, it will prevent them from backbiting and slandering others.
One should avoid the company of backbiters and slanderers, as they are trouble makers, who will, sooner or later, backbite or slander them. They should gently warn others from these major sins, as long as they are safe from physical harm. They should never believe the gossip spoken about others, as the vast majority of gossip is either completely false or it is mixed up with many lies. One should instead defend the honour of others, just like they would like people to defend their honour in their absence. The one who behaves in this manner will be protected from Hellfire by Allah, the Exalted. This has been advised in a Hadith found in Jami At Tirmidhi, number 1931. One should ignore the gossip they hear about others and never let it influence their behaviour towards them. Instead, they should fulfill the rights of others, according to the teachings of Islam.
A Muslim must never be fooled by the fact that backbiting and slandering others has become normalized in society. The sins of others will never reduce the severity of one’s sins in the eyes of Allah, the Exalted, nor can the sins of others justify committing sins. This is a foolish attitude which a worldly judge would not even accept, then how can a Muslim expect Allah, the Exalted, the Judge of judges, to accept it?
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