Deterring people from backbiting (Gheebah)





Definition of Gheebah:

When the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, was asked about backbiting, he, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, answered: “To mention your brother in a manner which he dislikes”. Then he, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, was asked, “What if my brother actually has (this failing) that I made mention of?” The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “If (that failing) is actually found in your brother, you in fact backbit him, and if that is not in him it is a slander.” [Muslim]

Backbiting refers to a Muslim mentioning his Muslim brother in a manner that the latter dislikes, whether by referring to a defect in his body, or in his lineage, or in his morality. The meaning of insulting is included in backbiting, whether it is in the form of words, gestures, or writing.

Ruling of Gheebah:

Backbiting is forbidden in the Noble Quran and the Sunnah. The person who commits it is given the similitude of a person who eats the flesh of his dead brother. Allaah Says (what means): “…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…” [Quran 49: 12]