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All Praise is due to Allah: We Praise Him: We beg assistance of Him:

We ask Him for forgiveness. We have faith in Him: We have reliance
.on Him

We fly for refuge unto Him (to deliver us) from the mischief of our
minds and from the evil consequences of our actions.

Whomever Allah directs shall not go astray: and whomever He allows

to go astray, no one can guide.

We profess that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, and

we further profess that Muhammad is His Servant and His Messenger.

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Brothers and Sisters in Islam we want to Insha’-Allah, continue our subject of

Ghee bah or Backbiting from last time. Today we want to talk about importance
of seeking touba, and expectations where gheebah is allowed.

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SUMMARY OF GHEEBAH:

First, a quick summary of what we have talked about so far:

1. Gheebah is defined as mentioning something in absence of your brother

and sister that that person would hate or dislike. In English it is gheebah.
2. Gheebah is haraam because in Islam the blood, wealth, and honor of a
Muslim sacred. And gheebah is a feasting, degrading, trampling on the
honor of a Muslim.
3. Muslims now-a-days take this sin too lightly, we fast, pray, give sadaqah,
perform hajj yet commit this sin, with little or no second thought. Some
major reasons for us taking this sin so lightly, is lack of iman, and/or
ignorance, and/or the negative effect of living a world where most people
do not consider this to be a big deal, let alone a big sin.
4. Rasullah (SAW), and Sahaab (RA), and past generations took this sin as
very serious and did not engage in it.
5. Both the active listener and the one performing the gheebah are equal in
sin. So gheebah cannot be done alone. A person a-ouzh-bil-lah drinking
alcohol commits that sin alone. But backbiting cannot be done alone.
Therefore every listener of gheebah is an equal, willing, conscious partner
in that sin. This relates to principle that we should avoid “laqwa” or vain,
idle, useless talk and that we should protect the honor, and good name of
our fellow Muslims.
6. The scholars are unanimous in categorizing gheebah is a kabir sin based
on the Quran and Sunnah. Committing this sin require touba. Allah Ta’la
tells us in Surat Al Muzammil:

Allah says: "And seek forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [al-
Muzammil (73):20]

8. What is the expiation for ghibah. Well Brothers and Sister in Islam recall from the
last khutbah that the backbiter has committed two infringements; one upon the
limits of Allah, and this must be expiated by repentance and regret. The second is on
the rights of his brothers/sisters.

So with regards to making toubah to Allah we must perform the following steps:
1. Stop committing the sin.
2. Have naadim or remorse, feel sorry, feel sad, about doing the sin.
3. Make sincere dua’ for help from Allah Ta’la and pledge to not do it again.

With regards to making right on violating the rights of our brothers and sisters then.
If news of the backbiting has reached the person, the backbiter must apologize to
him/her, and express regret at having said it.

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"Whoever has wronged his brother, in the way of property or honor, let him go to
him and repair it, before it is taken [from him on a day] when he has no dirhams or
dinars, such that if he has any good deeds, some of the good deeds will be taken and
given to [the wronged one], otherwise [if he has no good deeds], some of the other's
evil deeds will be taken and cast upon him." [Bukhari, Al-Mazalim, 5/121, #2449.
Ahmad, Al-Musnad, 2/435]

So here we must approach the person and say I have committed gheebah and I ask
for your forgiveness.

Some scholars say with regards to case where the person has found out about your
gheebah that if you do not have the courage and bravery then you spread good
about the person and ask forgiveness for that person.

If the person has not learned that he has been backbited, then the backbiter
need not tell him according to some scholars, but he should ask Allah to forgive him
and also praise that person in similar gatherings and situation.

Mujahid said : the expiation for eating the flesh of your brother is that you praise
him and pray for good for him, and similar is the case if he has died.

Again recall the question for how long do we make duaa and ask forgiveness and
goodness for the person that we have done to the scholars says for as long as
you feel honestly and sincerely that you have paid the person back for the sin of
backbiting him/her.

Recall brothers and sisters in Islam if do not seek expiation, cleansing then the
hadith of bankruptcy would naoubillah be applied to us.

The Prophet once asked his Companions, "Do you know who is the bankrupt?"
The Companions said, "A bankrupt is the one who has neither dirham (money)
nor wealth." The Prophet said, the bankrupt of my Ummah is he who would come
on the Day of Judgment with prayers, fasting, and zakah; but who had offended
one person, slandered another, devoured others' wealth, shed the blood of this
person, and beat that person. Each one of these people would be given some of
the wrongdoer's good deeds. If his good deeds fall short of settling the account,
then their sins will be taken from their accounts and thrown into his account, and
he would be thrown in the Hellfire. (sahih Muslim)

So one question is, are there circumstances, occasions, cases where gheebah is
allowed. The answer is yes. But and this a strong But there are strict controls,
measures, restrictions to ensure the exceptions are not abused.

Save someone from a harmful plotting and planning

The first case where gheebah is allowed is where someone is heading for danger
or someone will become a victim then it becomes a duty for the one who has that
knowledge to convey that information to that person.

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Example lets us say we party of a conversation where plots and plans are made
to harm someone then it becomes our obligation to tell the victim of the evil
planning and plotting against him. Now we must be careful, we must ensure that
the evil plotting is real, and when we convey the news then we do not add
histrionics, or as they say like in farsi, adding “murch and masalah” or adding a
lot of “spices and seasoning” to the story. We must be concise and prescise to
convey the facts and not add a lot of drama to it. So again the first example
where gheebah is allowed is to protect a victim from haram such a physical,
emotional or financial. Now this would not be between where two parties are
feuding and everyone knows that they are doing a tit for tat or you did this to me
so I will do that to you.

Warning, such as warning a prospective buyer that the

merchant is a swindler, or warning a student that his
prospective teacher is an innovator or a deviant

Another example is where we warn someone of an impending danger where

another person or party is not intentionally plotting and planning to harm the
person. Let me give an example. Lets Abdullah is about to go into a business
transaction with Abdul Hameed. And another person Ali finds out about this. And
Ali knows Abdul Hameed very well, and Ali has dealt with Abdul Hameed on
many occasions where Abdul Hameed has defrauded others. And Ali also knows
that Abdullah is a sincere, humble, and simple Muslim. Then it becomes an
Islamic duty for Ali to warn Abdullah about Abdul Hameed based on the many
examples in Abdul Hameed’s past where he has defrauded people. So Ali, could
for example say look Abdullah I know you are new to this community I have lived
here my whole life and I know Abdul Hameed is going to go into a business
transaction with you and therefore in all sincereity and concern for you I would
advise you not to get into this transaction because Abdul Hameed has a know
history to defraud people.

Now we have to be careful because we do not to follow into the trap where we
sooth our egos. So if Ali dealt with Abdul Hameed only one time and he is mad
and angry and jealous of Abdul Hameed so he starts devouring Abdul Hameed’s
meat by backbiting on him for six hours to Abdullah. That would not be allowed.
Again the exception to gheebah is only allowed to protect a known victim from
known harm, and not to sooth our egos and anger with someone and start telling
a litany, or list of items about someone we dislike.

Another example where gheebah is allowed is in the case of a marriage proposal.

Fatimah Bint Qays; one of them was Mu`awiyyah and the other was Abu Jahm. The
Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Mu`ayyiah is a poor person;
therefore he cannot maintain you while Abu Jahm is a perpetual traveler who
never stays home.”

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So if a father came an Imam and asked his opinion on a brother who is proposing for the
hand of his daughter. Then Imam would tell the honest fair, opinion. Now scholars say
here if the father respects the Imam so much that if the Imam says perhaps you should
not go into this based on what I know about this brother, or if he says I do not see
compatibility. Then the scholars mention there is no need to go into the details, and it
would be haraam for the Imam to dispel the details.

Again we have to be careful not dispel more than what is needed to protect a
victim. I mean if someone came to bear witness on a marriage proposal we
should not stroke our egos and start thinking wow Masha-Allah I am so important
that someone is asking me on this proposal, or start thinking oh I will tell this
father every negative thing about this brother especially since I want to marry this
sister and I know that father will not give her to me, and therefore if I cannot
marry her than no one should. Again we have to be sincere and honest in our
nashiha or advice.

Bearing Witness in Case

Another case where gheebah is allowed is when we are in front of judge, or

arbitrators or Scholars in case, then we are allow to mention details in so much is
allowed to help bring justice and or peace in the case.

Example is when a victim of a oppression or injustice an say about the oppression in the presence of
someone who has the authority/ability bring the wrong to right.

Another example is seeking others’ assistance for changing something wrong and bringing an oppressor
back to the way of righteousness.

Another example is seeking a Fatwa regarding a certain matter: However, it is recommendable for the
person who wants to do so to use hints or indirect references when telling the Mufti about his legal opinion
concerning "someone" who has wronged him.

Using a nickname that people know a person

If a person is know with a title like as "the lame" or "the bleary-eyed," then it is not gheebah to call him
as such. But if he can be recognized with another means or his name then it is better to call him by
honorable title or his actual name.

Talking about a tyrant, tyrants, despots and rebellious persons who are role models of impiety, immorality
and rebellion against Allah in order to warn people against such behavior.

It is in this spirit that we find the Qur’an narrates to us the stories of Pharoah, Nimrod, Haamaan and
Qarun, and so on. Therefore, it is not considered sinful to speak negatively about personalities like Abu
Lahab and Abu Jahl.

Another example with this exception is if a person commits immoral and indecent acts in public and does
not feel shy of doing so, it is not an act of ghibah to tell the others about these acts. It is said, “An
immoral person has no honor to protect” since he has already tarnished his honor by openly flaunting the
laws of Allah. The scholars say, "There can be no backbiting of one who casts off the
mantle of modesty and openly commits sin." [Suyuti, Al-Jami` As-Saghir, 2/519,

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from Bayhaqi.]

So those are some examples of where gheebah is allowed. Again the general
rule that we should have a valid purpose and reason for speaking about another
person. Now one thing we do is say well I am only relating an incident. Well here
we have to ask the question if a tell an incident to someone what position is that
person to help resolve that issue. Is he/she an arbritrator, is he/she a scholar or
Imam or a person of authority that can bring a positive resolution to the issue?
Otherwise if we go start telling a brother you need to know what I saw today. The
question is why does he have to know? What is the benefit? If the brother has no
connection or position to the issue there is no reason to mention the incident.

May Allah grace you and us with the blessings of the grand Qurr’an, and
may it benefit us and you with the verses and with wise commemoration, for
He the Almighty is Generous, Noble, Sovereign, Benign, Compassionate,
and Merciful.

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