WHAT IS BACKBITING?

Abu Hurairah narrated that Allāh's Messenger (ﷺ) said: "Do you know what is backbiting?" The Companions said: "Allāh and His Messenger know best." Thereupon he said, "Backbiting is to say something about your (Muslim) brother which he dislikes." It was said to him: "What if my (Muslim) brother is as I say." He said, "If he is actually as you say, then that is backbiting; but if what you say of him is not true, that is slandering." [Muslim (2589)] ------------------------------------------------- IS BACKBITING HARĀM IN ALL CASES? NO. There are 6 instances where backbiting is permissible: 1. When complaining to a higher authority or those who can help restore your rights from the one who wronged you. 2. Seeking help from others to rectify an evil. 3. Seeking advice/ Fatwā about someone else's wrongdoing. 4. Warning the Muslims of someone's evil. 5. When speaking about an open sinner, it's permissible to speak about those crimes which they perpetrate openly, but it's not permissible to backbite them for anything else, without a valid reason. 6. For identification purposes. For example, if someone is known by a certain nickname, such as “big foot” or “chubby cheeks”; you can refer to them using these nicknames - so long as the intention is not to insult them, however, using other names is better - wherever possible. [These 6 exceptions were mentioned by An-Nawawi in his explanation of the ḥadīth above].