Backbiting – Meaning of Verses from Holy Quran and Hadith of Rasoolullah SAW regarding backbiting

'And do not backbite one another; would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor that.' (Al-Hujurat: 12)

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, in deed some suspicions are sins. And spy not neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear God, verily, God is the one who accepts repentance, Most Merciful. (49: 12)

Behold, you received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things which you had no knowledge; and you thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of God (24: 15)

And why did you not, when you heard it, say? "It is not right of us to speak of this: Glory to God, this is a most serious slander" (24:16)

Say to My servants that they should only say those things that are best, for Satan does sow dissensions among them, for Satan is to man an avowed enemy. (17:53)

You have indeed in the Messenger of God an excellent pattern of conduct. (33:21)

Prophet Muhammad SAW said : "Who protects his tongue from unlawful utterances and his private parts from illegal sexual intercourse, I shall guarantee him entrance into Paradise." (Bukhari and Muslim)

"I asked the Messenger of God : Who is the best Muslim? The Messenger of God replied, "He is the one from whom Muslims are safe from the evil of his tongue and hands." (Muslim)

"When man wakes up in the morning each day, all parts of the body warn the tongue saying, ‘Fear God as regards us for we are at your mercy; if you are upright, we will be upright and if you are crooked, we become crooked.’" (At-Tirmidhee)

"Do you know what backbiting is?” They said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He then said, “It is to say something about your brother that he would dislike.” Someone asked him, “But what if what I say is true?” The Messenger of Allah said, “If what you say about him is true, you are backbiting him, but if it is not true then you have slandered him."

"I asked the Messenger of Allah: Who is the best Muslim? The Messenger of Allah replied, "He is the one from whom Muslims are safe from the evil of his tongue and hands."(And when they hear Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk), they withdraw from it and say: "To us our deeds, and to you your deeds. Peace be to you. We seek not the ignorant.)(28:55)

"...no one believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."(Muslim)

“If a man's Muslim brother is slandered in your presence, and you are capable of defending him and you do so, God will defend you in this world and in the next. But if he fails to defend him, God will destroy him in this world and the next.”(Baghawi).

'While we were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the wind brought a foul odor in our direction, whereupon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'Do you know what this odor is? It is the odor of those who backbite the Believers.' (Reported by Ahmad)

From the above, it’s clear that backbiting (talking bad about your brother in his absence) is strictly prohibited in Islam. By avoiding backbiting, We are obeying Allah and Prophet SAW, we are also doing something for the other and also, it brings us peace of mind, and calmness.

By backbiting we instill negative feelings in us, which does no one any good……..
Many a times we tend to forget the simple rule of life……….to get love we should give sincere love first……..to get respect, we should sincerely respect others……...and the list goes on……..Its like, what you give, comes back to you…….

Please do vote in the poll at the end of this page.

Have a nice day…Insha Allah..May Allah guide us all.