The short answer
Backbiting in Islam (ghiba) is talking about your brother in a way he dislikes. In Sahih Muslim 2589, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, defined it as mentioning your brother with what he dislikes. Al-Hujurat 49:12 compares backbiting to eating the flesh of a dead brother.
What is backbiting in Islam?
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet asked his companions whether they knew what backbiting is. They said that Allah and His Messenger know best, and he said:
Sahih Muslim 2589 (the question, the answer and the definition)
أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْغِيبَةُ " . قَالُوا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ . قَالَ " ذِكْرُكَ أَخَاكَ بِمَا يَكْرَهُ
atadrūna mā al-ghība? ... dhikruka akhāka bimā yakrah
Do you know what backbiting is? They said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: Mentioning your brother with what he dislikes.
1AuthenticSahih Muslim 2589
The report then adds a second case. Someone asked for the Prophet's opinion on a case where the fault he mentions is really in his brother. The Prophet said that if it is in him, you have backbitten him, and if it is not in him, you have slandered him (buhtan).
The definition turns on what the brother would dislike. The report does not list which remarks fall under this definition and which do not. That is the part a reader most often needs help with, and it is left to a scholar, as set out below.
What does the Quran say about backbiting?
Al-Hujurat 49:12 names suspicion, spying and backbiting in one passage, and compares backbiting to eating the flesh of a dead brother.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱجْتَنِبُوا۟ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا۟ وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
The verse is an address to those who believe and gives a comparison. It does not list which remarks count as backbiting, so a reader should keep the verse's own words in mind when using it for a question.
What examples should I take to a scholar?
The questions below are situations a reader may meet. This page does not answer any of them, and it names no scholar's list of exceptions. Each one is a question to take to a scholar you trust, who can ask you about the facts and your intention.
- A friend asks you about a mutual acquaintance's character before agreeing to do business with them. Does your answer count as backbiting, and does the reason you are asked change that?
- Someone you live with has a habit that affects you. You want to tell a third person so they can ask that person to change it. Is that a case the texts allow?
- You repeat something you heard about someone and are not sure it is true. Does uncertainty change what the report calls backbiting or slander?
- A post online names a person's error and is shared widely. Does a public post count as mentioning your brother in the report's sense?
- You describe a person to someone who is about to hire them, marry them or rent to them. Does the need to warn change what is permitted?
Where do the texts name a fault for a reason?
Two places in the sources speak of a fault being named, and both are narrow.
First, An-Nisa 4:148 says that Allah does not love harsh speech, except by one who has been wronged.
۞ لَّا يُحِبُّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْجَهْرَ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ إِلَّا مَن ظُلِمَ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ سَمِيعًا عَلِيمًا
The verse does not say what a wronged person may say, to whom, or how much. Those are questions for a scholar.
Second, Fatimah bint Qays, may Allah be pleased with her, reported that after her divorce she told the Prophet that two men had proposed to her.
They were Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with him, and Abu Jahm, may Allah be pleased with him. The Prophet described each of them to her:
Sahih Muslim 1480 (his description of the two men)
أَمَّا أَبُو جَهْمٍ فَلاَ يَضَعُ عَصَاهُ عَنْ عَاتَقِهِ وَأَمَّا مُعَاوِيَةُ فَصُعْلُوكٌ لاَ مَالَ لَهُ
ammā abū jahmin fa-lā yaḍaʿu ʿaṣāhu ʿan ʿātiqihi, wa-ammā muʿāwiyata fa-ṣuʿlūkun lā māla lahu
As for Abu Jahm, he does not put his staff down from his shoulder; as for Mu'awiyah, he is a poor man with no property.
2AuthenticSahih Muslim 1480
He then told her to marry Usamah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, and she did. This is one case the report records and the Prophet answered. It gives no rule for other cases, and whether a similar question today is covered by the same reasoning is a question for a scholar.
Backbiting is one of the most discussed manners in the Quran and the hadith. Reading what the sources say about it, and where they set limits, made the boundaries clearer.
Try it: four questions
Pick an answer; each one explains itself.
1In Sahih Muslim 2589, what does the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, say backbiting is?
Answer: Mentioning your brother with what he dislikes. The report gives that definition first. Its next part concerns a fault that is really in the brother (backbiting) and one that is not (slander). Source 1
2What does Al-Hujurat 49:12 compare backbiting to?
Answer: Eating the flesh of a dead brother. The verse asks whether one of you would like to eat the flesh of his dead brother, and says you would abhor it.
3Does Sahih Muslim 1480 give a general rule that anyone may name another person's faults?
Answer: No. The report records the Prophet's answer to one woman, about two proposals. It gives no general rule and no ruling on other cases. Source 2
4Does An-Nisa 4:148 say what a wronged person may say, or to whom?
Answer: No, the verse does not say what, or to whom. The verse makes one exception, for one who has been wronged. It does not describe the words or the audience. Those are questions for a scholar.
Sources
Every claim on this page comes from one of these. Gradings are reported with the scholar's name; we do not grade hadith ourselves.
- 1
The Prophet asked his companions whether they knew what backbiting is, and answered that it is mentioning your brother in a way he dislikes. Asked what if the fault he mentions is really in his brother, he said that if it is in him you have backbitten him, and if it is not in him you have slandered him.
Authentic: in Sahih Muslim
- 2
Fatimah bint Qays went to the Prophet after her husband divorced her, and when she told him that two men had proposed to her, Mu'awiyah and Abu Jahm, he described each of them to her: Abu Jahm does not put his staff down from his shoulder, Mu'awiyah is a poor man with no property, and he told her to marry Usamah ibn Zayd.
Authentic: in Sahih Muslim
- Q
Quran Arabic and English for Al-Hujurat 49:12 and An-Nisa 4:148 in full.
Tanzil Project Uthmani text, CC BY 3.0. English: adapted from Marmaduke Pickthall's translation (1930), modernised and checked against modern translations.
Next
- Tawbah: understanding repentanceBelief lesson
- Sabr: meaning and everyday practiceBelief lesson
- Start at AlifThe hub
- Anger in IslamExplainer
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