What is the difference between Backbiting and Talebearing?

 

What is the difference between Backbiting and Talebearing?

ASSEMBLED BY MALLAM ABBA ABANA, KUBWA, ABUJA, NIGERIA

http://variousislamicdawadocuments.blogspot.com

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emails:gonidamgamiri@yahoo.com; abba.abana@gmail.com

Sunday 27 Ramadan 1442 AH and 9 May 2021 CE

Reminder Day 27

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah. As-Salaam Alaikum WA-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu.

Praise be to Allaah; we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His slave and Messenger.

Help us Answer the Ummah! Every second, everywhere someone needs an answer. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “A person who leads others to doing what is good will earn the same reward as those who do it.” (Muslim, 1893).

“Do not lose hope, nor be sad. You will surely be victorious if you are true in Faith.” And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].” [Holy Quran Chapter Al Imran Ayah 139]

“If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who is there that can aid you after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely.”

[Holy Quran Chapter Imran Ayah 160]

Preamble

What is Talebearing? What does Islam say about it? What is the difference between Backbiting and Talebearing? Can you give references from the Qur'an and Hadiths?

Idle, often sensational and groundless talk about others: gossip, gossipy, hearsay, report, rumor, tattle, tittle-tattle, word.

An-Nameemah (telling someone that so and so said this about you; or tattle-taling) The Prophet ﷺ once passed by two graves and those two persons (in the graves) were being tortured.

And in Leviticus, Moses warns his people, " Do not go up and down as a talebearer among your people " ( although, as many have observed, that is probably the least observed of the Torah's 613 commandments ). anything that is your neighbor's, " and says, " You shall love your neighbor as yourself ."

A. What is the ruling on accusing somebody of having a loose tongue?

B. Do you have to tell them what they have said and to whom?

This is a matter that has arisen and instead of the person being told what they are supposed to have said and to whom. They are being told that the ones telling them they have a loose tongue, that they have it on good authority that they do not have to say any more than "you have a loose tongue"

C. How can a person be accused of something they might not have said without telling them? The person could be innocent and their reputation is now in pieces.

Backbiting (Gheebah) and its Expiation

The Muslim has to guard his tongue and avoid things that have been forbidden. Among these forbidden things which people often take lightly are gheebah (backbiting), buhtan (slander) and nameemah (malicious gossip).

Gheebah or backbiting means speaking about a Muslim in his absence and saying things that he would not like to have spread around or mentioned. Buhtan or slander means saying things about a Muslim that are not true, or in other words telling lies about him. Nameemah or malicious gossip means telling one person what another said in order to cause trouble between them.

There is a great deal of evidence to show that these actions are haram (impermissible). It will suffice for us to mention just a few of them in order to demonstrate that they are haram.

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“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 Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful” [Quran chapter 49:12]

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Do you know what gheebah (backbiting) is?” They said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “Saying something about your brother that he dislikes.” It was said, “What if what I say about my brother is true?” He said, “If what you say is true then you have backbitten about him, and if it is not true, then you have slandered him.” [Muslim]

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by two graves and said, “They are being punished, but they are not being punished for anything that was difficult to avoid. One of them used to walk about spreading malicious gossip (nameemah), and the other used not to take precautions to avoid getting urine on himself when he urinated.” Then he called for a green branch, which he split in two and planted a piece on each grave, and said, “May their torment be reduced so long as these do not dry out.” [al-Bukhaari, Muslim]

For a person to say of another, “He cannot control his tongue (or he has a loose tongue)” is undoubtedly one of those things that a person would dislike to have said about him. If it is true, then it is gheebah (backbiting), and if it is not true then it is buhtan (slander).

Everyone who does any kind of backbiting, slander or malicious gossip has to repent and pray for forgiveness, and that is between him and Allaah. If he knows that any of his words reached the person about whom he was speaking, then he should go to him and ask him to forgive him. But if he does not know, then he should not tell him; rather he should pray for forgiveness for him and make du’a(supplication) for him, and speak well of him in his absence just as he spoke against him. Similarly, if he knows that telling him will provoke more enmity, then it is sufficient to make du’a for him, speak well of him and pray for forgiveness for him.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever has wronged his brother with regard to his honour or anything else, let him seek his forgiveness today, before there will be no dinar and no dirham, and if he has any good deeds to his credit they will be taken from him in a manner commensurate with the wrong he did, and if he has no good deeds, then some of his counterpart’s bad deeds will be taken and added to his burden.” [al-Bukhaari].

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:

Whoever wrongs a person by slandering him, backbiting about him or insulting him, then repents, Allah will accept his repentance, but if the one who was wronged finds out about that, he has the right to settle the score. But if he slandered him or backbit about him and the person did not hear of that, then there are two views according to the scholars, both of which were narrated from Ahmad, the more correct of which is that he should not tell him that he spoke against him in his absence. It was said that he should rather speak well of him in his absence just as he spoke badly of him in his absence, as al-Hasan al-Basri said: the expiation for gheebah is to pray for forgiveness for the person about whom you backbit. Majmoo’ al-Fataawa.

And Allah knows best.

Source: Islam Q&A, 23328

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/23328/backbiting-gheebah-and-its-expiation

What is Talebearing? What does Islam say about it? What is the difference between Backbiting and Talebearing?

To tell someone something that someone else said about him or to inform someone about something that someone else did against him claiming to have seen or heard it.
Backbiting is talking about someone. The fact that what is talked about does not interest the person one is talking to or whether what one says is true or not does not change the act of backbiting. If what is said is a lie, then it is both backbiting and slandering. If what is said is true, it is backbiting.  In talebearing, what is said interests the person that one is talking to, such as: "He said this or that about you or he did this or that against you”. It does not matter whether the person one is talking to is an ordinary person or an important person with authority.  Accordingly, informants and informers are also talebearers. However, bearing testimony for the sake of Allah is exception; it is not regarded talebearing.
In Arabic, or to put it better, in hadiths, two different words are used for the concept talebearing: namima and qatt. A person who does it is called a nammam or qattat. Although Sufyan considers qattat to be synonymous with nammam (Tirmidhi, Birr wa Sila, 78), Hafiz al-Mundhiri say those two words have different meanings. According to him, nammam is a person who reports what he himself has seen or heard to the relevant person. Qattat is someone who reports the words that he has heard from others (Targhib wa Tarhib, trns. A.M.Büyükçınar, V, 386).
In Islam, talebearing is not tolerated and it has been mentioned both in verses and hadiths:
The word humaza in the verse "Waylun li kulli humazatin lumazatin" (Humaza) (Woe to every (kind of) scandal-monger and backbiter") means talebearing rather than gossiping (Imam Ghazali Ihya, Trns. A.Arslan, VI, p.545); it was expressed by many scholars. Those two words were used as synonymous and complementary in the form of "hammazin" and "mashshain bi namimin" and it was stated that hammaz people who talebear should not be heeded or paid attention.  (Quran al-Qalam, 68/11).
There are some hadiths that were reported by many people and that are present in almost all sound and esteemed hadith books. For instance, in the hadith “talebearers will not enter Paradise” the word talebearer is used as nammam in some and as qattat in others. (Tirmidhi, Birr wa Sila, 78).
The hadith mentioning that one of the two people who suffer torment in grave suffers due to not avoiding the splashing of urination and the other suffers due to talebearing is present in many hadith books.  (Sahih Bukhari Mukhtasar Tajrid Sarih, hadith numbered 163).
Ghazali regards telling other people who might be interested the things or words that the doer or speaker does not want others to know even if they are good acts or words not crimes or sins as talebearing. He mentions three separate effects that encourage people to talebear: wanting to do wrong to the person whose words are reported, aiming to ingratiate oneself with the person the word is reported to or having the habit of talking just for the sake of talking. 
However, there is one type of talebearing that should not be regarded as talebearing and that should not be blamed as it is stated by our Prophet in a hadith,” A person who mediates between people and reconciles someone with another and reports people’s words for a good purpose and tells concealed lies for a good purpose is not a liar.”  (Tajrid Sarih Translation, hadith numbered 1156). It may resemble talebearing in form but it is completely different from it in terms of intention and purpose. End note by Zübeyr YETİK [https://questionsonislam.com/question/what-talebearing-what-does-islam-say-about-it-what-difference-between-backbiting-and]
Reasons for the punishment in the grave

There are many reasons for which people may be punished in their graves, which Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) listed and said:

Some people may wonder about the reasons for which people may be punished in their graves. This may be answered in two ways: in general and in detail.

In general terms, they may be punished for their ignorance of Allaah, their ignoring His commands and their disobedience towards Him. Allaah does not punish any soul that acknowledged Him, loved Him, obeyed His commands and heeded His prohibitions, nor does He punish the body that was inhabited by that soul.

Punishment in the grave and in the Hereafter are due to the wrath and anger of Allaah towards His slave. Whoever angers Allaah in this world and does not repent, and dies like that, will be punished in al-Barzakh to a level commensurate with Allaah's anger with him.

As for the detailed answer:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us about two men whom he saw being punished in their graves. One of them used to walk around spreading malicious gossip among people, and the other failed to take precautions to avoid getting urine on himself. So the latter failed to purify himself as required, and the former did something that creates enmity among people by talking, even if what he says is true.

Thus it may be noted that the one who stirs up enmity by telling lies and making false statements will be punished even more.

Failing to keep oneself clean from urine indicates that the one who neglects prayer, for which cleansing oneself from urine is a requirement and condition will be punished even more. In the hadeeth of Shu’bah it says: “One of them used to eat the flesh of people,” which refers to backbiting or malicious gossip.

According to the hadeeth of Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) a man was struck with a whip and his grave was filled with fire because he offered a single prayer without having purified himself, and he passed by one who was being wronged and did not help him.

According to the hadeeth of Samurah in Saheeh al-Bukhaari, a person who told a lie that spread far and wide was punished.

A man who read Qur’aan then slept at night and did not act upon it by day was punished.

Adulterers and adulteresses are punished.

The one who consumes riba is punished in al-Barzakh, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) testified.

According to the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), the heads of some people will be crushed with rock because they were too heavy for them to get up and pray.

Some will graze on al-daree’ and al-zaqqoom (horrid types of food in Hell) because they withheld the zakaah of their wealth.

Some will eat putrid, rotten meat because of their zina.

Some will have their lips cut off with iron scissors because they caused fitnah (fighting, civil war) with their words and their speech.

According to the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed, those who committed these crimes will be punished. Some of them will have bellies as big as houses; they are those who consumed riba. Some will open their mouths and have stones thrown into them that will emerge from their nether regions; they are the ones who consumed orphans’ wealth. Some will be hung up by their breasts; they are the adulterers. Some will have their sides cut and will be fed with their own flesh; they are the one who engaged in backbiting. Some will have nails of copper with which they will scratch their faces and chests; they are the ones who impugned people’s honour.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that the one who stole a cloak from the war booty will be wrapped in a cloak of fire in his grave. This is despite the fact that he was entitled to a share of the booty, so how about those who wrong others unlawfully?

The punishment of the grave is for sins of the heart, the eye, the ear, the mouth, the tongue, the stomach, the private parts, the hand, the foot, and the entire body.

Those who spread malicious gossip, tell lies, backbite, give false witness, slander those who are chaste and innocent, spread fitnah, promote bid’ah (innovation), say things about Allaah and His Messenger without knowledge, and speak in a reckless manner.

Those who consume riba, consume orphans’ wealth and consume haraam wealth such as bribes and the like.

Those who consume the wealth of their Muslim brothers unlawfully, or the wealth of non-Muslims living under Muslim protection, or consume intoxicants.

Adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, traitors, betrayers and plotters.

Those who consume riba, those who pay it, those who record it and those who witness it; those who enter into a marriage merely to divorce the woman so that it will become permissible for her to return to her former husband, and those for whom this is done; those who seek to waive the duties enjoined by Allaah and transgress His sacred limits.

Those who seek to harm the Muslims and seek to expose their faults.

Those who rule by something other than that which Allaah has revealed, those who issue rulings based on things which Allaah has not prescribed, and those who help others in sin and transgression.

Those who kill souls whom Allaah has forbidden us to kill, those who deny the names and attributes of Allaah, those who give their opinions and ideas precedence over the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah.

Those who wail for the dead and those who listen to them, those who will wail in Hell are those who sing songs that are forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger and those who listen to them. Those who build mosques over graves and set up lamps in them; those who try to take more when they take what they are owed and try to give less when they give what they owe.

Tyrants, the arrogant, those who show off, slanderers and backbiters, those who slander the salaf.

Those who go to soothsayers, astrologers and fortunetellers to ask them things and believe what they say.

Those who help wrongdoers, who have sold their Hereafter for the sake of others in this world.

Those who, if you remind them to fear Allaah do not pay any heed, but if you try to scare them by mentioning another person like themselves, they pay heed and refrain from what they are doing.

Those who are told of the words of Allaah and His Messenger but they do not pay any attention to it, but if they hear it from one of whom they think well, who may be right or wrong, they seize it and do not go against it.

Those to whom Qur’aan is recited but they are not affected by it, and it may be burdensome for them, but when they heard the “Qur’aan” of the shaytaan or that which calls to zina (i.e., music) and words of hypocrisy, they feel good and it cheers them up, and they wish that the singer would not stop.

Those who swear by Allaah and tell lies, but when they swear by their shaykhs or relatives, or the life of one whom they love and respect, they will not lie, even if they are threatened and tortured.

Those who boast of their sins in front of their brothers.

Those from whom you do not feel that your possessions and dignity are safe. Those who engage in obscene speech, whom people shun for fear of their evil.

Those who delay prayer until the end of its time, and then peck out the prayer, remembering Allaah but little therein. Those who do not pay the zakaah of their wealth willingly. Those who do not perform Hajj even though they are able to, and do not do the duties required of them even though they are able to.

Those who are not cautious with regard to what they look at or say or eat or where they go, and they do not care what wealth they acquire, whether it is halaal or haraam.

Those who do not uphold the ties of kinship or show compassion towards the poor, widows, orphans, or animals, rather they forsake orphans and do not urge others to feed the poor. They show off to people, withhold small kindnesses, and seek out people’s faults and sins whilst ignoring their own.

All of these and their ilk will be punished in their graves for these sins, according to how great or small they were. Because most people are like this, most of the inhabitants of the graves will be punished, and those who succeed will be very few.

The outside of the grave is just earth, but inside it is regret and torment.

The outside may be earth and carved stones, whilst inside it is disaster and calamity, boiling with grief and sorrow like a kettle, and no wonder, when they no longer get what they want of their desires and wishes.

There are lessons in this world which need no further exhortation.

It calls out: O dwellers of the earth, you have focused on building a realm that will soon pass away, and you have neglected the realm to which you are moving quickly. You have built houses in which others will live and enjoy them, and you have neglected houses for which there are no other inhabitants but you.

This is the place where you will abide and bid farewell to work and toil. This is what matters, one of the gardens of Paradise or one of the chambers of Hell… End quote from al-Rooh (95).

Source:

Islam Q&A, 45325

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/45325/reasons-for-the-punishment-in-the-grave

Sources

https://questionsonislam.com/question/what-talebearing-what-does-islam-say-about-it-what-difference-between-backbiting-and

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/45325/reasons-for-the-punishment-in-the-grave

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/23328/backbiting-gheebah-and-its-expiation