Is speaking of a person's characteristics, such as lying or being burdensome, that cause people to shun him, considered backbiting?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
This act is considered forbidden backbiting because it conveys a negative impression of a specific person to the listener, and this falls under "your mentioning your brother with what he dislikes." Al-Nawawi clarified that backbiting includes gestures and allusions from which the listener understands disparagement of a specific person, such as saying "some people" while the listener understands who is meant, or responding with phrases that are understood as disparaging, such as "May Allah guide us" when asked about someone's condition. The criterion for backbiting is making the interlocutor understand a flaw in a person.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/159392
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 159392
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy