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Is it considered backbiting to condemn certain reprehensible personal behaviors that are not forbidden (haram)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If one's disapproval of someone's action is merely a fleeting thought in the heart, there is no sin in it. However, if a person vocalizes what indicates their disapproval of another's action, then this is backbiting (gheeba), which is forbidden, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Do you know what backbiting is?" They said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said: "It is your mentioning about your brother what he dislikes." It was said: "What if what I say about my brother is true?" He said: "If what you say about him is true, then you have backbitten him; and if what you say about him is not true, then you have slandered him."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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