Is what happened considered backbiting, and what must be done to atone for the sin if it is?
If the discussion about a woman is intended to warn others against her, then it is permissible backbiting. However, if it is merely for amusement, then it is forbidden backbiting. Its expiation is repentance, seeking forgiveness, and resolving not to return to it, along with seeking forgiveness for the one you backbit and supplicating for her.
Backbiting is originally forbidden, but it may become obligatory or permissible for a legitimate purpose that cannot be achieved except through it. Among the reasons that permit it are: seeking justice, seeking help to change an evil, seeking a , warning Muslims from evil, mentioning a person who openly commits sin or innovation, and identifying someone known by a specific nickname without intending disparagement.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 71930
- 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