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Does considering the Messenger of Allah's (peace be upon him) statement about someone, "How evil a brother of his tribe he is," fall under the category of backbiting (gheebah)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The circulating narration about the permissibility of backbiting people of corruption, suspicion, and hypocrisy, and explaining their condition so that people may beware of them, is authentic. Al-Zarqani and Al-Qurtubi described this act as not being among the forbidden forms of backbiting; rather, it is permissible to reveal the state of someone who openly commits sin. The man referred to in the narration is Uyaynah ibn Hisn, who outwardly embraced Islam, but the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, revealed his true nature. The Prophet's description of him as "the worst man of his clan" was among the signs of his prophethood. Ibn Uthaymeen clarified the permissibility of backbiting people of corruption and deceit to warn people against them, and that revealing the state of hypocrites is obligatory so that people are not deceived by them.

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

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