Is saying "Praise be to Allah who has spared me what He has afflicted you with" secretly, or "Praise be to Allah who has spared us what He has afflicted him with" when speaking to another person in front of the afflicted person, without confronting him with it, considered backbiting?
It is prescribed for anyone who sees an afflicted person to seek refuge with Allah from what has befallen the afflicted one. By doing so, Allah will protect them from that affliction, based on the : "Praise be to Allah Who has spared me what He has afflicted you with, and has preferred me over many of those whom He has created with a marked preferring." The person will not be afflicted with that tribulation. This supplication should be said silently, especially if the affliction pertains to physical appearance, out of fear of harming the afflicted person. However, if their tribulation is a sin, then there is no harm in saying it aloud, provided no greater mischief is feared. Narrating this supplication is not considered backbiting, because backbiting is speaking ill of someone in their absence concerning something they dislike. There is no objection to using the third-person form in the supplication, "مما ابتلاه" (from what He has afflicted him with), as this form has been reported in other narrations.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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