Are phrases such as "May Allah not test us" or "May Allah grant him healing" considered backbiting if said when speaking about a sick or disobedient person, with the intention of stopping backbiting, averting affliction, or supplicating for their recovery, without any intention of contempt or mockery?
Backbiting is mentioning a person with what he dislikes, as stated in the : "Your mentioning your brother with what he dislikes." If what is said about him is true, then it is backbiting, and if it is not true, then it is slander.
It is legislated for one who sees an afflicted person to say: "Praise be to Allah Who has spared me from what He has afflicted you with, and has favored me over many of those whom He has created with a great favoring." Whoever says this will not be afflicted by that tribulation.
Backbiting is not considered to have occurred when this supplication is recited in the presence of others or the afflicted person himself, as long as the intention is not to disparage the afflicted person or to mock him.
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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