OPINION: THE DANGER OF BACKBITING TO A COMMUNITY
Backbiting is one of the cardinal sins in Islam and its so dangerous that it can land a person in helfire even though he might be seen as a good believer in the eye of men.
Backbiting is a sign of weak eeman ( belief) and when it becomes a habit, even though a backbiter outwardly may appear as pious, know that he or she is faasik and zaalim (wrong doer).
Make no mistake, habitual Backbiting retard a person's eeman like cancer and it has the potential to nullify all his good deeds on the day of qiyama.
A sheik in khadeeja times stated:
"MAJOR sins are indeed the cause for all misery, evil and torment in this world and the hereafter. And the worst of all sins are those that are greatest in harm and danger to humanity. Among the destructive major sins are backbiting and slandering. These two sins are forbidden by Allah because they sow enmity, evil and discord among people and lead to destruction" - From khadeeja times.
Allah subhanah watallah said in the Quran
Surah Al-Hujraat, Verse 12:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful.
Commenting on the Verse a sheik said
You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allah, verily, Allah is the One who accepts repentance, Most Merciful" (Quran 49: 12) In this verse, Allah strongly forbids backbiting, and he compares the backbiter to one who eats the flesh of his dead brothe
WHAT IS BACKBITING
Rasuloollah describe what is back biting and many of us think it is only mentioning bad things about a person in his or absence but its more wicked than that...
"Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Do you know what backbiting is?” They said, “Allah and his messenger know best.” The Prophet said, “To mention your brother in a way he dislikes.” It was said, “What do you think if what I said about him is true?” The Prophet said, “If what you say about him is true, it is backbiting. If it is not true, it is slander.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2589
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslim
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْغِيبَةُ قَالُوا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ قَالَ ذِكْرُكَ أَخَاكَ بِمَا يَكْرَهُ قِيلَ أَفَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَانَ فِي أَخِي مَا أَقُولُ قَالَ إِنْ كَانَ فِيهِ مَا تَقُولُ فَقَدْ اغْتَبْتَهُ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِيهِ
Even mentioning a thing about a person in his absence which may be true but when he or she hear it, may not like it, is regarded as backing. On the other hand if the thing you said about a person is not true, it's regarded as slander, which is even worst.
Allah declared,
Surah Al-Humaza, Verse 1:
وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ
Woe to every slanderer and backbiter.
(English - Mohsin Khan)
He also said
Surah Al-Qalam, Verse 11:
هَمَّازٍ مَّشَّاءٍ بِنَمِيمٍ
A slanderer, going about with calumnies,
(English - Mohsin Khan)
Backbiting is a sin that angers Allah and He identified action of backbiting among the evil characters of one of the worst enemies of the Prophet SAW called Wallid ibn Mughira. Its curious the way Allah gave the order of his evil qualities, slandered first and spreading tales.
A person who is habitual backbiter is not satisfied with making a wicked statement but want to spread it in order to darkened the image and personality of other people especially family members he or she has quarrel with.
That's why it's dangerous to make backbiter your friend especially those who enjoy backbiting as a pastime. They cannot sustain a chat or conversation without talking ill of other people.
NEVER TRUST A BACKBITER
One should be careful of such c