Advanced search
Visit
7944
Last Updated: 2011/01/17
Summary of question
Is it permissible to talk ill of a person who has done bad to others and destroyed their lives?
question
If someone does bad to you, e.g. he uses you and spoils your life and continues to do the same with others, is it permissible to share the truth with your loved ones about him so as to let them know that you are suffering because the evil deeds a wicked person has done to you. If it is considered backbiting, then it means that on the Day of Judgment the rewards of your good deeds are given to the person who has been talked ill of. So he is in profit in both ways. First, he has used the innocent person to his advantage; second, he gets the reward of the innocent person's good deeds. It is the innocent person who loses both his life as well as the rewards for his good deeds. If you do not share your problem with people, you get into depression as a result of which you will be further in loss. The question is: If the innocent person shares his problem with others and speaks the truth about the evil doer, is it considered to be backbiting? What do you think one should do in this circumstance?
Concise answer

1. As for the definition of backbiting, we advise you to read Question 714 (site: 756) to know the conditions of backbiting and their exceptions.

2. If the person in question is really hurting others, spoiling their lives and doing bad to them and boasting over doing it, there is no problem in telling others about him and his evil deeds; it is not considered to be backbiting.

3. Every evil act to others has its own specific penalty or punishment. If a person does bad to others and fails to seek repentance or others' forgiveness, he will get the punishment proportionate to the bad deed he has committed to others. It has been narrated that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: "Allah will deprive from the fragrance of Paradise one who hurts his neighbor. His abode shall be Hell and what terrible abode it is! And one who fails to fulfill the rights of a neighbor is not one of us. Jibreel has emphasized so often on the rights of the neighbors that I thought they shall be included among one's inheritors." [1]

Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) says: "One who relates something about a believer to expose his defects and insults him so that he falls in the estimation of people will be deprived of Allah's friendship and guardianship. Allah will push him under the guardianship of Shaitan." [2]

Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) says: "…whoever causes a believer's property to perish or damages his reputation, it is obligatory on him to seek the other person's forgiveness…" [3]

For further information, see Index: "Backbiting People Who Do Not Offer Prayers", Question 714 (site: 756) .



[1] - Ameli, Shaykh Hurr, Wasail al-Shia, vol.12, pg. 127, Aalulbayt Institute, Qom, 1409 A.H.

[2] - Fattal Neishabouri, Muhammad bin Hasan, Rawzatul Wa'ezin, vol.2, pg.387 and 388, Razi Publictions, Qom; Al-Amali, Shaykh Saduq, pg.486, Islamic Library Publications, 1362 (Iranian calendar).

[3] - Tamimi Maghrebi, Nu'aman bin Muhammad, Da'aemul Islam, vol.2, pg.485, hadith 1731, Darul Ma'aref, Egypt, 1385 A.H.

Question translations in other languages
Comments
Number of comments 0
Please enter the value
Example : Yourname@YourDomane.ext
Please enter the value
Please enter the value

Thematic Category

Random questions

  • Does committing some sins like suicide automatically entail entering Hell?
    7539 Theoretical 2010/09/04
    Some sins, due to their quality, leave no opportunity to repent and will lead their committers to the irreversible path of Hell, the same way falling from heights without employing a parachute or landing equipment will lead to the disintegration of the body or the same way falling ...
  • What are the conditions of divorce?
    9254 Laws and Jurisprudence 2012/01/11
    If you were interested in living with your husband, you should have made every effort to save the marriage. In fact, you could have done something to draw your in-laws' attention and make your husband love you. If you think you made every necessary effort, you should never think that ...
  • Whose saying is this: "Death is sweater to me than honey."
    7973 تاريخ کلام 2011/01/10
    This saying is widely ascribed to Qasim son of Imam Hasan Mujtaba (a.s.). It is said that when his beloved uncle, Imam Hussein (a.s.) asked him "My child, my nephew, tell me, how do you regard death and what do you think about getting killed?" He promptly answered: ...
  • What is Islam's viewpoint regarding reincarnation?
    14897 Traditional 2010/01/21
    A few centuries back in India a theory known as "reincarnation" was developed concerning the consecutive return of souls to this world after death. During the ages this theory was gradually taken into serious consideration by people all around the world and even became, for some, a part ...
  • Please explain the features the Quran mentions for an Imam.
    10893 Traditional 2012/01/17
    There are two types of Imamate (leadership of a society) mentioned in the Quran; First: “The Imams of light” who are the pious and righteous leaders and second: “The Imams of fire” who are the heads of Kufr (disbelief) and deviation. Many features have been mentioned ...
  • Was Hazrat Adam (P.B.U.H.) Black?
    35391 Exegesis 2006/11/25
                There are several interpretations in the Quran on the creation of man, which show that the creation of man had several stages, which were as follows:[1]  
  • Who was Salah al-Din Ayyubi? How did he become the champion of the wars against crusaders? What was his origin? Why and how did he destroy the Fatimid government?
    15602 تاريخ بزرگان 2015/08/04
    Salah al-Din Yusuf bin Ayyub who later became known as Salah al-Din Ayyubi, better known in the Western world as Saladin, is one of the most famous Muslim rulers and commanders in the Islamic middle centuries (or in the 12th century of the English calendar). He achieved ...
  • where did secularism or the belief in the separation of religious and civil affairs emerge from?
    7848 Modern 2008/11/19
    During the renascence Christian believers came to the realization that their religion, with all the shortcomings it had, could not meet the modern social and political needs; therefore, secularism took shape.Secularism can be considered as the legitimate child of western civilization since Christianity, having gotten distracted and intermingled with ...
  • What is sex change?
    8421 Laws and Jurisprudence 2012/08/23
    Although dictionaries do not provide a definition for "sex change", it means any change and transformation in a male, female or genderless in such a way that the current state is different from the previous one. Medically speaking, sex change is different from "genetic modification" ...
  • What kind of a book is "Mikyalul Makarim"?
    6926 شخصیت های شیعی 2014/01/20
    The book "Mikyalul Makarim fi Fawaed al-Dua Lil-Qaem" as the title of the book reads, has been authored regarding Mahdi, the Imam of Time (atf). This is one of the books written in Arabic in the fourth hegira century.[1] The book Mikyalul Makarim consists ...

Popular