I start with the name of Allah, praise be to Him. I humbly ask Allah to raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his kind Al and Companions and to protect his nation from that which he fears for them.
Gossip (ghibah) is a disease prevailing in many societies. In addressing this issue, let us remind ourselves and others to be cautious of spreading this disease. Allah said in Suratul-Hujurat, Ayah 12:
( وَلا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ)
In this verse, Allah ordered us not to commit gossip (ghibah) and made an analogy between the one who gossips his Muslim brother and the one who eats the flesh of his dead Muslim brother. Allah gave us this comparison to show the ugliness of this sin and to guide us to clear ourselves of it. There are many hadiths of the Prophet highlighting the unlawfulness of gossip (ghibah). Abu Dawud narrated from the route of Anas that during the journey of al-Isra’, the Prophet peace be upon him passed by people who were scratching their faces and chests with nails made of brass. The Prophet asked Jibril who those people were, and Jibril replied, “The ones who were eating the flesh of other people.” This is a direct reference to those who commit gossip (ghibah).
Imam Muslim, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa’iyy and at-Tirmidhiyy narrated from the route of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah defined gossip (ghibah) as mentioning something about your Muslim brother which he hates to be mentioned with. The Prophet was asked, ” What if that thing I mentioned was something truthful about him?” The Prophet said, ” If it was true what you mentioned about him, then you have committed gossip (ghibah), and if it is was not, then you have committed al-buhtan”—which is a sin more enormous than gossip (ghibah).
Hence, gossip (ghibah) is mentioning about your Muslim brother (whether he is alive or dead) something that he hates to be mentioned with.
Therefore, mentioning something about your Muslim brother’s body, dress, house, character, or the like which he dislikes to be mentioned with is classified as a forbidden gossip.
Many people fall into gossip (ghibah) as a result of negligence and not having proper control over their tongues. Examples of gossip are to say about another Muslim: He is short, he is cross-eyed, he is rude, he likes to sleep a lot, he eats too much, his house is messy, his son is rude, his wife controls him, he is too fat, he does not have good taste, his car is ugly and the like. May Allah protect us from committing gossip (ghibah) which is an enormous sin when committed against a pious Muslim. However, if one commits gossip (ghibah) against a non-pious Muslim, we do not generalise and say it is an enormous sin unless it reaches a stage of excessiveness, then it is classified as an enormous sin. This is known from the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud in which the Prophet drew a similarity between excessiveness in gossiping one’s Muslim brother and the highest level of usurious gain (riba).
At-Tirmidhiyy narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: << Allah shall protect one from Hellfire if one tries to stop others from gossipping one’s Muslim brother. >> Hence, it is obligatory upon one, if able, to stop anyone who is gossipping other Muslims, otherwise, one should leave the session of gossip in order to be safe from committing a sin himself.
In the end, we ask Allah to protect us from committing gossip (ghibah), and to end our lives as pious Muslims, Ameen.
