Prohibition of Spying and Backbiting — Sanctity of a Muslim's Honor
fiqh
Level: basic
akhlaq
fqh-079
وَلَا تَجَسَّسُواْ وَلَا يَغۡتَب بَّعۡضُكُم بَعۡضًا
— الحجرات 12
Verse: "Do not spy, and do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would loathe it." (49:12)
Three prohibitions in the verse: (1) Suspicion: avoid much negative assumption without evidence. (2) Spying: probing people's faults and secrets. (3) Backbiting: mentioning your brother with what he dislikes — even if true (if false, it is slander, even worse).
Permissible forms: Seeking fatwa, complaining to authority, warning from harm, hadith narrator criticism.
Wisdom: "You would loathe it" — the analogy to eating a dead brother's flesh reveals the innate revulsion of backbiting.
Source: Al-Qurtubi (16/332); Sahih Muslim (2589); Al-Adhkar by Al-Nawawi (p.344)
Question: What is backbiting? Is it forbidden even if the speech is true?
Answer: Backbiting: mentioning your brother with what he dislikes — even if true. If false, it is slander. Both are forbidden.