{"id":6423,"date":"2024-07-10T07:43:13","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T07:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/al-mawrid.org\/questions-en\/2024\/07\/10\/what-is-gheebah\/"},"modified":"2024-07-10T13:21:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T13:21:08","slug":"what-is-gheebah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/al-mawrid.org\/questions-en\/what-is-gheebah\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Gheebah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question<\/h3>\n

If an individual shares their grief or laments over some events\/aspects of their life to another, e.g. sharing the cruelty of mother in law with own mother or sharing rude behaviour of son with daughter, does it qualify as ‘Gheebah’<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Answer<\/h3>\n

To report an injustice committed to you to another person is not gheebah. This is not therefore condemnable. I have come across the following list of acts which apparently seem to be gheebah but are allowable, adopted from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya al-Uloom. He writes:<\/p>\n

Cases in which ghibah is permissible<\/strong><\/div>\n
    \n
  1. Injustice. One who has suffered injustice is entitled to mention the one who has committed injustice to someone who is capable of restoring his rights to him, such as a legitimate Muslim ruler or judge.<\/li>\n
  2. Seeking help to change an evil, or to reform the wrongdoer. If the intention in the ghibah<\/em> is not to change the wrong, then it is forbidden to relate it.<\/li>\n
  3. Asking for a fatwa. A person may say, ‘My father\/brother\/wife has done such-and-such to me. What can I do about it? <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    On the authority of `A’ishah: Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, said to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), “Abu Sufyan is a miserly man, and he is not giving me what would suffice me and my child, unless I take from him without his knowing.” He said, “Take what suffices you and your child according to common usage.” [Bukhari, Muslim]<\/div>\n
    However, it is more precautionary to avoid mention of names, for example by asking instead, “What is the verdict regarding a person who has done such-and-such?”<\/div>\n
      \n
    1. Warning, such as warning a prospective buyer that the merchant is a swindler, or warning a student that his prospective teacher is an innovator or a deviant. Also, revealing the faults of weak narrators and forgers of hadith, and giving someone a candid appraisal of a person whom the former is thinking of marrying. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      On the authority of Fatimah bint Qays: she said, “I came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and told him, “Abu Jahm and Mu`awiyah have [both] proposed to me.” He said, “As for Mu`awiyah, he is a poor man with no money, and as for Abu Jahm, his stick never leaves his shoulder.” [Bukhari, Muslim, Malik]<\/div>\n
        \n
      1. If someone is commonly known by a nickname, although if there is some alternative way to refer to him, it is preferable.<\/li>\n
      2. Someone who sins openly, and has no qualms about his sins being mentioned. However, it is not permissible to mention any of his secret sins. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        “There can be no backbiting of one who casts off the mantle of modesty.” [Suyuti, Al-Jami` As-Saghir, 2\/519, from Bayhaqi.]<\/p>\n

        Answered by:<\/strong> Tariq Mahmood Hashmi<\/p>\n

        Date:<\/strong> 2015-01-17<\/p>\n