Brief Comments on Riyaadh al-Saaliheen #2

Atonement for Backbiting

بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد

Question: If a person backbites another person behind his back (i.e. while that person is not present) in a gathering, how can one atone for that?

Shaikh al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله answered:

This is an issue in which the scholars have different opinions. There are those who say: “No doubt that that the person should go to him (the one whom he has backbitten) and say to him: ‘O so-and-so, I have spoken (bad) about you among the people. I request you to pardon me and absolve me from this.’”

The other scholars have said: “Don’t go to him.”

And in this there are some details: If he comes to know about this backbiting, then there is no doubt that one should go to him to resolve the issue.

But if he does not come to know about it, then one should not approach him, but rather seek Allaah’s forgiveness for him and that he should speak about his virtues in the same (or similar) gathering, because verily the good deeds remove the evil deeds. And this is the most correct opinion.”

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen (1/90)]