عیب جوئی

ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Once, on some occasion, I remarked to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that Ṣafiyyah was so short (of stature). The Prophet ﷺ, the Mercy to the worlds, said: 'You have uttered such a word that if it were mixed into the sea it would taint it.'" She further related: Once I imitated a man in front of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the Chief of the Messengers ﷺ said: "I would not like to imitate anyone, even if I were given such-and-such wealth of the world for doing so." (Abū Dāwūd)

From this hadith we learn that to point out a fault in someone's stature, hands, feet, nose, ears and the like (even if the fault is real), and to mimic someone's speech or gait, is a sin. Usually a person is mimicked to belittle, mock, or humiliate them, and this is regarded as harmless — which is why it is a grave sin. Since this concerns the rights owed by one person to another (ḥuqūq al-ʿibād), one's repentance will not be accepted until that person forgives.

How full of admonition for us is this saying of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that every person should reflect: to nitpick people's physical features and to present their gait and manner as defective is a grave sin — even though it may not be contrary to fact and reality, the Prophet ﷺ still called it backbiting (ghībah).

Therefore it is incumbent upon every Muslim to guard himself in future from the evils of listening to backbiting, levelling false accusations, abusing, and mimicking others, and to seek forgiveness from those whose rights he has violated. In the case of backbiting and the like, one's repentance is not accepted until the person concerned forgives; and if reaching them is not possible, one should ask Allah for forgiveness on their behalf and make istighfār and supplication for them.