Qalam Institute Podcast The Remedy : EP 10 – The Quranic solution to backbiting
Feb 28, 2026
A Ramadan-focused talk on the Qur'anic approach to backbiting. Short readings and hadith definitions explore how suspicion, spying, and backbiting link together. Rich Qur'anic imagery and classical commentary describe its spiritual harm. Practical remedies and a teaching story offer steps toward repentance and mending trust.
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Backbiting Is A Moral Escalation From Assumptions
- Backbiting grows as a moral escalation starting from suspicion and spying then becomes speech when it spills out as ghibah.
- The Qur'anic sequence in Surah al-Hujurat links ظن (assumption), تجسس (spying), and غيبة (backbiting) as stages of inward corruption becoming public harm.
Texting And Gestures Are Also Backbiting
- Ghibah isn't limited to speech; it includes gestures, actions, and writing, which makes modern texting a major vector.
- Imam al-Nawawi explicitly includes messages and gestures as forms of backbiting, highlighting contemporary relevance.
Qur'anic Imagery Makes Backbiting Viscerally Revolting
- The Qur'an uses the visceral image of eating a dead brother's flesh to make backbiting's ugliness impossible to ignore.
- Visualizing ripping flesh from a corpse reframes ghibah as a violent assault on a living person's dignity.