The Precise Definition
Gheebt is speaking about a Muslim in their absence in a way that mentions their faults, and which they would dislike if they heard it. The defining test is simple: if that person were present and could hear what is being said, would they be upset? If yes, it is Gheebt.
"Speaking about your brother in a way that if he were present and heard it, it would feel bad to him, even if it is true, it is Gheebt. And if it is not true, it is buhtaan (slander), which is even worse."
Islah ul Akhlaaq. Arif Billah Hazrat Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar رحمة الله عليه
Gheebt is not limited to spoken words. It includes:
Mentioning someone's fault, weakness, sin, or shortcoming in a way they would dislike
Imitating someone's way of walking, their disability, their manner, to make others laugh or recognise them by it
Indicating someone with a look, a raised eyebrow, a glance that conveys something negative about them
Mentioning someone's house, vehicle, or children in a way that is connected to their known faults, if they were present they would feel it
The fact that what is being said is true does not remove the sin. Truth is a condition for something being Gheebt, not a defence for it. If it is true, it is Gheebt. If it is false, it is buhtaan, slander, which is an even greater sin. Many people assume that as long as they are saying something factual, no wrong is being committed. This is incorrect.
Why Gheebt Is So Severe
Hadith states that Gheebt is more severe than zina. This surprises people, because zina is among the major sins. The reason for this ranking is the nature of the wrong being committed.
Zina is a sin against Allah. It is horrific, but the door of Tawbah is open, a person can make sincere Tawbah, and Allah can forgive it. The account is between the person and Allah, and Allah can close it.
Gheebt is different. It violates a person's rights, their honour, their reputation, their standing before others. That violation belongs to them. They are the injured party. And an injury done to a person can only truly be forgiven by that person. Not by Allah's forgiveness alone, not by any act of worship, until the person whose honour was injured forgives the account, it remains open.
Why the account stays open
Gheebt is nahaqqul ibad, a violation of the rights of people. The scholars wrote that if someone gets tawfiq, they should seek forgiveness from the person whose Gheebt they did. But if the person does not know about it, and informing them would cause more harm, creating new resentment where none existed, then a different path of expiation is taken. But the underlying principle remains: the account belongs to the person wronged.
Hakim ul Ummat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi رحمة الله عليه said that Gheebt is so widespread today that even scholars and the pious are afflicted by it. People have become so accustomed to it that gatherings rarely pass without it. This is precisely why it receives such strong treatment.
The Quran on Gheebt
وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ
"And do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it."
Surah al-Hujurat, 49:12
The image Allah uses is one of the most striking in the Quran. Eating the flesh of your dead brother. The comparison is exact in every detail: the person being spoken about is absent (like the dead), they cannot defend themselves, the act is deeply repulsive if you think about it clearly, and yet Gheebt is committed with ease, even with enjoyment, in gathering after gathering.
The Quran asks: would you like this? And the answer is obvious. No one would choose to eat the flesh of their dead brother. The disgust is immediate and physical. The Quran is saying: that disgust you feel right now, that is what you should feel toward Gheebt. Hold that image in mind the next time the tongue is about to mention someone's fault in their absence.
What Is Not Gheebt
Islam recognises situations where speaking about someone's faults in their absence is necessary and permitted. These are not considered Gheebt:
Mentioning a fault for the purpose of islah (reform)
Telling a parent about their child's behaviour so the parent can help correct it. Telling a teacher about a student so the teacher can intervene. Telling a doctor about a patient's condition. The intent is the welfare of the person being mentioned, not to damage their reputation.
Warning someone who is about to be harmed
If someone is about to enter a business dealing with a person known to be dishonest, and you warn them of the risk, that is not Gheebt. Protecting someone from harm is a legitimate purpose that overrides the normal prohibition.
Seeking a legal ruling or resolution
If a person goes to a judge or a scholar to present their case against someone, they must mention the relevant facts. This is permitted even if it involves negative information about another person.
A person who openly commits sin publicly
Mentioning the publicly-known sins of a person who openly commits and publicises them is not Gheebt. Their hidden sins, however, still carry the full protection.
In all these cases, the intent is the determining factor. If the purpose is genuinely the welfare, protection, or legal resolution involved, not personal dislike or the pleasure of speaking badly, it falls within the permitted exceptions.
The Root Cause of Gheebt
Gheebt is usually produced by Badgumani and Kibr. A person who thinks well of others and does not consider themselves superior to them will not find it natural to talk about their faults. A person who habitually thinks badly of others and considers themselves superior will find Gheebt constantly available, because the material for it is always in their mind already.
Hakim ul Ummat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi رحمة الله عليه described the chain precisely: Gheebt has enmity as its parent. Enmity develops, then hatred deepens, then the chain of Gheebt begins. The entry point is always something relational, a grievance, a resentment, a wound that was not properly healed.
The cure at the root level is therefore the same as the cure for Kibr: genuinely seeing your own faults. The person who is genuinely occupied with their own deficiencies has neither the time nor the inclination to dwell on the faults of others. As Hazrat Sa'di Shirazi رحمة الله عليه said:
از این بر ملائک شرف داشتند
که خود را به از سگ نپنداشتند
The angels were superior to these in that they did not consider themselves better than a dog
Hazrat Sa'di Shirazi رحمة الله عليه
The meaning is profound: genuine tawadu means genuinely not considering yourself superior. The person who truly knows their own condition before Allah does not look down on anyone, because they are too aware of how much they themselves need His mercy.
The Cure and Making Tawbah for Gheebt
The cure for Gheebt operates on two levels: preventing future Gheebt, and dealing with the past Gheebt that has already been committed.
Preventing Gheebt going forward
Make a firm commitment to stop. When the tongue is about to mention someone's fault, stop it before the words form. The moment of stopping is the Sabr that Tazkiyah is building. Keep this commitment, and make dua specifically for the people you would most naturally speak badly of, turning the tongue from backbiting toward praying for them.
Also: avoid gatherings where Gheebt is the main activity. A gathering cannot sustain Gheebt if people refuse to participate. Either change the subject, get up and leave, or gently say: I would prefer not to speak about absent people in this way.
Making Tawbah for past Gheebt
If they know about it: seek forgiveness directly and sincerely from the person whose Gheebt you did.
If they do not know: do not inform them if doing so would cause more harm than good, creating new resentment where none existed. Instead, follow this path:
Make a firm intention never to do Gheebt of them again
Acknowledge your mistake inwardly and feel genuine remorse
Make dua for them regularly, ask Allah to bless them, forgive them, increase them
Recite Surah Ikhlaas at least three times daily with sincerity and convey its reward to all those whose Gheebt you have done
The hope is that on the Day of Qiyamah, when those people see the reward conveyed to them, they will forgive. Allah will also facilitate their forgiveness of you, and He will forgive both them and you.
A note of caution: do not use the Isal-e-Sawab method as a licence to continue doing Gheebt. Allah knows the true intentions. Sometimes even the khatimah (end) of maqbool (accepted) people can be corrupted. The Tawbah must be genuine, a sincere turning away from the act, not a transaction that permits its continuation.
From Islah ul Akhlaaq
Jo rustam se jis ne kiya dil ko paash paash
Ahmad ne us ko bhi teh-e-dil se dua diya
Ahmad gave dua from the depth of his heart even to the one who shattered his heart like Rustam
Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Sahib رحمة الله عليه
This is the standard Tazkiyah is working toward: reaching a state beyond avoiding Gheebt, having such genuine compassion for people that even those who have wronged you receive your sincere dua. That is the state that makes Gheebt impossible, not through external constraint, but because the heart has no desire to harm those it is praying for.
Allama Abu al-Qasim Qushayri رحمة الله عليه wrote: whoever is overwhelmed by anger and takes revenge cannot be a wali of Allah. The wali is forbearing, halim, and makes dua for those who harm them. This is the destination of the cure for Gheebt: a heart that, finding no enmity inside itself toward anyone, finds nothing to say about them in their absence except good.
Next. Blameworthy Character
Kazb. Lying
One of the defining signs of hypocrisy, why a single lie leads to another, and the cure that begins with a commitment the nafs cannot negotiate around.
Kazb