Backbiting online

Respected Brother Our response to your query is as follows:

Gheebah in Islam refers to saying something or gesturing something about another person in his absence which he would dislike.

Consider the following Hadith

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏”‏ أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْغِيبَةُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالُوا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ ذِكْرُكَ أَخَاكَ بِمَا يَكْرَهُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قِيلَ أَفَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَانَ فِي أَخِي مَا أَقُولُ قَالَ ‏”‏ إِنْ كَانَ فِيهِ مَا تَقُولُ فَقَدِ اغْتَبْتَهُ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِيهِ فَقَدْ بَهَتَّهُ

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger saying:

Do you know what is backbiting? They (the Companions) said: Allah (Ta`ala) and His Messenger know best. Thereupon he (Nabi ) said: Backbiting implies you are talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like. It was said to him:

What is your opinion about this, that if I actually find (that evil) in my brother which I made a mention of? He said: If (that evil) is actually found (in him) what you assert, then you have backbitten him, and if that is not in him it is a slander. (Sahih Muslim # 2589)

Thus, with regard to your query, even if something was mentioned on the group chat regarding a person that he would dislike, we will not term this as Gheebah due to the fact that the individual is a member of the group chat, hence in essence it was not said behind his back. Nevertheless, while it may not be Gheebah, it remains impermissible to mention something disliked about a person, even in his presence if one`s intention is to disgrace, dishonour or humiliate the person.

Thus, such speech should be totally refrained from as the Hadith Shareef mentions:

‏;‏ َعنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم الْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَيَدِهِ

The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand (other) Muslims are safe, (Jami- ut-Tirmidhi 2627)

N.B. If one’s intention is Islaah (rectification of a certain wrong) then it will be permissible to mention the disliked aspect directly to the individual.