Sahih Muslim

Sahih Muslim 2589

The Book of Virtue, Enjoining Good Manners, and Joining of the Ties of Kinship Search within the hadiths
Sahih Muslim 2589
Arabic hadith text

حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ أَيُّوبَ، وَقُتَيْبَةُ، وَابْنُ، حُجْرٍ قَالُوا حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، عَنِ الْعَلاَءِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، 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 ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Translation

Yahya ibn Ayyub, Qutaybah, and Ibn Hujr narrated to us; they said: Ismail narrated to us, from al-Ala, from his father, from Abu Huraira, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do you know what backbiting is? They said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: It is your mentioning your brother in a way he dislikes. He was asked: What if what I say about my brother is true? He said: If what you say is true, you have backbitten him; if it is not true, you have slandered him.