Character & conductFrom the masjid's own video, Apr 30, 2026.
Backbiting destroys honor and good deeds
In one sentence
Backbiting is a major, destructive sin that harms people, forfeits good deeds, and must be avoided by controlling speech, rejecting suspicion, and leaving gatherings where it occurs.
The khutbah in 5 steps
- Defines ghiba as mentioning something about someone that they dislike, distinguishing it from slander and gossip.
- Uses Surah al-Hujurat to prohibit suspicion, spying, and backbiting.
- Explains backbiting’s spiritual consequences through the bankrupt-person hadith and other prophetic examples.
- Urges listeners to protect others’ honor, correct backbiting, and leave harmful gatherings.
- Closes with the instruction to speak good or remain silent, followed by supplication and prayer.
Try this week
Avoid suspicion and spying, including checking others’ followers or asking around about them.
Stop backbiting when it begins and remind others to fear Allah.
Leave gatherings where people continue taking someone’s honor.
Speak good or remain silent.
Preserve the dignity and honor of brothers and sisters.
Sources the khateeb cited
Surah 49Prohibits suspicion, spying, and backbiting, portraying backbiting as eating a dead brother’s flesh.
Quotes
In the khateeb's words
“ghiba backbiting is the remembrance mentioning something about your brother or your sister in a way that they do not like”
“on the day of Qiyamah Allah will remove those hasanat and give it to the person that you back bit”
“whoever believes in Allah and the last day speak good or remain silent”
Talk about it at home
For the dinner table
The khutbah warns that backbiting means mentioning something about another person that they would dislike, even when it is true. It teaches that suspicion, spying, gossip, and careless gestures can all lead us into harming someone’s honor. The speaker reminds us that these actions can cost us our good deeds and urges us to stop harmful conversations or walk away from them. We should protect one another’s dignity and choose words that are good, beneficial, or silent. The khutbah closes by asking Allah to forgive our mistakes and help us control our tongues.
- What could you say when friends begin talking negatively about someone who is not there?
- How can we tell whether a conversation is useful or becoming gossip?
- What does “speak good or remain silent” look like in a group chat?
Keep listening
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