Alhamdulilahi, and may blessings and peace be upon prophet Muhammad Backbiting and gossiping are major sins, so it is necessary to beware of that.Almighty Allah said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ (الحجرات-١٢)
O believers! Avoid many suspicions, ˹for˺ indeed, some suspicions are sinful. And do not spy, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of their dead brother? You would despise that! And fear Allah. Surely Allah is ˹the˺ Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.{ Surah hujurat Ayah 12}
And the Prophet Muhammad may blessings And Peace be upon him says : -
* رأيت حين أسري بي رجالًا لهم أظفار من نحاس، يخمشون بها وجوههم وصدورهم، فقلت: من هؤلاء؟ قيل له: هؤلاء الذين يأكلون لحوم الناس ويقعون في أعراضهم.
Meaning:-
.When I saw men with copper fingernails, I saw them scratching their faces and chests, so I said: Who are these? He was told: Those who eat people's meat and spoiled their integrity.
Backbiting is reprehensible and a major sin, and gossip is the same, Almighty Allah said:-
*وَلا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍ مَهِينٍ | هَمَّازٍ مَشَّاءٍ بِنَمِيمٍ [القلم:10-11
And do not obey the despicable, vain oath-taker | slanderer, gossip-monger (Surah Al-qalam10-11)
And the Prophet Muhammad may blessings and Peace be upon him says : -
*لا يدخل الجنة نمام، ويقول صلى الله عليه وسلم: إنه
He will not enter Paradise a gossip,
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, May blessings and peace be upon him, said,
أَلَا أُنَبِّئُكُمْ مَا الْعَضْهُ هِيَ النَّمِيمَةُ الْقَالَةُ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ.
Shall I not tell you about calumny? It is gossip that is spread among people.”
Ibn `Abbas (radiallahu anhuma) said: The Messenger of Allah may Allah blessings and peace be upon him passed by two graves and said, "Both of them (the persons in these graves) are being tortured, and they are not being tortured for a cardinal sin. But indeed they are great sins. One of them used not to save himself from being soiled with his urine, and the other one used to go about with calumnies (among the people to rouse hostilities, e.g., one goes to a person and tells him that so-and-so says about him such and such evil things).''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Ibn Mas`ud (radiallahu anh) said: The Prophet Muhammad may Allah blessings and peace be upon him said:-
"Shall I tell you what `Al-`Adhu' (falsehood and slandering) is? It is calumny which is committed among the people.''
We learn from this Hadith that calumny, lying, falsehood and slandering are major sins because they cause conflict and dissension in society. A Muslim must keep himself free from such evils.
You must beware, brother and sister in Allah, to beware of sitting with those who gossip about people and do gossip, and if you sit with them, deny them that, and warn them against doing so, and tell them that this is not permissible and that it is wrong, and if they leave otherwise, stand up for them, do not sit with them and do not share with them backbiting Nor in gossip,
One of the greatest deterrents to the believer from backbiting, in addition to the well-known verses and hadiths in which there is a strong warning to those who fall into backbiting; That he remembers that he dedicates his good deeds: prayer, fasting, Hajj, and others to the one who has gossiped or to bear his burden and his sins if his good deeds that went away from him are not sufficient, and this is the greatest loss and bankruptcy that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, reported.