his fellow Muslim is that he greet him when they meet, visit him when he is ill, and attend his funeral when he dies.” It is reported that when a man visits someone who is ill, he wades in mercy until, when he sits beside him, it settles within him—or words to that effect.

Attending his funeral when he dies is more strongly recommended than visiting him when he is ill, because after death he is in greater need of supplication than during his life. It is reported that offering the funeral prayer earns one qīrāt of reward, and attending the burial earns another, each qīrāt being a reward as great as Mount Uhud. Success comes through Allah.

Section
On Backbiting

Backbiting is unlawful, for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has forbidden it in His Mighty Book, saying:

“And do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother?” [Al-Hujurāt: 12]

Thus He, Mighty and Majestic, linked the prohibition of backbiting a Muslim with the prohibition of eating his flesh when dead, because of the harm it causes: it leads to estrangement and hatred and breeds resentment and enmity. This is contrary to the affection and brotherhood for Allah’s sake that we have been commanded to maintain.

Backbiting a person means mentioning something about him that he would dislike hearing, even if it is true. If it is false, however, that is slander. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has said:

“And those who harm believing men and believing women for something they have not done bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.” [Al-Ahzāb: 58]

There are, however, three exceptions concerning whom such mention does not constitute backbiting: an unjust ruler, an openly sinful person, and an adherent of religious innovation. This is because backbiting consists of mentioning something that a person dislikes being said about him to someone who does not know it about him. The unjust ruler and the openly sinful person are already widely known among people for what they are, so it is not backbiting to mention