enjoys protection from backbiting. He must be punished publicly in a manner that deters him from such conduct, through shunning or other means. He should neither be greeted with salām nor have his greeting returned, provided the person doing so can act without causing greater harm.

Righteous and religious people should shun him in death as they shunned him in life, if this deters other wrongdoers like him. They should therefore refrain from accompanying his funeral procession, just as “the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, refrained from offering the funeral prayer for more than one wrongdoer.” Likewise, Samurah ibn Jundub was told, “Your son died (1) last night.” He replied, “Had he died, I would not have offered the funeral prayer for him.” He meant that his son had contributed to his own death and would therefore be like someone who killed himself. Indeed, “the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, refrained from offering the funeral prayer for someone who had killed himself.”

Similarly, the Companions shunned the three men whose sin of failing to undertake obligatory jihad had become known, until Allah accepted their repentance. When someone openly repents, he should openly be treated with kindness.

As for anyone who denies or doubts the prohibition of something whose prohibition is established by mass transmission, such as wine, carrion, or sexual immoralities, he must be called upon to repent and informed of its prohibition. If he repents, well and good; otherwise, he is to be put to death as an apostate from Islam. The funeral prayer is not to be offered for him, nor is he to be buried among the Muslims.