[Explanation]

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—states in his work Riyad al-Salihin, under the chapter “The Prohibition of Tale-Carrying,” quoting the narration from ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Shall I tell you what al-ʿaḍh is? It is namimah, spreading statements among the people.”

This is an excellent pedagogical technique: the teacher directs a question to the audience so as to alert them, stir their minds, and secure their full attention—“Shall I inform you what al-ʿaḍh is?” In Arabic, the words nabaʾ and khabar both mean “news.”

The term al-ʿaḍh derives from the idea of cutting and tearing apart. Allah Most High says, “Those who have broken the Quran into fragments” (Q 15:91), meaning pieces and parts—they believe in some of it and reject some of it. What, then, is the tool that dismembers the community and shreds its unity? He ﷺ declared, “It is namimah”: conveying people’s words to one another in order to sow discord between them. This is one of the gravest sins. The Prophet ﷺ was shown two individuals being punished in their graves, and he informed us that one of them used to go about spreading gossip.

Some people—Allah’s refuge is sought—become enamored of this vice: they are passionate about relaying what people say about each other and flaunt this before others. He approaches one person and says, “So-and-so said such-and-such about you.” He may be truthful or he may be lying; even if he speaks the truth, it remains forbidden and counts among the major sins. Allah the Exalted has prohibited obedience to such a man: “And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer, scornful fault-finder, going about with malicious gossip” (Q 68:10–11).