Tawbah - ,Dought & clear - , Expiation for gossip

With regard to expiationfor gossip, is saying "Lord forgive me and the
believing men and women and the Muslim men and women" sufficient to
ask for forgiveness for the one I gossiped about, or must I pray for
him by name?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Gossip is a major sin, andundoubtedly all Muslims know this, and they
know the punishment that Allaah will inflict on the one who gossips.
The seriousness of this sin is due to two reasons:
1- It has to do with people's rights, so it is more serious because
it involves wrongdoing against people.
2- It is an easy sin that most people commit, except those on whom
Allaah has mercy. People usually regard easy things as insignificant
although they are serious before Allaah.
With regard to expiationfor gossiping, it is essential to note a few
important points:
Firstly: In a number of fatwas on our site we have pointed out that
expiation for gossip includes praying for forgiveness for the one you
gossiped about, andmaking du'aa' for him, and praising him in his
absence. We hope that the reader will look at these fatwas and read
the words of the scholars. See the answers to questions no. 6308 ,
23328 , 52807 and 65649 .
Secondly: Stating that praying for forgiveness is the expiation for
gossip does not mean that it is sufficient. The basic principle is
that sins cannot be erased except by sincere repentance which is
accompanied by giving up the sin, regretting it, resolving not to go
back to it and being sincere atheart in one's dealings with the
Creator, may Hebe glorified. Then there is the hope if one repents in
this manner, Allaah will forgive him his sins and pardon his errors.
With regard to people's rights and transgressions against people, they
can only be expiated if the people affected pardon him andforgive him.
The evidence for that is in the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), who said: "Whoever has wronged his
brother with regard to his honour or something, let him ask him for
forgiveness before the time when there will be neither dinar nor
dirham, and if he has any good deeds itwill be taken from him in
proportion to the wrong he did, and if he does not have any good deeds
(hasanaat), some of the other person's evildeeds (sayi'aat) will be
taken and given to him to bear." Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2449).
The command is to seek forgiveness for wrongdoing before scores are
settled amongpeople on the Day of Reckoning, when scores will be
settled with hasanaat (good deeds) and sayi'aat (bad deeds),and true
losses will be borne by those who wronged people with regard to their
wealth, honour and blood.
Thirdly: What the one who wants to free himself of the sin of gossip
must do is strive hard to seek forgiveness from the one whom he
gossiped about, and ask him to pardon him, and apologize to him with
kind and good words, and he should be as humble as he can in that,even
if he has to buy an extremely valuable gift or offer financial help.
The scholars have stated that all of that is permissible when it comes
to restoring people's rights.
Because the scholars among the righteous salaf and fuqaha' thought
that seeking people's forgiveness for gossip might lead – in some
cases – to greater evils such as grudges or breaking of ties, and
people might feel resentment and grudgesto an extent that is known
only to Allaah, most of the scholars granted concessions allowing one
not to seekforgiveness (from the victim), and they hoped that it would
be sufficient to pray for forgiveness for the victim of gossip and say
du'aa' for him and praise him in his absence.
Other scholars were of the view that nothing could expiate for gossip
but the forgiveness of the one who was wronged. But the correct view
is that if theone who gossiped repents sincerely, he does not have to
tell the one about whom he gossiped about that, especially if he fears
thatthis would cause more trouble, as is usually the case.
Praying for forgiveness for the one he gossiped about is an
exceptional case and is a case of necessity dictated by sharee'ah,
where warding off harm takes precedence over bringing benefits.
From the above it may be understood that the one who regards the sin
of gossip as insignificanton the basis that prayingfor forgiveness is
sufficient to expiate this sin is incorrect. His thinking is wrong for
three reasons:
1- He forgets that the basic condition for repentance is regret,
giving up the sin and sincerely repenting to Allaah. This condition
may not be truly met in the case of most people.
2- The basic principle in expiation with regardto people's rights
is striving to seek their pardon. If he thinks that telling the person
about the gossip will lead to a greater evil, then he mayresort to
praying for forgiveness for him in that case, otherwise the basic
principle is that he should seek pardon fromthe one whom he wronged.
3- This shows you that if the person who was gossiped about has
heard about what another man has said about him, then – in this case –
it is essential to seek forgiveness from him directly, so that the
harm suffered by the victim will be undone and his resentment may be
dispelled. If he does not pardon or forgive, then there is no option
after that but to pray forforgiveness for him and say du'aa' for him.
Fourthly:
Then after all that, does the questioner think that praying for
forgiveness in general terms – "O Allaah, forgivethe believing men and
women" – is sufficient toexpiate for the sin of gossiping?!
We say that when we hope that Allaah will accept du'aa' and prayers
for forgiveness as an expiation for bad deeds, it is essential to be
sincere towards Allaah in this du'aa', to seek out means of drawing
close to Allaah, and to repeat it in times and places where du'aa's
are answered, and pray for all goodness and blessing in this world and
in the Hereafter. Undoubtedly such a du'aa' requires usto specify the
person for whom we are praying, either mentioning him by name or
describing him, by saying: O Allaah, forgive me and the one whom I
have gossiped about and wronged; O Allaah, pardon us and him, and
whatever else you can say in your du'aa'.
As for praying in generalterms, it does not seem to be sufficient to
achieve what you are hoping for from Allaah. Just as you gossiped
about him by mentioning his name or describing him, and you singled
him out for harm, so too you should pray specifically for him and ask
for forgiveness for him, so that the bad deeds will be replaced by
good.
Fifthly:
It should be noted that the purpose behind praying for forgiveness and
saying du'aa' is to ward off bad deeds withgood, and to compensate for
misdeeds. Hence it is not limited to prayers for forgiveness in
exclusion to other good deeds. Rather you can do a good deed and
dedicate its reward to the one about whom you gossiped, such as giving
charity on his behalf or offering him some help, or supporting him at
times of hardship, and trying to compensate him for the wrong you did
as much as you can.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
Majmoo' al-Fataawa (18/187-189):
As for the rights of the one who was wronged, they are not waived just
because one repents. This is a right and there is no difference
betweena killer and other wrongdoers. If a person repents from
wrongdoing, the rights of the one whom he wronged are not
waivedbecause of his repentance, rather it is part of his repentance
tocompensate him to a level commensurate with his wrongdoing. If he
does not compensate him in this world then he will inevitably
compensate him in the Hereafter. So the wrongdoer who has repented
should do a lotof good deeds, so that when those who have been wronged
claim their rights, he will not end up bankrupt. And if Allaah wants
to compensate the one who was wronged then no one can prevent His
bounty, such as if He wants to forgive sins lessthan shirk for
whomeverHe wills. Hence in the hadeeth about qasaas, for which Jaabir
ibn 'Abd-Allaah rode for a month to 'Abd-Allaah ibnUnays to hear it
from his lips – which was narrated by Imam Ahmad (3/495) and others,
and which al-Bukhaari quoted as evidence in his Saheeh – it says:
"When the Day ofResurrection comes, Allaah will gather all creatures
in a single plain so that the announcer will be able to make them all
hear his voice and the watcher will be able to see all of them, then
He will call them in a voice that will be heard from afar just as it
is heard from nearby: 'I am the Sovereign, I am the Judge. None of the
people of Hell should enter Hell if they have any right due from any
of the people of Paradise, until the score is settled, and none of the
people of Paradise should enter Paradise if they have any right due
from any of the people of Hell, until the score is settled.'"
And in Saheeh Muslim it is narrated from Abu Sa'eed: "When the people
of Paradise cross al-siraat and stand on a bridge between Paradise and
Hell, they will settle their scores with one another, and when they
are cleansed and purified, permissionwill be given to them to enter
Paradise."
When Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, said (interpretation of
the meaning): "neither backbite one another" – as gossip is a
transgression against people's honour – He then said: "Would one ofyou
like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Youwould hate it (so hate
backbiting). And fear Allaah. Verily, Allaah is the One Who forgives
and accepts repentance, Most Merciful" [al-Hujuraat 49:12].
So He told them to repent from gossip, because it is a kind of wrongdoing.
This applies if the one who was wronged found out about the gossip.
But if he gossiped about him or slandered him and he did not know
about it, it was said that one of the conditions of repentance is
telling him, and it was said that this is not essential, which is the
view of the majority. Both views were narrated from Ahmad. But he
should still do good things for the one who was wronged, such as
saying du'aa' for him, praying for forgiveness for him, and doing good
deeds and giving him the reward for that, so as to make up for
gossiping about him and slandering him. Al-Hasanal-Basri said: The
expiation for gossip is praying for forgiveness for the one about
whomyou gossiped. End quote.
And Allaah knows best.