Backbiting a fasiq

Question

Is backbiting (ghiba) about a fasiq (open transgressor) as much a sin as backbiting about one who is not a fasiq, or is there some difference, or is it no sin at all?

Answer

If backbiting about a fasiq is done in order to protect others from his harm, or for the sake of his reform — before some senior person — and is done to the extent of need, it is not a sin; otherwise it is a sin.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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