Response to: “Abu Bakr and Umar doing ghibah/backbiting?”
Article being answered:
https://www.twelvershia.net/2016/04/04/response-to-abu-bakar-and-umar-doing-ghibatback-biting/
The anti-Shia article tries to minimize the narration by saying:
“They only made a small joke about someone sleeping too much.”
This is a weak defense.
The issue is not how Twelvershia wants to minimize the words.
The issue is how the Prophet ﷺ judged the words.
And the Prophet ﷺ called it:
أكلكما لحم أخيكما
“Your eating the flesh of your brother.”
That is the Qur’anic language of ghibah.
So the article’s damage control collapses immediately.
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1. The narration exists in Sunni sources
Arabic:
قال أبو بدر عباد بن الوليد بن الغبري: ثنا حبان، ثنا حماد بن سلمة، أنبا ثابت البناني، عن أنس قال:
كانت العرب يخدم بعضهم بعضا في الأسفار، وكان مع أبي بكر، وعمر رجل يخدمهما، فنام، واستيقظا ولم يهيئ طعاما، فقالا: إن هذا لنئوم بينكم.
فأيقظاه فقالا: ائت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، فقل له: إن أبا بكر، وعمر يقرآنك السلام، وهما يستأدمانك.
فأتاه، فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: أخبرهما أنهما قد ائتدما.
ففزعا، فجاءا إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فقالا: يا رسول الله، بعثنا نستأدمك، فقلت: ائتدما، فبأي شيء ائتدمنا؟
فقال: بأكلكما لحم أخيكما، إني لأرى لحمه بين ثناياكم.
فقالا: يا رسول الله، فاستغفر لنا.
قال: هو، فليستغفر لكما.
English:
Abu Badr ‘Abbad ibn al-Walid al-Ghubari narrated from Hibban, from Hammad ibn Salamah, from Thabit al-Bunani, from Anas, who said:
“The Arabs used to serve one another during journeys. With Abu Bakr and Umar there was a man who served them. He slept, and they woke up while he had not prepared food for them. They said: ‘This man is very sleepy among you.’
So they woke him and said: ‘Go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and tell him: Abu Bakr and Umar send you greetings and seek condiment/food from you.’
He came to him, and the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Tell them that they have already eaten their condiment.’
They became alarmed and came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we sent to you seeking condiment, and you said: They have already eaten condiment. With what have we eaten?’
He said: ‘By your eating the flesh of your brother. Indeed, I see his flesh between your teeth.’
They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, ask forgiveness for us.’
He said: ‘He should ask forgiveness for you.’”
References:
al-Khara’iti, Masawi’ al-Akhlaq, report 180.
al-Diya al-Maqdisi, al-Ahadith al-Mukhtarah, vol. 5, p. 71, report 1697.
al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur, under Qur’an 49:12.
Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim, under Qur’an 49:12.
al-Albani, al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, vol. 6, p. 211, hadith 2608.
Dorar lists al-Albani’s ruling:
إسناده صحيح
“Its chain is sahih.”
==============================
2. al-Suyuti quotes it under the verse of ghibah
Qur’an 49:12 says:
Arabic:
وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا، أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ
English:
“Do not backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it.”
Under this verse, al-Suyuti quotes the narration from al-Diya al-Maqdisi in al-Mukhtarah:
Arabic:
وأخرج الضياء المقدسي في "المختارة" عن أنس قال:
كانت العرب يخدم بعضها بعضا في الأسفار وكان مع أبي بكر وعمر رجل يخدمها، فناما فاستيقظا، ولم يهيئ لهما طعاما، فقالا: إن هذا لنؤوم...
فجاءا فقالا: يا رسول الله، بأي شيء ائتدمنا؟
قال: بلحم أخيكما، والذي نفسي بيده، إني لأرى لحمه بين ثناياكما.
فقالا: استغفر لنا يا رسول الله.
قال: مراه فليستغفر لكما.
English:
al-Suyuti said:
“al-Diya al-Maqdisi narrated in al-Mukhtarah from Anas:
The Arabs used to serve one another during journeys. With Abu Bakr and Umar there was a man who served them. He slept, then they woke up, and he had not prepared food for them. They said: ‘This man is very sleepy’...
Then they came and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, with what have we eaten condiment?’
He said: ‘With the flesh of your brother. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, I see his flesh between your teeth.’
They said: ‘Ask forgiveness for us, O Messenger of Allah.’
He said: ‘Tell him to ask forgiveness for you.’”
Reference:
al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur, Tafsir of Qur’an 49:12.
Point:
al-Suyuti did not quote this under “minor harmless jokes.”
He quoted it under the Qur’anic verse:
“Do not backbite one another.”
So the Sunni tafsir context itself refutes Twelvershia’s minimization.
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3. Ibn Kathir also quotes it under Qur’an 49:12
Ibn Kathir also quotes the same report under the verse of ghibah:
Arabic:
وروى الحافظ الضياء المقدسي في كتابه "المختارة" من طريق حبان بن هلال، عن حماد بن سلمة، عن ثابت، عن أنس بن مالك قال:
كانت العرب تخدم بعضها بعضا في الأسفار، وكان مع أبي بكر وعمر رجل يخدمهما، فناما فاستيقظا ولم يهيئ لهما طعاما، فقالا: إن هذا لنئوم...
فقال: بلحم أخيكما، والذي نفسي بيده، إني لأرى لحمه بين ثناياكما.
فقالا: استغفر لنا يا رسول الله.
فقال: مراه فليستغفر لكما.
English:
Ibn Kathir said:
“al-Hafiz al-Diya al-Maqdisi narrated in his book al-Mukhtarah through Hibban ibn Hilal, from Hammad ibn Salamah, from Thabit, from Anas ibn Malik:
The Arabs used to serve one another during journeys. With Abu Bakr and Umar there was a man who served them. He slept, then they woke up and he had not prepared food for them. They said: ‘This man is very sleepy’...
The Prophet ﷺ said:
‘Rather, with the flesh of your brother. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, I see his flesh between your teeth.’
They said: ‘Ask forgiveness for us, O Messenger of Allah.’
He said: ‘Tell him to ask forgiveness for you.’”
Reference:
Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim, under Qur’an 49:12.
Point:
Again, Ibn Kathir quotes it under the verse of ghibah.
So this is not a Shia distortion.
This is a Sunni tafsir report being used to explain the Qur’anic prohibition of backbiting.
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4. al-Albani graded the chain sahih
Dorar reproduces the report and lists al-Albani’s grading from al-Silsilah al-Sahihah.
Arabic:
خلاصة حكم المحدث: إسناده صحيح
English:
“Summary of the hadith scholar’s ruling: Its chain is sahih.”
Reference:
al-Albani, al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, vol. 6, p. 211, hadith 2608.
Also cited through:
al-Khara’iti, Masawi’ al-Akhlaq, report 180.
al-Diya al-Maqdisi, al-Ahadith al-Mukhtarah, report 1697.
Point:
The article cannot simply brush this off as a random Shia polemical story.
A major Sunni hadith scholar authenticated its chain.
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5. The Prophet ﷺ defined ghibah clearly
Arabic:
قيل: يا رسول الله، ما الغيبة؟
قال: ذكرك أخاك بما يكره.
قيل: أرأيت إن كان في أخي ما أقول؟
قال: إن كان فيه ما تقول فقد اغتبته، وإن لم يكن فيه ما تقول فقد بهته.
English:
It was said:
“O Messenger of Allah, what is ghibah?”
He said:
“Mentioning your brother with what he dislikes.”
It was said:
“What if what I say about my brother is true?”
He said:
“If what you say is true, then you have backbitten him; and if it is not true, then you have slandered him.”
Reference:
Sahih Muslim.
Also quoted by al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur under Qur’an 49:12.
Point:
The article says:
“Can Shia readers say they never made fun of someone for oversleeping?”
This is a childish defense.
The Prophet ﷺ did not define ghibah as:
“Only catastrophic insults.”
He defined ghibah as:
“Mentioning your brother with what he dislikes.”
So even if the man really slept too much, saying it behind his back still falls under ghibah.
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6. The Prophet ﷺ treated even a small comment severely
Aisha once said about Safiyyah that she was short.
Arabic:
قلت للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: حسبك من صفية كذا وكذا.
قال بعض الرواة: تعني قصيرة.
فقال: لقد قلت كلمة لو مزجت بماء البحر لمزجته.
English:
Aisha said to the Prophet ﷺ:
“It is enough for you about Safiyyah that she is such-and-such.”
Some narrators said she meant: “short.”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“You have said a word which, if mixed with the water of the sea, would pollute it.”
Reference:
Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi.
Ibn Kathir quotes it under Qur’an 49:12 and says al-Tirmidhi declared it hasan sahih.
Point:
A short comment about someone’s height was treated severely by the Prophet ﷺ.
So do not pretend that “he sleeps too much” is automatically harmless.
The Prophet ﷺ himself decides what is ghibah, not Twelvershia.
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7. Their “repentance” defense does not erase the original point
The article says:
“Slave of Ahlubait does not want readers to know that Abu Bakr and Umar immediately showed guilt and repentance.”
This is not a refutation.
Yes, the narration says they became alarmed and asked for forgiveness.
But that proves the act happened.
If there was no sin, why did they panic?
If it was just harmless joking, why did they ask for forgiveness?
If the Prophet ﷺ did not consider it ghibah, why did he say:
“I see the flesh of your brother between your teeth”?
And why did he tell them:
“He should ask forgiveness for you”?
That means the wrong was connected to the right of the person they backbit.
So the article accidentally proves the Shia point:
They committed the act.
The Prophet ﷺ corrected them severely.
They asked for forgiveness.
The person wronged had to forgive them.
That is not a defense.
That is an admission.
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8. Nobody is claiming this takes them out of Islam
The article says:
“Those who committed this sin can rest assured that they will not be taken out of Islam.”
This is another distraction.
The Shia argument is not:
“Backbiting takes them out of Islam.”
The Shia argument is:
Sunni sources themselves preserve a narration where Abu Bakr and Umar committed ghibah, and the Prophet ﷺ rebuked them for it.
That is the point.
Do not move the goalpost.
The issue is not takfir.
The issue is whether the report exists and whether the Prophet ﷺ treated it as ghibah.
Answer:
Yes.
It exists in Sunni sources.
And yes, the Prophet ﷺ treated it as eating the flesh of their brother.
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9. The article’s minimization is disrespectful to the Prophet’s judgment
The article tries to minimize the words by saying they were only about sleeping too much.
But the Prophet ﷺ did not minimize it.
He said:
Arabic:
بأكلكما لحم أخيكما
English:
“By your eating the flesh of your brother.”
He also said:
Arabic:
إني لأرى لحمه بين ثناياكما.
English:
“I see his flesh between your teeth.”
This is severe language.
Trying to downgrade what the Prophet ﷺ condemned is not scholarship.
It is damage control.
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Final response
The narration is not a Shia invention.
It is found in Sunni sources:
al-Khara’iti, Masawi’ al-Akhlaq.
al-Diya al-Maqdisi, al-Ahadith al-Mukhtarah.
al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur.
Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim.
al-Albani, al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, who graded its chain sahih.
The Prophet ﷺ himself called their statement:
“eating the flesh of their brother.”
al-Suyuti and Ibn Kathir quoted the report under Qur’an 49:12, the verse prohibiting ghibah.
The Prophet ﷺ defined ghibah as mentioning your brother with what he dislikes, even if what you say is true.
So the article’s defense fails.
Yes, they asked for forgiveness.
But that does not erase the act.
It confirms the act.
Yes, this does not take them out of Islam.
But that is irrelevant.
The point was never takfir.
The point is that Sunni sources preserve an incident where Abu Bakr and Umar committed ghibah, and the Prophet ﷺ rebuked them for it with Qur’anic language.
So the conclusion is simple:
The report exists.
The Prophet ﷺ treated it as ghibah.
Sunni tafsir books quoted it under the verse of ghibah.
And Twelvershia’s attempt to reduce it to “just a small joke” is not a refutation.
It is whitewashing.
Did Abu Bakr and Umar Commit Ghibah (Backbiting)?
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