{"_id":"682e5ac766d612854cb6316d","title":"{\"ops\":[{\"insert\":\"Should I pray for forgiveness for backbiting a public figure?\\n\"}]}","question":"{\"ops\":[{\"insert\":\"My sisters and I were chatting and the topic of Twitter came up. I was mad over it and I called Elon Musk a “pathetic loser” for essentially destroying my main source of income and being an alt-right nazi. I hesitated after saying it because I don’t know if this is considered backbiting. Lately, I’ve been trying really REALLY hard not to backbite at all, but whenever I talk poorly about someone, I’m not sure if it’s backbiting or not or if it applies to people like him.\\n\\nIf this is backbiting, what is the ruling? How do I ask for forgiveness from Allah SWT? And for all the backbiting I’ve done in my life too? I don’t want to meet Allah on the Day of Judgment with so much backbiting in my book. It’s a really hard habit to break, though.\\n\"}]}","answer":"{\"ops\":[{\"insert\":\"Alḥamdulillāh it is a blessing that you are concerned about this and making efforts to correct this behavior. May Allah ﷻ accept from you.\\n\\nPlease see the links below for more details. As far as correcting the past,  first and foremost you should seek istighfār from Allah ﷻ. To rectify past backbiting, you can correct what you said with the people you wronged , asking for their forgiveness. Depending on the context, if that will make the situation worse, you can give ṣadaqah on their behalf or make duʿāʾ for them. The best safeguard against falling into the major sin of ghība, is to surround yourself with righteous people. Those who will correct you and have better quality  things to talk about, than other people and their faults. A good indicator that you’re around the right people, is that they never bring up others nor cultivate the environment that would allow you to. \\n\\nGuidelines When Speaking About Others: \"},{\"attributes\":{\"link\":\"https://www.carolinaqa.com/q/66cd028b362bfeb5d620c8db\"},\"insert\":\"https://www.carolinaqa.com/q/66cd028b362bfeb5d620c8db\"},{\"insert\":\"\\nGuidelines on Speaking When Advising Others: \"},{\"attributes\":{\"link\":\"https://www.carolinaqa.com/q/66df5a7b6df6cc867de7a757\"},\"insert\":\"https://www.carolinaqa.com/q/66df5a7b6df6cc867de7a757\"},{\"insert\":\"\\nCorrecting Yourself After Speaking About Others: \"},{\"attributes\":{\"link\":\"https://www.carolinaqa.com/q/66f80e9a32218af1183c0325\"},\"insert\":\"https://www.carolinaqa.com/q/66f80e9a32218af1183c0325\"},{\"insert\":\"\\n\"}]}","tags":[{"_id":"668d9ff70b76658b4c232a7b","tag":"Worship: Sins","count":100},{"_id":"668d9ff20b76658b4c2329f4","tag":"Worship: Repentance","count":63},{"_id":"668da0120b76658b4c232d5e","tag":"Contemporary Life: Social Media","count":26},{"_id":"66cd028b362bfeb5d620c8d6","tag":"Backbiting","count":12},{"_id":"668d9fdd0b76658b4c232762","tag":"Contemporary Life: Adoption","count":10}],"createdOn":"2025-05-21T22:59:19.444Z"}