Is it permissible to say bad things about dead people?
- How should we talk about a person who calls himself a Muslim after his death?
- This person may be a sinner.
- What is permissible and what is impermissible to say after a person dies about him?
Submitted by on Mon, 07/04/2025 - 12:17
Dear Brother / Sister,
It is not permissible to say bad things about dead people. The Prophet states the following in a hadith narrated by Hz. Aisha:
"When one of your friends die, leave him; do not backbite and condemn him." (Abu Dawud, Sunan, Adab, 49, IV /275)
The Prophet (pbuh) states the following in a hadith narrated by Abdullah b. Umar:
"Mention the good deeds of your dead people; ignore their bad deeds." (Tirmidhi, Sunan, Janaiz, 33, II/215; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Adab, 49, IV /275.)
Accordingly, it is permissible to mention the good deeds of a dead person but not permissible to mention his bad deeds. The dead people whose bad deeds are prohibited from being mentioned by the Prophet (pbuh) are those who are not unbelievers, munafiqs, who do not commit sins openly and who are not people of bid’ah. There is no drawback to mentioning the bad deeds of such dead people. For, when the bad deeds of those dead people are mentioned, Muslims will take lessons from them and will prevent themselves from their bad ending,
"Do not curse your dead people." (Bukhari, Janaiz, 96)
As a matter of fact,
in the hadith above, the prefix “al” at the beginning of the word dead in Arabic shows that the dead people who are prohibited from being cursed are not all dead people but some of them. The word “your dead (mawtakum)” in the hadith of Tirmidhi, the affix kum (your) is added to mawta, showing that they are the dead people of Muslims.
According to the majority of scholars, it is possible for a fasiq (sinner, wicked person) to have repented before death; therefore, it is not permissible to mention the bad deeds of any Muslim after his death.
Questions on Islam
- Is it a sin to cry loudly after a relative who died at home or next to his grave? Does this give pains to the dead person?
- What can be done as charity, prayer and favor for a dead person? What supplications and chapters along with the chapter of Yasin should be read to decrease a dead person’s penalty in the grave?
- What can be done as charity, prayer and favor for a dead person? What supplications and chapters along with the chapter of Yasin should be read to decrease a dead person’s penalty in the grave?
- What are the benefits of visiting graves? Do the dead people see those who come to their graves?
- What does Islam say about Visiting Graves? What are the appropriate manners for Visiting Graves in Islam?
- Can the funeral of a deceased person be delayed for a long period?
- Can man feel that he will die just before his death? Will Azrail be visible to him?
- Do zarurahs (necessities) render harams halal? Is it possible in Islam to abandon fards for harams or to commit a haram deed for something fard? If yes, when?
- If our good deeds outweigh our sins, will we still suffer the torment of the grave?
- Is mourning permissible in Islam?
