Allah, the Exalted, has said:
رياض الصالحينAbū Zakariyyā Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī٢٥٧ - باب تحريم النميمة وهي نقل الكلام بين الناس على جهة الإفساد
٢٥٧ - باب تحريم النميمة وهي نقل الكلام بين الناس على جهة الإفساد
[And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip -
And the Exalted has [also] said:
مَّا يَلْفِظُ مِن قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ
He [i.e., man] utters no word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record].
وعن حُذَيْفَةَ - ﵁ - قَالَ: قَالَ رسولُ الله - ﷺ: «لا يَدْخُلُ الجَنَّةَ نَمَّامٌ ».متفق عَلَيْهِ.
On the authority of Ḥudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "No tale-bearer shall enter Paradise." Agreed upon.
وعن ابن عباسٍ ﵄: أنَّ رسولَ الله - ﷺ - مرَّ بِقَبْرَيْنِ فَقَالَ: «إنَّهُمَا يُعَذَّبَانِ، وَمَا يُعَذَّبَانِ في كَبيرٍ! بَلَى إنَّهُ كَبِيرٌ: أمَّا أَحَدُهُمَا، فَكَانَ يَمْشِي بِالنَّمِيمَةِ، وأمَّا الآخَرُ فَكَانَ لاَ يَسْتَتِرُ مِنْ بَوْلِهِ». متفق عَلَيْهِ. وهذا لفظ إحدى روايات البخاري. قَالَ العلماءُ معنى: «وَمَا يُعَذَّبَانِ في كَبيرٍ» أيْ: كَبيرٍ في زَعْمِهِمَا. وقِيلَ: كَبيرٌ تَرْكُهُ عَلَيْهِمَا.
On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both): that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by two graves and said: "They are both being punished, and they are not being punished for something great [in their estimation]. Yet indeed it is great: as for one of them, he used to go about with tale-bearing; and as for the other, he used not to shield himself from his urine." Agreed upon. This is the wording of one of al-Bukhārī's versions. The scholars said the meaning of "they are not being punished for something great" is: great in their own estimation. And it has been said: great [would have been] its avoidance for them.
وعن ابن مسعود - ﵁: أن النَّبيّ - ﷺ - قَالَ: «أَلاَ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ مَا العَضْهُ؟ هي النَّمَيمَةُ؛ القَالَةُ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ». رواه مسلم. «العَضْهُ»: بفتح العين المهملة، وإسكان الضاد المعجمة، وبالهاء عَلَى وزن الوجهِ، ورُوِي «العِضةُ» بكسر العين وفتح الضاد المعجمة عَلَى وزن العِدَة، وهي: الكذب والبُهتان، وعلى الرِّواية الأولى: العَضْهُ مصدرٌ يقال: عَضَهَهُ عَضهًا، أيْ: رماهُ بالعَضْهِ.
On the authority of Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him): that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Shall I not inform you what al-ʿaḍh is? It is tale-bearing — the [malicious] talk that circulates among people." Narrated by Muslim. "Al-ʿaḍh": with a fatḥah on the undotted ʿayn, a sukūn on the dotted ḍād, and with a hāʾ, on the pattern of al-wajh. It has also been related as "al-ʿiḍah," with a kasrah on the ʿayn and a fatḥah on the dotted ḍād, on the pattern of al-ʿidah, meaning: lying and slander. According to the first reading, al-ʿaḍh is a verbal noun; one says: ʿaḍahahu ʿaḍhan, that is: he accused him of al-ʿaḍh.