Assalamu Alaikkum, Please consider the case of negative thinking a) A brother promised me to meet on particular time, but he did not come, i called him many times, he didn't attend my phone, i came to a decision that he is avoiding me. Then the next day i came to know that he kept his mobile somewhere b)My friend going to meet my manager, i say to him for this case he would say like this negatively. Is it that i am trying to say the future or what i said i wrong? c)My Manager asked me what is your scope in the company, i become upset. Then i shared this with our friends that " i have been in the company for 2 years and the Manager does not know what my scope is, what Manager is he?" Is this discussion wrong? or all these come under back biting or thinking negatively of a person, please clarify

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

You did wrong and reacted hastily in the first situation. This contradicts the Islamic teaching of trying to find excuses for one’s fellow Muslims, thinking good of them and their actions, and interpreting other's words according to the best possible indication or meaning. ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab said: “Never think ill of the word that comes out of your believing brother’s mouth, as long as you can find a good interpretation for it.” [Al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab Al-'Eemaan] This is why thinking ill of one’s fellow Muslims and having bad expectations of others is impermissible. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 136430 and 246328.

As for the second situation, the religious ruling on it depends on one factor. If what you said was supported by evidence, then it is not considered a form of guessing at the unknown since you did not support your saying on mere guessing and it was supported by evidence. If you said, for example, that the manager would not approve the vacation request because of his management system, your remark is not considered guessing at the unknown. But if this opinion is based on mere illusion and prediction, it is considered a form of guessing at the unknown.

It should be noted that if your remark about the manager's "negative" response is unpleasant to him, it is considered backbiting. In fact, backbiting refers to talking about a person in a manner that he does not like as explained in the Hadeeth. We have highlighted that issue in Fatwa 81748.

As for the third situation, this action involves backbiting, mocking, and ridiculing others (which are prohibited in Islam). Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [other] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one's] faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.}[Quran 49:11]

Allaah Knows best.