Is it Haram to speak badly about kafirs and oppressive leaders in their absence?

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

As regards backbiting non-Muslims in their absence then if the Kafir( non-Muslin) is a belligerent, it is not Haram to backbite him about something in himself, except if that includes dispraising Allah's creation, like mentioning his bad physical appearance.

If it does not include dispraising Allah's creation, it is not forbidden but it is contradictory to what is more appropriate for 2 reasons:

·        It is a waste of time without any benefit.

·        It is making the tongue used to mentioning the bad qualities of people; this could lead to backbiting Muslims.

However, if he is non-Muslin under Muslin rule, then the people of knowledge differ about the rule to concerning it.

Ibn Hajar Al Haythami said in his book 'Al Zawajir An Iqhtiraf Al Kaba'ir "The correct opinion is that it is forbidden to backbite a non-Muslim under Muslim rule."

As regards backbiting the rulers, if they are Kuffar, we have discussed this issue before. But if they are Muslims, then they are included in the saying of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) "Backbiting is to mention your brother with what he dislikes."

Backbiting them and mentioning evil deeds could lead to not acknowledging them as rulers that could lead to bloodshed and there are much mischief in doing so.

Anyway a Muslim is required to protect his tongue and mind his own business, and the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Whoever keeps silent is safe." (Reported by Ahmed, Al Thirmidhi, and Albani classified it as an authentic Hadith.)

Allah knows best.