The unlawfulness of spying is not only applicable to individuals but also to the Islamic government. The duty of forbidding the people to do evil that the Shari`ah (Islamic Law) has entrusted to the government, does not require that it should establish a system of spying, to inquire too curiously, into the people''s secret evils, and then punish them. As for the hidden evils spying is not the way to reform them, but it is education, preaching, counseling, collective training of the people and trying to create a pure social environment. Uttering a false accusation against a person in his absence is defaming while describing a real defect in him is backbiting. A''ishah says: Rumors about this slander went on spreading in the city for about a month, which caused great distress and anguish to the Holy Prophet (saws). I cried, due to helplessness, and my parents were sick with mental agony.
