The Right Way to Criticize

It is part of the Prophet’s guidance, peace be upon him, not to criticize other Muslims in public by naming them and embarrassing them, thus damaging his reputation.
The reputation or honour of another Muslim is sacred and cannot be transgressed without a very serious justification.
If a Muslim makes a mistake in public, it is better to criticize the wrong action or idea in private or in another forum without naming the person or humiliating him.
We should not attack the identity of the person who made a mistake, but mention the wrong action.
After all, the goal should be to correct their behavior, not to hurt them.
Aisha conveyed that if the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he would hear something bad about a man, he would not name them by saying, “What about this person who says this?”
But he said:

What about some people who say this?
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4788, grade: Sahih)

On one occasion, some of the Prophet’s companions, peace be upon him, openly declared some wrong religious vows without reason to do so.
They said they would not marry, eat meat, or sleep in a bed.
The Prophet did not rebuke these companions by name, but declared to the rest of the community that the Sunnah was different from such extreme asceticism.
Anas ibn Malik reported that some of the companions said: “I will not marry women.”
And some said, “I will not eat meat.”
And some said, “I’ll never sleep in a bed.”
The Prophet, peace and peace.
Blessings be upon him, Allah praised and glorified, and said:

What about some people who say this?
I pray and sleep, fast and break the fast, and marry women.
The one who walks away from my practice is not related to me.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1401, degree: Sahih)

Al-Nawawi comments on this tradition, saying: It is in accordance with his way of expressing, peace and blessings be upon him, to be like this.
When he disapproved of something, he would approach it and mention his disapproval without specifying who had done it.
This is part of his immense character.
In fact, the purpose is for that person and everyone present, as well as those not present, to listen to that disapproval but without scolding the person in the assembly.
(Sharḥ al-Nawawī ‘Allah Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1401) A Muslim’s reputation is part of his sacred property, which cannot be violated except in the most extreme circumstances.
Abu Hurayrah conveyed that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

The whole Muslim is sacred to another Muslim: his life, his wealth and his reputation.
(Saḥīḥ Muslim 2564, grade: Sahih)

In general, Muslims should inform each other about their public mistakes in a private setting to respect the sanctity of their reputation.
Those who frequently reprimand, scold, and despise other Muslims in public, mentioning and embarrassing them without much justification, are actually committing an egregious offense against them.
Al-Muthanni narrated that Al-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Whoever admonishes his brother in private has been sincere with him and has protected his reputation.
Whoever admonishes him in public has humiliated and betrayed him.
(Ḥilyat al-Awliyā ‘13854)

However, simply refraining from naming directly to censor does not mean that we should humiliate Muslims indirectly by insinuation, by using offensive nicknames that are known to be associated with them.
Allah says:

You who believe!
Abandon many of the assumptions.
It is true that some of them are crimes.
And do not spy on one another or speak ill of others when they are not present.
(Private Apartments, 49:11)

In our times, Muslims attack other Muslims using all kinds of harmful labels (“celebrities”, “scholars for money”, etc.) and these statements are harmful regardless of whether the audience connects them with the desired target or not.
If the audience implicitly understands that a specific person is being attacked, then it is simply a mockery with nicknames forbidden by insinuation.
If the audience does not know who the specific target is, then the suspicion is spread over the entire community that perhaps this or that target was being discussed.
Better than this, in Islam we should limit our criticism to erroneous beliefs and concrete erroneous actions, without attacking people’s particular identity.
In doing so, we focus on what is most worthy of criticism (concrete actions and erroneous beliefs) while respecting the sanctity of the public reputation of Muslims.

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Source: https://abuaminaelias.com