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IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[24:19]
Verily, as for those who like [to hear] foul slander spread against [any of] those who have attained to faith – grievous suffering awaits them in this world and in the life to come: for God knows [the full truth], whereas you know [it] not.

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* v.19 : The term fāhishah signifies anything that is morally reprehensible or abominable: hence, “immoral conduct” in the widest sense of this expression. In the above context it refers to unfounded or unproven allegations of immoral conduct, in other words, “foul slander.”
* I.e., the legal punishment as stipulated in verse 4 of this sūrah.
* This Qur’anic warning against slander and, by obvious implication, against any attempt at seeking out other people’s faults finds a clear echo in several well-authenticated sayings of the Prophet: “Beware of all guesswork [about one another], for, behold, all [such] guesswork is most deceptive (akdhab al-hadīth); and do not spy upon one another, and do not try to bare [other people’s] failings” (Muwatta’; almost identical versions of this Tradition have been quoted by Bukhārī, Muslim, and Abū Dā’ūd); “Do not hurt those who have surrendered themselves to God (al-muslimīn), and do not impute evil to them, and do not try to uncover their nakedness [i.e., their faults]: for, behold, if anyone tries to uncover his brother’s nakedness, God will uncover his own nakedness [on the Day of Judgment]” (Tirmidhī); and, “Never does a believer draw a veil over the nakedness of another believer without God’s drawing a veil over his own nakedness on Resurrection Day” (Bukhārī). All these injunctions have received their seal, as it were, in the Qur’anic exhortation: “Avoid most guesswork [about one another] – for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin” (49:12).