Iyād b. Himār said: “I said, 'Messenger of Allah – salaLlaahu alayhi wa sallam, there is someone who reviles me.' The Messenger of Allah – salaLlaahu alayhi wa sallam - stated, 'Those who revile each other are two satans accusing and denying each other.' (Authentic)
'Iyād b. Himār said: “The Messenger of Allah – salaLlaahu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'Allah has revealed to me that you should be humble so that none of you may oppress another and so that none of you may disdain another.' I said, 'Messenger of Allah – salaLlaahu alayhi wa sallam, what do you think I should do when a man reviles me in a low assembly and then I answer him back, Do I incur any sin in that?' He said, 'Two men who revile each other are two satans accusing and denying each other.' (Authentic)
Commentary: Imam Majid Ibn Taimiyyah (rahimahuLlaah) explains: “Allah prohibited on the tongue of His Prophet – salaLlaahu alayhi wa sallam, the two forms of feeling superior over people: pride and wronging the people. This is because if the one who feels superior does so correctly, he would have been proud, and if wrongly, he would have wronged the people. Thus, neither this nor that is allowed. If such a person is from a honourable group, it is not his place to feel proud that he is honourable, feeling self-important, because the honor of the group does not necessarily imply that he is particularly honourable. In fact, his sense of pride removes him from such group, and more so, when he feels arrogant and pompous being in the group.”
The hadeeth clearly points to the prohibition of reviling and responding to a person who reviles us even when he does so in a gathering.
Source: Adabul-Mufrad, hadith 427 and 428, Under Chapter 201: Those Who Revile Each Other Are Two Satans Accusing And Denying Each Other. Adapted from Translation and Commentary Work of Aboo Naasir – may Allaah preserve him.