Email Etiquette

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

A bit of common sense really, but surprising how many Muslims fall prey to the obvious no-nos when it comes to sending emails:

• Do not send/forward non-Islamic (by that I mean non-mubâḥ) naughty stuff.
• Do not forward without verifying the contents of the email/article (as mentioned in the Qur-ân: O you who believe! If an evil doer comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and thus become regretful over what you have done [49:6]; and in the Hadeeth: It is sufficient for a man to be considered a liar if he relates everything he hears [Muslim]); a simple Google search will usually confirm the veracity of the claim(s). Note that this also applies to texts and WhatsApp, etc.
• Do not forward other people's email addresses - this leads to spam; use BCC and delete any addresses in the body of the email.
• If someone flouts the above rule and sends you an email with loads of email addresses, that doesn't give you the right to add those to your mailing list (note to organisations looking for more people to spam)!
• Take some time out to tidy up the email; get rid of all those pesky >>>>> as well as any spelling and grammatical errors.
• Please, please do not add something along the lines of "If you love Allâh/care about the Ummah/hate shaytân/don't wanna die a miserable death, send this to all your friends" at the end of your email. Only disillusioned Muslims sitting in front of their computers forwarding emails all day consider this as doing "their bit" for the Deen and free of all other obligations towards the Ummah.
• In the Hadeeth, we find the following: No man is alone with a woman but the shaytân is the third one (present) [Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhi, al-Ḥâkim]; this also applies to exchanges over the internet, be it via email or IM. If you find yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to email a member of the opposite gender (not maḥram), CC a third person. And always remember: Allâh is fully aware of our intentions.
• WRITING AN EMAIL IN BLOCK CAPITALS looks like you're SHOUTING at the recipient. Don't do it. There are other ways to get the message across.

One more thing: do feel free (but don't feel obliged) to forward this post to / share it with anyone who insists on breaking one or more of the above rules...