بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله
Sharing is often considered a good act, whether sharing something physical or simply sharing useful information or knowledge. In fact, we are encouraged to impart and spread knowledge:
بَلِّغُوا عَنِّي وَلَوْ آيَةً
"Convey (my teachings) to the people even if it were a single verse (sentence)" [1]
نَضَّرَ اللَّهُ امْرَأً سَمِعَ مِنَّا حَدِيثًا فَحَفِظَهُ حَتَّى يُبَلِّغَهُ
"May Allah brighten a man who hears a tradition from us, gets it by heart and passes it on to others."[2]
فَلْيُبَلِّغِ الشَّاهِدُ الْغَائِبَ
"Let him who is present convey it (this message) to one who is absent." [3]
It has now become much easier to share with a wider audience than was ever possible before. However, with better and quicker means of sharing comes greater responsibility. The damage done by spreading false knowledge can be far greater.
The Ahadith warn us against attributing something to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) which he did not say:
إِنَّ كَذِبًا عَلَىَّ لَيْسَ كَكَذِبٍ عَلَى أَحَدٍ، مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَىَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ
"Ascribing false things to me is not like ascribing false things to anyone else. Whosoever tells a lie against me intentionally then surely let him occupy his seat in Hell-Fire." [4]
عَنْ عَامِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ قُلْتُ لِلزُّبَيْرِ بْنِ الْعَوَّامِ مَا لِيَ لاَ أَسْمَعُكَ تُحَدِّثُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ كَمَا أَسْمَعُ ابْنَ مَسْعُودٍ وَفُلاَنًا وَفُلاَنًا قَالَ أَمَا إِنِّي لَمْ أُفَارِقْهُ مُنْذُ أَسْلَمْتُ وَلَكِنِّي سَمِعْتُ مِنْهُ كَلِمَةً يَقُولُ " مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَىَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ
It was narrated from 'Amir bin 'Abdullah bin Zubair that his father said: "I said to Zubair bin Awwam: 'Why do I not hear you narrating Ahadith from the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as I hear Ibn Mas'ud and so-and-so and so-and-so?' He said: 'I never left him from the time I became Muslim, but I heard him say a word: 'Whoever tells a lie about me deliberately, let him take his place in Hell.'" [5]
When this is the practice of the Sahabah who heard the words directly from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) himself, how can we be so lax when quoting narrations?
Don't forward
When we receive a message, the temptation may be there to click or tap that button to forward to all our contacts or followers; don't! Firstly, think carefully and consider the implications of the action. Have we stopped to think whether the Hadith, quotation or news is genuine? It could well be a fabrication for which the warning is severe as mentioned above.
Verify
Before we think about forwarding the message, we should learn to verify the authenticity of the narration or news. Allah says in the Qur-an:
يٰأيها الذين اٰمنوا إن جاءكم فاسق بنبإ فتبينوا أن تصيبوا قوما بجهٰلة فتصبحوا علىٰ ما فعلتم نٰدمين
"O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful." [6]
This applies not just to Ahadith (though the sin is greater in this case), but also any type of news. A Muslim should not be gullible and naive and fall for the tricks and deception of mischief-makers. Unfortunately, some people gain enjoyment from spreading lies and misinformation and unsuspecting Muslims can fall prey to these traps. It has been noticed that people seem to fall for it over and over again. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
لاَ يُلْدَغُ الْمُؤْمِنُ مِنْ جُحْرٍ وَاحِدٍ مَرَّتَيْنِ
"A believer is not stung twice from the same hole." [7]
Ask a Hadith scholar to verify the narration for you. If you cannot get a definitive answer, it is far better to avoid forwarding the message than to risk the sin of attributing a lie to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
In the case of news, you can often check websites which debunk hoaxes and myths. You can often spot fake messages, e.g. when they mention having to forward the message, otherwise you will start to be charged for sending messages. These are often variations of messages from 10-15 years ago.
If we fail to verify information and, in particular, narrations that we receive before forwarding onto others, we may as well call ourselves a liar as proven from the Hadith:
كفى بالمرء كذبًا أن يحدث بكل ما سمع
"It is enough for a man to prove himself a liar when he goes on narrating whatever he hears." [8]
Inform
Once we know that a particular narration is in fact a fabrication, we should consider it our duty to inform the person who initially sent the message to us.
We should also ask him to do the following:
- Inform the person who originally sent the message to him
- Inform the people he has sent the message to
- Ask all of these people to also do the same
In other words, every person who has sent or received the message should be informed that it's a fabrication/false. Is this overkill? Not if you consider the consequences as detailed above.
I pray Allah instils in us the need to authenticate and saves us from the grave sin of ascribing a false word or narration to the dear Noble Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
[1] Sahih al-Bukhari 3461
[2] Sunan Abi Dawud 3660, Sunan ibn Majah
[3] Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan an-Nasa'i, Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Sunan ibn Majah with slight variations
[4] Sahih al-Bukhari 1291, Sahih Muslim 4 a. Variations of this are also found in Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Sunan Abi Dawud and others
[5] Sunan ibn Majah
[6] Al-Hujuraat, 6
[7] Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan abi Dawud and Sunan ibn Majah with slight variations
[8] Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud with slight variations
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