4] Beware of rumours at times of crisis

4]
There are some writers, especially on the Internet, who spread news
without verifying it, which is confusing the Muslims and making them
despair, such as the claim that one of the Muslim cities has fallen,
or that one of their leaders has been killed, and other reports which
lead to despair and weakening of morale… All of that is without any
proof or certainty that the news is true… Some of them even write at
the end of their articles, "This is what I have heard but I am not
sure whetherthe report is true"!
What is your advice to these people?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Undoubtedly at times of tribulation there is a lot of propaganda and
excitement, hence the role of rumours.
It is well known that verifying news is required according to
sharee'ah, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"O you who believe! If a Faasiq (liar — evil person) comes to you with
any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in ignorance, and
afterwards you become regretful for what you have done"
[al-Hujuraat 49:6]
The Lawgiver issued a stern warning against passing on all that one
hears. It was narrated that Hafs ibn 'Aasim said: The Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)said: "It is enough
lying for a man to speak of everything thathe hears." Narrated by
Muslim inal-Muqaddimah, 6; Saheeh al-Jaami, 4482.
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "It is enoughsin for a man to
speak of everything that he hears." Al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 2025.
Al-Nawawi said: Usually a person hears truth and lies, so ifhe speaks
of everything that he hears, he is lying by telling of things that did
not happen, and lying by speaking of something other than the way it
happened;and he does not have to do that deliberately (in order to be
regarded as telling lies).
It was narrated that al-Mugheerah ibn Shu'bah said: The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him)said: "Allaah has forbidden you to
disobey your mothers, to bury your daughters alive, to not pay the
rights of others and to beg from others. And He dislikes gossip for
you, asking too many questions, and wasting money." Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 2231.
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said:
With regard to the words 'and He dislikes gossip [qeela wa qaala –
lit. it was said and he said] for you' al-Muhibb al-Tabari said, there
are three points of view as to the meaning of this hadeeth:
1 – That it indicates that it is makrooh (disliked) to speak too much,
because it leads to mistakes.
2 – That it refers to wanting to pass on what people say and looking
for that in order to tell others of it, so that one can say, "So and
so said such and such, and Such and such was said…" The prohibition on
this is either a rebuke for doing too much of it or it refers to a
particular type of talk, which the person spokenof dislikes to have
mentioned.
3 – That it refers to narrating differences of opinion concerning
religious matters, such as saying, "This one said such and such and
that one saidsuch and such." The reason whythis is disliked is that
speaking of such matters may lead to mistakes. This applies especially
to those who transmit such views without verifying them, merely
imitating those whom they hear without exercising any caution. I say:
this is supported by the saheeh hadeeth, "It is enough sin for a man
to speak of everything thathe hears." (narrated by Muslim).
It was narrated that Abu Qalaabah said: Abu Mas'ood saidto Abu
'Abd-Allaah, or Abu 'Abd-Allaah said to Abu Mas'ood: What did you hear
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)say
about saying "they say…"?
He said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings ofAllaah
be upon him) say: "How bad it is for a man to keep saying, 'They
say…'. " al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 866.
Al-'Azeemabaadi said: This means, it is a bad way to reach one's
objective, by saying, 'they say…'. Saying 'they say…' is akin to
conjecture, i.e., the worst habit of a man is to use the phrase 'they
say' to serve his purposes, so he tells of something, merely repeating
what others have said without verifying it, and thus he transmits lies
… this was the view of al-Manaawi.
Hence our righteous forebears were keen to establish proof and were
wary of rumours.
'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "Beware of fitnah, for a
word at the time of fitnah could be as devastating as the sword."
History shows us the danger of rumours when they spread among the
ummah. There followsome examples of that:
1 – When the Sahaabah migrated from Makkah to Ethiopia, they were
safe, but then a rumour spread that the kuffaar of Quraysh in Makkah
had become Muslims,