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,

What are the situations in which a promise may be broken?

We know that breaking promises is one of the attributesof the hypocrites, but if a Muslim is unable to keep his promise for some reason that is beyond his control, is he regarded as doing something haraam and as having one of the attributes of the hypocrites, or is he excused?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Undoubtedly keeping promises and keeping one’s word are attributes of the believers, and breaking promises is one of the attributes of the hypocrites, as was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are four (characteristics), whoever has them is a hypocrite, and whoever has one of the four has a characteristic of hypocrisyunless he gives it up: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise he breaks it; what he makes a pledge he betrays it; and when he disputes he resorts to foul language.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2327; Muslim, 58.
The believer who makes promises to people and breaks his promise may have an excuse or he may not. If he has an excuse then there is no sin on him, but if he does not have an excuse then he is a sinner.
There is no text – as far as we know – that makes any exception regarding the prohibition of breaking promises, but it may be that promises are broken in situations where the believer is excused. For example:
A – Forgetting
Allaah has forgiven us for forgetfulness whereby obligatory actions are omitted or haraam actions are committed. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error”
[al-Baqarah 2:286]
And Allaah has said: “Yes.” – Narrated by Muslim, 125, from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah. According to another version, He said: “I will do that.” Narratedby Muslim, 126, from the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas.
Whoever makes a promise to someone then forgets the promise or forgets to do it at the time stated, there is no sin on him.
B – Being forced to break one’s promise.
Being forced is one of the impediments that make it permissible for a Muslim to break his promise, such as one who is detained or is prevented from fulfilling his promise, or who is threatened with a painfulpunishment.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has forgiven my ummah for their mistakes, what they forget and what theyare forced to do.”
Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 2045, and this hadeeth has many corroborating reports; classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1836.
C – A promise to do something haraam or not to do something obligatory.
Whoever promises someone that he will do something haraam for him, or that he will not do something that is obligatory, it is not permissible for him to fulfil that promise.
This may be supported by the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah – which is also known as the hadeeth of Bareerah – which is narrated in al-Saheehayn. ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) had promised Bareerah’s former masters [?} that the wala’ of Bareerah [the right to inherit from her when she died – whichis the right of the one who sets a slave free – Translator] would belong to them even though ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) was the one who was going to set Bareerah free. But she did not keep this promise because they had gone against the sharee’ah and they knew that the right of wala’ belonged to the one who set the slave free, so how could ‘Aa’ishah set her free and then the wala’ of Bareerah belong to them?
Al-Shaafa’i said:
When news of that reached them, the one who had stipulated a condition that was contrary to the ruling of Allaah and His Messenger was a sinner,and there are hudood punishments and discipline for the sinner. One of the ways in which the sinners are disciplined is that their conditions are rendered null andvoid so as to deter them and others from doing likewise. This is one of the best forms of discipline.
Ikhtilaaf al-Hadeeth, p. 165.
D – If something unforeseen happens to the one who made the promise, such as sickness, the death of a relative or breakdown of his means of transportation, etc.
There are many excuses, which all come under the heading of the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
“Allaah burdens not a person beyond his scope”
[al-Baqarah 2:286]
And Allaah knows best./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

Spreading people’s personal messages and conversations

What is the ruling on one who spreads the personal affairs of others, whether that is memos, letters or conversations that onehas had with them, etc., and he spreads them among people or among a specific group without the person’s permission?
Praise be to Allaah.
If the person entrusted it to him on the basis that it was a secret, then it is not permissible for himto spread it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A conversation in a gathering is a trust.” Similarly, if spreading it will result in harm to his Muslim brother, that is not permitted because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)said: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” Similarly, if spreading it will result in scandal for a sinning Muslim brother whose sin has been concealed by Allaah, it is not permissible to spread it. But if spreading it will serve a shar’i interest and benefit the person or people in general, and the person did not state the condition that it had to be kept a secret, then it is o.k. to spread it in that case, indeed one may be rewarded for that./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

3b] Should the Muslim pay attention to people’s tastes andcustoms and let his garment hang below his ankles? Is thereany isbaal involved in wearing pants?

3b]
They can pay attention to the customs of theircountry and if they lengthen their garment to just above the ankles so as to prevent people from mocking them and so as not to create a barrier between themselves and the people, there is the hope that they will be rewarded more than those who shorten their garments more.
Letting the pants come lower than the ankle is a haraam action and no attention should be paid to people’s tastes and customs. The accountable Muslim has no right to go against this ruling for the sake of people. As for the degree of shortening, if he pays attention to the customs of his country and how people will look at him,that will be better for him.
And Allaah knows best./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en