The Ruling on Spreading Rumors Without Verification
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner asks about some people who are hasty in transmitting news, do not verify it, and spread rumors without deliberation. What is the ruling on that? May you be rewarded.
Answer:
This is prohibited with the strongest prohibition. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, prohibited spreading news that harms a person or harms the Muslims. So the first thing is to verify it[Al-Hujurat 49:6] meaning, verify it; if it is not authentic, he leaves it from the start. If it is authentic, he keeps it secret and does not disclose it or spread it. As for the one whose only concern is spreading whatever news he hears, it is enough for a person to be a sinner if he narrates everything he hears, as in the hadith. It is obligatory for the Muslim to verify. Also, there are matters—general matters—where it is not permissible for the common people to get involved. These are the affairs of the rulers, who handle them as befits them. He said, Mighty and Majestic: [An-Nisa 4:83] Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you. Honorable Shaykh,
The questioner asks about some people who are hasty in transmitting news, do not verify it, and spread rumors without deliberation. What is the ruling on that? May you be rewarded.
Answer:
This is prohibited with the strongest prohibition. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, prohibited spreading news that harms a person or harms the Muslims. So the first thing is to verify it
O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُواAnd when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it.
وَإِذَا جَاءَهُمْ أَمْرٌ مِّنَ الْأَمْنِ أَوِ الْخَوْفِ أَذَاعُوا بِهِ وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ وَإِلَىٰ أُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمَهُ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَنبِطُونَهُ مِنْهُمْThe presenter:
May Allah reward you. Honorable Shaykh,
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/290 — archive.org (14:26)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.