Treating Rumors in Society
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The question says: Lately, what is called the agency of rumors has become widespread. They say such and such. We want from Your Eminence a decisive solution to eradicate these rumors that circulate in society and to treat them?
Answer:
Research has been conducted on this, and it is obligatory to abandon rumors. Allah rebuked those who spread the rumor about 'A'ishah, led by the head of the hypocrites and those who followed them. This is a discipline for us and a lesson for us not to spread scandal. Spreading it is a weakness for the believers and a harm to the Muslims. So it is obligatory not to spread scandal, and not for a person to transmit it, saying so-and-so did this, and so-and-so did that. No, rather, if a person learns something about so-and-so or so-and-so that is an apparent evil, he should convey it to one who is able to remove it. He should convey it to the committee, to the trustworthy person, to the court, or to the official who is able to address it. As for spreading it, it is not permissible; because spreading it is a matter of the category of instilling despair in the Muslims and exposing shirk (associating partners with Allah) among them. This benefits the enemies and harms the believers. So it is not permissible to spread every evil. However, if this evil is established with the believer, and its owner has announced it or called to it, it is to be raised to the authorities who are able to change it and condemn it. Yes.
The question says: Lately, what is called the agency of rumors has become widespread. They say such and such. We want from Your Eminence a decisive solution to eradicate these rumors that circulate in society and to treat them?
Answer:
Research has been conducted on this, and it is obligatory to abandon rumors. Allah rebuked those who spread the rumor about 'A'ishah, led by the head of the hypocrites and those who followed them. This is a discipline for us and a lesson for us not to spread scandal. Spreading it is a weakness for the believers and a harm to the Muslims. So it is obligatory not to spread scandal, and not for a person to transmit it, saying so-and-so did this, and so-and-so did that. No, rather, if a person learns something about so-and-so or so-and-so that is an apparent evil, he should convey it to one who is able to remove it. He should convey it to the committee, to the trustworthy person, to the court, or to the official who is able to address it. As for spreading it, it is not permissible; because spreading it is a matter of the category of instilling despair in the Muslims and exposing shirk (associating partners with Allah) among them. This benefits the enemies and harms the believers. So it is not permissible to spread every evil. However, if this evil is established with the believer, and its owner has announced it or called to it, it is to be raised to the authorities who are able to change it and condemn it. Yes.
Source
واجب أهل العلم — islamhouse.com (1:00:10)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.