بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Fake news has become a major phenomenon in current times. We are in an era where news spreads almost instantaneously and oftentimes, we do not feel the need to verify its authenticity before spreading it. This has caused a lot of falsehood to be spread rapidly and traps those who are gullible enough to believe it. It then incites hatred amongst people after believing a news source that may be untrue to begin with.

With the recent pandemic, there is an abundance of fake news on social media and has caused huge stirs amongst people. Some start to believe news that suits their biases without proper fact checking its authenticity. With this happening rampantly, action must be taken to combat this problem.

Islam prohibits telling and disseminating lies. These two actions are sinful acts that we should avoid. In fact, Allah S.W.T has ordered us to verify every news that reaches us and not to spread it without confirming its authenticity. The impact that the news brings is utterly powerful so much so that if it is fake, it may harm people unknowingly, therefore inflicting injustice towards those involved in it. Allah S.W.T mentions in Surah Al-Hujurat verse 6:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ

“O Believers, if an unrighteous person comes to you with information, you should verify it or else you might inflict harm on a people in ignorance and then end up regretting what you have done.”

It is only logical that a person verifies news that reaches him before believing it. Whenever someone tells you a piece of information, your immediate reaction should be “Who did you hear this from?”. If the person is someone who you know as a frequent liar, you would immediately doubt him and question the authenticity of the news. However, if he is known to be a truthful person, your reaction would be to believe without much suspicion. Even so, it is hard to tell if someone is trustworthy or not and with that, our initial instinct is to always clarify.

There is a science in Islam which tackles this issue. This is the science of Hadith, which stresses utmost importance concerning sound narrations. Not every prophetic narration that has reached us is automatically deemed to be authentic. There are detailed, complex and critical conditions that must be met before a narration can be proven to be authentic (Sahih). There are 5 main conditions that scholars have unanimously stipulated and they are:

1) The chain of narrators must be connected

2) The narrators must be trustworthy

3) The narrators should have perfect memory, either by memorisation, or the narration is written in their books

4) There are no contradictions between narrations and their narrators

5) There are no hidden defects

From these 5 conditions, we can see how detailed and critical scholars are before accepting a narration. Branches of knowledge such as Ilm As-Sanad (Studies on the chain of narrators), Al-Jarh wa Ta’dil (Science of validating narrators), Ilal Hadith (Hidden defects in hadith) and many other related studies have emerged in the Sciences of Hadith to protect the authenticity of the Prophet’s ﷺ speech and actions. It is also a tool to combat those who spread fabricated narrations about him.

It is only logical that a person verifies news that reaches him before believing it. Whenever someone tells you a piece of information, your immediate reaction should be “Who did you hear this from?”.

– Erwin Shah

Scholars from past and present generations have battled narrators who spread lies concerning the Prophet ﷺ and took precedence in preserving the authenticity of a narration. They wrote books to debunk these fabricated narrations and warned people against taking and using them. Ibnul Jawzi, a scholar of hadith, wrote a book called Al-Maudhu’at, where he compiles fabricated narrations and warns the people about them. He expertly applies the intricate sciences of hadith to prove the fabrication of these narrations.

The scholars of Hadith were very stringent in criticising those who narrate fabricated narrations. They would expose and warn against these liars and record them in books so that the people would be wary when receiving news and narrations from them. A single lie against the Prophet ﷺ is enough for their names to be recorded in these books. An example would be Ibn Hibban’s book, ‘Al-Majruhin’, where he intentionally compiles weak narrators and amongst them were those who spread lies against the Prophet ﷺ.

Another example from the scholars of hadith would be the well-renowned hadith scholar, Syu’bah Ibn Hajjaj. He would go out into the streets and publicly expose these liars. He did this not with the intention of embarrassing the person but for the people to take heed and not accept narrations from these liars. He did it to preserve the authenticity of the Prophet’s ﷺ speech and actions and to preserve the religion from elements that did not originate from it.

A narrator by the name of Abban ibn Abi Ayyash, was known to spread lies upon the Prophet ﷺ. Syu’bah ibn Hajjaj would walk to the streets and publicly call him out by informing the people that Abban is a liar. The people would then be informed regarding Abban and not take narrations from him. There are many other similar stories of how the scholars of hadith would deal aggressively with fabricated narrators, to preserve the authentic prophetic tradition.

We can apply the fundamentals and principles of how the Scholars of Hadith take precaution in accepting narrations into our daily lives. Whenever we receive any form of news or information, we should first ask whether it is authentic. We do not want to fall into the trap of believing fake news and then spreading it without knowing its authenticity. Without clarifying, we might spread a false rumour that may intentionally or unintentionally affect someone’s life.

So how can we then relate this science to dealing with fake news?

There are 3 main principles that we can derive and practise from the sciences of hadith when news reaches us. Firstly, we should always provide a source when spreading any news. The source should be deemed as an authentic source and does not have a history of fabrications. We should only accept testimonies from mediums which are trustworthy and credible. One must avoid immediately believing and blind following when an information reaches him, especially from sources that are known to spread misinformation. This is a principle that is utilised by the scholars of hadith when any forms of news or narrations reaches them.

With easy access to social media today, news is transmitted like wildfire without the effort of checking if it is true or not. They might be real, authentic news and they might also be false and baseless. Thus it is important that before we share something, we should provide the source so as not to mislead anyone. If they doubt us, there is a source in which they can seek clarification from.

Secondly, we should gather information regarding the news from all angles and not immediately believe one side of the story. We should gather as much data as possible to at least prove its authenticity and not blindly believe from one single source. We should always be wary as there might be another story behind it.

We can apply a famous principle by the great hadith scholar, Ali ibn Madini.

“الباب إذا لم تجمع طرقه لم يتبين صوابها”

“If we do not gather data sufficiently, we may not be able to differentiate between the truth and what is not.” [Jami’ Al-Akhlak Ar-Rawi Wal Adab As-Sami]

We should always try to gather as much data to point the bigger picture. This principle was often used by scholars of hadith to thoroughly analyse the authenticity of a hadith. The more data collated, the more they can grade the narration accurately.

A simple and daily example that we can picture is workplace politics. Rumours have been spreading that an employee has not been entering the office as frequently, and with that he is considered to ‘not be doing his job’ and is ‘undeserving of his pay check’. After investigating from all angles and gathering data regarding the matter, it is actually because he was doing his job by going to meetings with clients to seal a big deal. If the rumours were immediately believed without proper fact checking, the employee could have been fired as a result of the fake news. With this scenario, it would seem very unprofessional to remain unclarified and jump to assumptions and conclusions.

Thirdly, we should always consult an expert of the subject whenever an information is being spread. We should be able to differentiate what is his expertise and what is not. We would certainly not ask a surgeon to fly an aeroplane or ask a pilot to conduct surgery as these are two contrasting fields.

Imam Asim was a prominent Quranic scholar which brought to us the Qiraat (Variant Quranic Recitations) that is widely known as ‘Qiraat Hafs an Asim’. He was a prominent and powerful scholar in Qiraat but Scholars of hadith have rendered him weak in the field of hadith. He busied himself with the sciences of Qiraat that he did not manage to be an expert of Hadith. Despite this, it does not make him any less of a scholar and his shortcomings in hadith does not affect him as a master in Qiraat. It is to be remembered that every scholar has their own merits and shortcomings. Thus, if we receive a hadith narrated by Asim, we must be wary that there could be a problem in the narration as he is not reliable in this field.

This could be a guideline for us to always ask an expert upon receiving any news. If we ask any ordinary man with no expertise, it could possibly be misleading and may result in further dissemination of falsehood.

As much as we are cautious of fake news, we must also be cautious in spreading false reports concerning religion, especially the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ. (ie the Hadith and the Sunnah).  Abusing religious authority is very dangerous as people may use this authority to promote their personal needs instead. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ strictly warned and prohibited us against this as mentioned in a hadith in Sahih Bukhari and in the introduction of Sahih Muslim:

عَنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: إِنَّ كَذِبًا عَلَىَّ لَيْسَ كَكَذِبٍ عَلَى أَحَدٍ، مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَىَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ

Narrated by Al-Mughira:

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, “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.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book 23, Hadith 50]

That being said, we should always spread the truth and fight in the defence of truth as it one of the characteristics that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in a hadith in Sahih Muslim as narrated by Jabir ibn Abdillah. He heard the Prophet ﷺ said :

لاَ تَزَالُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي يُقَاتِلُونَ عَلَى الْحَقِّ ظَاهِرِينَ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ‏”‏”

“A group of people from my Ummah will continue to fight in defence of truth and remain triumphant until the Day of judgment.” [Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 249]

الله أعلم