Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs: beware of rumors in times of crisis

beware of rumors in times of crisis

Date: March 26, 2003 | 21 Muharram 1424 Hijriah

Subjects: fiqh

Saudi scholar Shaykh Muhammad al-Munajjid posted a very timely article on his Islam Q&A website today, called Beware of rumors in times of crisis. The article provides guidance for Muslims in dealing with rumors and speculative talk, which there certainly is plenty of in regard to the Iraq war.

As always, the advice starts with a passage from the Quran, here Surah al-Hujurat verse 6:

O you, those who have faith, if a wrongdoer comes to you with news, verify it, lest you strike somebody in ignorance then regret what you have done.

Here we see one of the major dangers of reacting to rumors: taking action based on something that may not be true and in the process hurting people.

Next, we have a saying of the Prophet Muhammad (sAas):

It is enough lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears.

The meaning of this is explained in the classical commentary by Imam an-Nawawi:

Usually a person hears truth and lies, so if he 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 it deliberately (for it to be a lie).

Following this, Munajjid looks at some other warnings against gossip (interestingly, the phrase translated as "gossip" in one hadith is literally "he said-she said") and at examples from early Muslim history about the damage that can come from listening to and then acting on rumors.

Finally, Munajjid gives advice on how to respond to rumors that one hears. The first step is to be deliberate. Avoid haste. Take your time and think through what you've just heard. The second step is the one mentioned in the Quranic verse above: verify it. Make the effort to find out the circumstances of the report and whether it can be proved as well as to seek out the truth of the report itself. In the words of early Muslim scholar Hasan al-Basri:

The believer reserves judgment until the matter is proven.

~ Posted by Al-Muhajabah, a member of the reality-based community, at 05:43 AM

Comments

umair said:

Total comments: 51 gold star

mashaAllah, very timely advice.
here's an interesting link on Hasan Al-Basri (of Basra!!):
link

note: comment edited to shorten hyperlinked text

~ Posted at March 26, 2003 07:39 AM | Comment Permalink

carrie said:

Total comments: 9

I believe nothing until I have seen it proven to me. I think there is "spinning" of the issue and the war by both sides. I have been reading a blog by a man who is in Iraq. He has stated that some things have been set on fire on purpose, not by the Coalition Forces.

I do not agree with the war, but I must support my government and country.

My heart breaks when I think of the children who are suffering because of this. I have three children. I felt guilty last night while I was eating dinner, there are children in Iraq who did not eat dinner last night...and not by choice. I wish there was something I could do to ease the pain and hunger for the children.

~ Posted at March 26, 2003 09:42 AM | Comment Permalink

Truth said:

Total comments: 3

One thing that confuses me very much Carrie, is the compulsion Americans who are against the war feel to support their country despite being convinced the war is wrong. I don't understand this notion of "my country wrong or right." This has been baffling to me in recent weeks. I am not anti-American, there are millions of wonederful people living in America and I wish them every safety, and peace of mind. The current US government seems bent on destroying the world to get what they want. And this government is putting all of us at risk, because there are people out there who do not distinguish between the actions of a government and its people. May God protect us all from the misdeeds of powerful men (Bush, Sadam, Terrorists, and all the other trouble makers). I put them all in one catagory.

~ Posted at March 27, 2003 07:42 AM | Comment Permalink

carrie said:

Total comments: 9

I support my country because....it is MY country.

~ Posted at March 28, 2003 07:56 AM | Comment Permalink

Al-Munaqabah said:

Total comments: 996 gold star

If a friend or someone you love is doing something that you feel is wrong or hurtful to others, do you let them do it, or do you try to talk to them and convince them out of it? Me, I would try to talk to them and convince them out of it.

The same applies to one's country.

~ Posted at March 28, 2003 08:03 AM | Comment Permalink

carrie said:

Total comments: 9

I understand where you are coming from, but I cannot imagine that people are content to live under the regime of the Husseins. He murders his fellow countrymen and Muslims. I support my country because if we don't, we will end up with our soldiers (who are doing their job) coming home to jeers and hate. A prime example is the Vietnam War. Our soldiers came home to a lot of negativity...some of them were only boys when they went to war and they came home as some of the most hated and reviled people in the US. I don't want that to happen again.

As for our government, we are a divided country. We have special interest groups and big business controlling our government. I don't know what can be done about it. We write our lawmakers and elected officals and ask for help and we are usually ignored. We campaign for change, and the same people get elected over and over. It's like trying to walk on water while carrying an elephant. Near impossible.

~ Posted at March 28, 2003 09:05 AM | Comment Permalink

Jeanne said:

Total comments: 1

Originally posted by carrie -
I support my country because if we don't, we will end up with our soldiers (who are doing their job) coming home to jeers and hate. A prime example is the Vietnam War. Our soldiers came home to a lot of negativity...some of them were only boys when they went to war and they came home as some of the most hated and reviled people in the US. I don't want that to happen again.
I remember that time, and I was almost the same age as those boys. Believe me, just as they do today, politicians tried to portray anyone who protested against the Vietnam War as being hateful toward our troops. But it was not true: then as now, the protest against the war was directed against the politicians who forced it on us, not against the troops who had no choice in going to war. We were all too aware that the soldiers were kids like us caught up in a war that was not of their making. Vietnam vets came home to many problems including readjusting to society, bad employment opportunities and in many cases a depressing realization that they had given so much for a war that in the end made very little sense, something even some top Department of Defense hawks later admitted freely and with regret. But I do not remember at all Vietnam vets returning home to "jeers and hate," from antiwar protesters or anyone else.

~ Posted at March 28, 2003 11:10 PM | Comment Permalink

Truth said:

Total comments: 3

First I would like to say to Carrie that none of my comments are meant as an attack. I think its healthy that we discuss the state of our world, and hear each other so that we can all benefit for each others experience. As for supporting your country so as not to alienate the troops, these soldiers are gaining nothing from this war. They are another tool of powerful men in suits who sit in their white houses, and palaces while the soldiers fight for causes that do not exist. The men fighting for Sadam Hussein are under the same abuse. Neither the US government, nor the Iraqi is worth defending. At the last Gulf War Soldiers came back very sick after being exposed to deadly chemicals by their own government. Yes, these were US soldiers. Exposed to depleted uranium from US bombs. So the government does'nt really care about these men. They use them as a tool to manipulate the public, and rally the public behind injustice. Its like a family in turmoil where a man uses the kids to invoke sympathy from a wife who loves her children, so that she will not leave him. I have recently met a Gulf War vet from the last war. She is very ill, and the government has not done much for her since her return. Being against this war is in the interest of your soldiers.

~ Posted at March 29, 2003 10:04 AM | Comment Permalink

Al-Munaqabah said:

Total comments: 996 gold star

Truth makes an excellent point. Besides the depleted uranium question, there are several other issues:

1) Congress plans to cut the Veteran's Affairs budget by $15 billion - just as we'll have many new veterans who need help and care.

2) The Bush Administration says that Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons and will use them, but U.S. soldiers have poor training and outdated, malfunctioning equipment to protect them from chemical attack.

3) We may have sent an army into the field without enough manpower to do the job and without adequate preparations if things don't go according to plan.

Carrie, I care a lot about our troops and I support them as individuals and people. I'm very worried that it's our government that doesn't support the troops properly, that they've been sent into a situation that's more dangerous than it has to be and that they'll be left to cope on their own after they come back. Maybe after you read the linked articles, you'll feel the same.

BTW, you might want to check out the blog of James Landrith. He's former U.S. Marine Corps and a Gulf War I veteran. He has a lot of posts about the issues that I've mentioned.

veiled4allah: beware of rumors in times of crisis

beware of rumors in times of crisis

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