In the Name of Allah
One conspiracy to the next and down the rabbit hole. When the conspiracy theorist emerges, he emerges in a different world, a fantasy world, where he has been enlightened by the hours of YouTube videos and conspiracy theory articles. A fantasy world where scientists, doctors and professionals who are working towards the betterment of society are evil, or at least fools to what’s REALLY happening out there.
The most learned of religious scholars, who have studied for decades on end, hundreds of books and under hundreds of scholars, the inheritors of the Prophets and the most blessed people on this earth, are also mere fools. They have been deceived by the disbelievers, and are now being mislead by Satan to pass incorrect rulings.
While the layman, thanks to his hours sitting online scouring the net has of course been enlightened and knows best. He knows where the doctors and scientist have gone wrong and he knows the correct fataawa (religious verdicts) which the scholars do not know. This is the awakened reality in the mind of a conspiracy theorist, and this is what a fantasy world looks like.
Allah, The Exalted Says:
وَإِذَا جَآءَهُمْ أَمْرٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْنِ أَوِ ٱلْخَوْفِ أَذَاعُوا۟ بِهِۦ ۖ وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ وَإِلَىٰٓ أُو۟لِى ٱلْأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسْتَنۢبِطُونَهُۥ مِنْهُمْ ۗ وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُۥ لَٱتَّبَعْتُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا
“And when there comes to them something [i.e., information] about [public] security or fear, they spread it around (publicise it). Had they referred it to the Messenger or their authorities, then those with sound judgment among them would have validated it. Had it not been for Allah’s grace and mercy, you would have followed Satan—except for a few.” [Nisaa`: 83]
“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐢.𝐞., 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧] 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 [𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜] 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 (𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭)”
Imam ibn Kathir said: (Allah is) chastising those who indulge in things before being sure of their truth, disclosing them, making them known and spreading their news, even though such news might not be true at all. In the introduction to his Sahih, Imam Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet said,
«كَفَى بِالْمَرْءِ كَذِبًا أَنْ يُحَدِّثَ بِكُلِّ مَا سَمِع»
“Narrating everything one hears is sufficient to make a person a liar.” [End quote from ibn Kathir]
“𝐇𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭.”
Here Allah instructs us to refer and leave matters of public interest to the respected authorities who are able to understand them correctly and implement what is in the best interest of the people. They have the resources and research facilities to properly investigate matters. These authorities refers to those in positions of leadership and those of knowledge in their respected fields, as well as the scholars of Islam. They are not issues for all to comment on and voice their opinions over, which often only leads to chaos, confusion and wrong harmful information spread among the masses.
“𝐇𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧—𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰.”
Meaning, had Allah not guided you by His Book and the Sunnah of His messenger, and blessed you with knowledge of that which you knew not, you would all have followed Satan. That is because man is by his nature a transgressor and ignorant, his nafs does not instruct him except towards evil. However, if he turns to his Lord and puts his reliance in Him, He will be kind to him and grant him success towards all good, and He will protect him from the accursed Satan. [See Tafsir of as-Si’di]
Thus, a Muslim should not be one who hears and spreads any news that might cause him happiness or fear, or any news that relates to the public, except after the proper authorities have verified the information. The scholars of Islam will then enlighten the masses on the way forward and will pass the relevant fataawa if needed. Allah also says:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِن جَآءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌۢ بِنَبَإٍۢ فَتَبَيَّنُوٓا۟ أَن تُصِيبُوا۟ قَوْمًۢا بِجَهَـٰلَةٍۢ فَتُصْبِحُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَـٰدِمِينَ
O believers, if an evildoer brings you any news, verify ˹it˺ so you do not harm people unknowingly, becoming regretful for what you have done. [Al-Hujuraat: 6]
Amazing. VERIFY it! And how many people have not been hurt and harmed by following unverified information? We know of people who have contracted and spread Covid-19, and this after rejecting the existence of the virus and therefore not following any protocols. This then results in regret, as Allah the Most Wise states above.
Islam is an evidenced based religion, not an emotional one, and not one of fantasies. Let us follow the above Qur’anic and Prophetic methodologies of proper verification before we believe or spread any information, lest we end up in regret and harming others.
Allah The Most High Knows best.
Written by Imraan Mollagee.