As we all know today’s world is more virtual than real, so there ought to be some ethics and regulations of posting online exercised by users. Especially when they are concerning delicate issues like religion. Sharing religious material in the form of pictures, Ahadith, hikayaat , historical facts and even Quranic verses is abundant in the virtual world. The issue arises sadly when we don’t even think twice whether they are even true and from authentic sources.
So, before sharing such material we must ensure to authenticate the source of the material, it merely take seconds to Google and verify any fact, image or even a narration through the acclaimed online resources. There are so many forces, which are continuously trying to make Islam and its narrative controversial, and we are actually helping them by sharing all this material without even verifying.
It has also become the norm to share ‘controversial’ debate between famous personalities perhaps just to stimulate some excitement or slyly portraying their own perspective. It is mostly the inappropriately educated youth who are more prone to such things. Such debates are often based on zae’ef or mouzu’o Ahadith or simply baseless.
Emotional tactics are further used by such posters who label the sharing of such material as a way of gaining “Ajr”. Due to the ignorance of most of the readers manipulated or fabricated posts are made viral online. This is very dangerous to the cause of Islam, and in fact contributing towards harming the Deen. It causes fasaad and division amongst the Ummah, which is a major sin, furthermore sharing incorrect information will fall under lying and spreading rumour. I would like to quote these Ahadith to explain my point:
1) “Should I tell you what is a blatant lie? It is a rumor circulating
among the people.” [Sahîh Muslim (2606)] narrated by Ibn-Maśûd]
2) “A rumor-monger will not enter Paradise” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (6056) and
Sahîh Muslim (105)] narrated by Hudayfa RA]
To conclude I would like to state that although convenient, the websites and forums by multiple names are not the best way to authenticate religious text. We must try hard to gain access to the reputable and authentic books of Ahadith, which are easily available even in PDF format online! A little effort can save us from the troubles in the Ākhirah when we will stand before Allah, the Almighty.
God is enough to protect Islam.