How do spying, backbiting, and disseminating news without confirmation influence the strong bond of the Muslim community?
Human Civilization has always been under revolution. No matter what the circumference is there has always been a change. The process of revolution has a great role in the development of civilization from the perspective of culture values, social values, material interests, etc. whereas a Muslim community has come to be after all the mandatory revolutions. This means that Islam and the Muslim community are stable and at a most complete set of laws for a human community, moreover for human civilizations to come until the day of judgment.
However, here we are talking about human values. Human values are a cluster of social believes, interests, cultural values, and religious beliefs, and most importantly human values are not unfollowed by people of a certain cast, religion, tradition, gender, nationality, etc. They help to deal with things on a universal level. Human Values reflect the sense of right and wrong in a person. They also refer to appropriate courses of action, and values that define what 'ought' to be in society. Trust and Affection are seen as foundational and complete values in a society. The concept of human values and man's inner reality.
The impact of Media on Social Values is very bold. Media due to its influence has boosted the process of social development. The product that is portrayed in media is heavily influencing the masses and their thinking perspective. It is generally believed that daily newspapers, television, radio, films, the Internet, or any form of message (communication) that is targeted at a large audience has an influence on human behavior.
Media is a powerful tool having the responsibility to guide people towards the right path. However, in present times media is spoiling the social bond of society to gain some financial benefits. The aim of media is to generate more and more revenue by misusing its tremendous power by breaching ethical standards in a target to set new standards that are to be in a comparison with the western standards (norms and values).
Islam has a complete set of guidance for life. However, it seems that to some extent our media industry is neglecting the teaching of Islam. In today's media, we can observe spying, backbiting, and dissemination of news. All these three mentioned activities are playing a distortive role in breaching the strong bond of the Muslim Community.
Allah say in Quran about Confirmation of news before argumentation about any individual or group of the Muslim Society:
يٰۤاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡۤا اِنۡ جَآءَكُمۡ فَاسِقٌ ۢ بِنَبَاٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوۡۤا اَنۡ تُصِيۡبُوۡا قَوۡمًا ۢ بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصۡبِحُوۡا عَلٰى مَا فَعَلۡتُمۡ نٰدِمِيۡنَ(الحجرات) 6
مومنو! اگر کوئی بدکردار تمہارے پاس کوئی خبر لے کر آئے تو خوب تحقیق کرلیا کرو (مبادا) کہ کسی قوم کو نادانی سے نقصان پہنچا دو۔ پھر تم کو اپنے کئے پر نادم ہونا پڑے۔
“Believers, when an ungodly person brings to you a piece of news, carefully ascertain its truth, lest you should hurt a people unwittingly and thereafter repent at what you did”.
This Revelation revealed in the Qur'an shows the importance of confirmation of news before sharing it with someone else. Unfortunately, today's media is under the influence of propaganda. This is the era of misinformation and disinformation.
Islam About spying and Backbiting:
Backbiting means mentioning something about a person (in his absence), that he hates (to have mentioned), whether it is about his body, his religious characteristics, his worldly affairs, his self, his physical appearance, his character, his wealth, his child, his father, his wife, his manner of walking, and his smile. It is the same whether you mention that about him with words, through writings, or whether you point or indicate to him by gesturing with your eyes, hand, or head.
Allah say in Quran:
يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اجۡتَنِبُوۡا كَثِيۡرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ اِنَّ بَعۡضَ الظَّنِّ اِثۡمٌ وَّلَا تَجَسَّسُوۡا وَلَا يَغۡتَبْ بَّعۡضُكُمۡ بَعۡضًا اَ يُحِبُّ اَحَدُكُمۡ اَنۡ يَّاۡكُلَ لَحۡمَ اَخِيۡهِ مَيۡتًا فَكَرِهۡتُمُوۡهُ ؕ وَاتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيۡمٌ
اے اہل ایمان! بہت گمان کرنے سے احتراز کرو کہ بعض گمان گناہ ہیں۔ اور ایک دوسرے کے بارے میں تجسس نہ کیا کرو اور نہ کوئی کسی کی غیبت کرے۔ کیا تم میں سے کوئی اس بات کو پسند کرے گا کہ اپنے مرے ہوئے بھائی کا گوشت کھائے؟ اس سے تو تم ضرور نفرت کرو گے۔ (تو غیبت نہ کرو) اور خدا کا ڈر رکھو بےشک خدا توبہ قبول کرنے والا مہربان ہے
“Believers, avoid being excessively suspicious, for some suspicion is a sin. Do not spy, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would surely detest it. Have fear of Allah. Surely Allah is much prone to accept repentance, is Most Compassionate.”
There are many verses in the Quran that reject this act of spying and backbiting such as, “Do not spy on each other behind their backs” [49:12], “Do not enter other houses except yours without first asking permission; and if asked to go away, turn back for this is proper for you” [24:27-28] and “When you judge among the people, do so equitably” [4:58].
It was also reported that our Prophet said, “do not go out and search for the fault of others” (Sunan Al Dawood, 2283).
Conclusion:
Media has a great responsibility over its shoulders thus by following the teaching of Islam our media can play a positive role in giving true information. Using Islamic principles media can strengthen the bond of the Muslim community.
References:
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/editorials-columns/why-islam-prohibits-backbiting-and-slandering
