Islam & the Modern World · Screens, AI & the Self

The tongue, the post and the pile-on

In short

1.Q 49:11-12 forbids ridicule, insulting nicknames, suspicion, spying and backbiting in two verses.
2.Backbiting is defined as saying something true that your brother would dislike.
3.Passing on unverified news is itself named as a sufficient sin.

The claim being examined

Online cruelty is treated as a feature of the medium that nobody is really responsible for.

The Islamic position

Islamic law treats speech as an act with consequences, and most of what social media runs on — backbiting, mockery, suspicion, rumour — is explicitly prohibited.

Analysis

This is one of the strongest cards in the module because the fit is exact. Q 49:11-12 prohibits, in sequence, ridiculing others, insulting nicknames, excessive suspicion, spying and backbiting — a near-complete description of a bad afternoon on a social platform. The definition of ghibah is precise and unusually demanding: the Prophet, peace be upon him, defined it as mentioning your brother with something he dislikes, and when asked what if it is true, answered that if it is true you have backbitten him and if it is false you have slandered him (Sahih Muslim 2589). On rumour, Sahih Muslim 5 records that it is enough of a lie for a man to narrate everything he hears, which is a direct ruling on sharing. Q 24:15 rebukes those who spread a slander by tongue while thinking it trivial. Also relevant is Q 49:6, requiring verification of news brought by an unreliable source. The practical claim is that Islamic ethics of speech, formulated fourteen centuries ago for oral communities, transfer to networked publishing with no adjustment at all — and that Muslims online violate them constantly, which should be conceded first.

From the Qur'an

لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ

Let not one people ridicule another; perhaps they are better than them.

إِن جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا

If a corrupt person brings you news, verify it.

From the Bible

Greek

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire.

Read it in their Bible

From the Sunnah

Backbiting is your mentioning of your brother in a manner he dislikes. It was said: what if what I say about him is true? He said: if what you say is true you have backbitten him, and if it is false you have slandered him.

It is enough of a lie for a man to narrate everything he hears.

Sources

Sahih Muslim 2589 · Sahih Muslim 5 · al-Nawawi, Riyad al-Salihin, chapters on the tongue · Sahih Muslim 2589

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