Sadullah Khan – 4th Post Witr Talk Ramadaan 1444 2023
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of protecting people's privacy and privacy through the use of social media and the development of expansive fitna. They emphasize the need to be cautious of negative information and forward any information that reaches the wrong person. The speaker also warns against repeating false accusations and the belief that one is a liar.
AI: Summary ©
I greet you with a universal greeting of
peace. And as we continue our theme,
may Allah
guide us in all that we have learned
and all we have heard and to imbibe
the values that we learn
from the daily experiences we witness that people
endure.
Maurice Hastings from the United States of America
was convicted of a 1983
murder, which he did not commit.
And this month,
March 2023,
he was declared innocent
by a judge in Los Angeles
after he had spent 38 years in prison.
He went to jail in 1985
at the age of 31,
and he came out of jail
this month at the age of 68.
A victim of false testimony,
and subsequently,
separated from his family,
robbed of his dignity,
and denied
38 years
of freedom of his life.
How could this happen? We ask.
Well, it did happen,
and these things
do happen.
You see,
when slander,
accusations,
vengefulness,
and condemnation
prevails in any society,
then many innocent people
are bound to suffer.
Therefore,
to prevent innocent people
being victims of the
evil insinuations
of people,
we find among the fundamental
aspects of Islam,
the teachings of the preservation of human dignity
and the respect for the rights
and integrity
of human beings.
The prophet
said
A is
that person
in whom humanity at large. In other words,
that person
through whom human beings as a whole
find safety and security
regarding their life,
their honor, and their property.
Today with the common usage of social media
as the primary public platform,
anyone can post anything.
And social media has become the channel
for broadcasting
all kinds of information,
whether good or bad,
true or false,
motivational or discouraging,
praising or humiliating,
complimentary or insulting,
unifying
or divisive.
And it's almost impossible
and it is exhaustive
to read everything that you receive,
analyze everything that is sent,
evaluate the reasonableness
of what is being said,
to consider
whether what you have received
should be believed or not,
and then to decide
whether what you have received
is worthy of being shared with others.
Of course there are people
who always send negative information in particular.
Whenever they hear something bad about someone,
they forward it to others.
There are people who always send
negative information about other people,
even sometimes ulema,
about other ulema,
or even friends or family
gossiping
about the rest of the family or about
other friends.
Be weary of that.
Imam al Shafi'i,
Rahimahullah
said,
whoever
speaks bad to you about other people,
be rest assured he speaks to other people
bad about you.
Woman
And when he's happy with you, he'll praise
you and say good things about you that
you don't even deserve.
But the same person, when he's angry or
displeased
with you, will say bad things about you
that are not true
and that you don't deserve. So be conscious
of what we hear,
what we receive,
and more importantly, let's be careful of what
we say,
where we say
it, how we say it, who we say
it to, and most importantly,
why are we saying it. There's no law
in any country that obligates you to forward
anything to anyone.
So in this era, in this period
of global instantaneous
communication,
which is very beneficial,
but also opens the door to fitna.
Expansive
fitna. I don't mean expensive. I mean expansive,
far reaching. With a click of a button,
you can reach anyone,
anywhere in the world.
And the whole world has access to that
information which you have forwarded.
And some of us,
without verifying the truthfulness of the content of
what we have received, we forward this to
other people.
And He
said Allah Allah detests.
Allah dislikes.
That you carry tales from one person to
the other. You know, he said, she said.
No verification.
I don't know. Someone said so. I'm just
telling you.
Allah detests
The hadith said,
Allah dislikes
telling of tales,
unnecessary
questioning,
unnecessary questioning,
and the abuse of wealth.
So let us ensure
that we are not of those people who
repeat everything they hear. Let us not be
of those who repeat everything we hear,
and forward everything negative that we receive
because such an action, which is quite common,
is highly irresponsible
and an extremely bad habit.
In this month, when we try to remove
bad habits, let that be one bad habit
that we put to rest. Prophet
warned, hadith documented
Sufficient is the sign that you are a
liar.
Sufficient is the sign
of your unreliability.
Literally,
sufficient is it that you are a liar
that you repeat everything that you hear. It
makes you an unreliable person.
When you repeat
everything you hear. May Allah
guide us and protect us, our tongues and
our minds and our actions
because by our words and our deeds,
innocent people may be harmed.