Do you reshare without verifying?
﷽
Living by the Qur’an
A slow, practical journey through the Qur’an
Issue 7 | Surah Al-Qalam | Ayat 8–16
Assalamu alaikom wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh dear friends,
We are continuing our slow and practical journey through the Qur’an, as we implement it in order of revelation.
An update on last week — I have made a checklist of the actions I need to increase and put it into a Gantt chart in my daily planner in order to keep track. I am still working on building a Notion database, but I do see myself reflecting throughout my day as I make decisions about what I am doing, what I intend on doing, or why I am doing something. I am noticing that I am reflecting more on the Qur’an — or a hadith might pop into my head as a form of guidance. I also see where I need to improve, and those are things I have written down to truly take action on.
Leave a comment or drop me an email below so everyone can benefit from how you are doing too.
This week we are continuing with Surah Al-Qalam.
The theme for this next set of ayat is: Warning the Prophet ﷺ About the Deniers.
68:8
فَلَا تُطِعِ ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ ٨
So do not give in to the deniers.
68:9
وَدُّوا۟ لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ ٩
They wish you would compromise so they would yield ˹to you˺.
68:10
وَلَا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍۢ مَّهِينٍ ١٠
And do not obey the despicable, vain oath-taker,
68:11
هَمَّازٍۢ مَّشَّآءٍۭ بِنَمِيمٍۢ ١١
slanderer, gossip-monger,
68:12
مَّنَّاعٍۢ لِّلْخَيْرِ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ ١٢
withholder of good, transgressor, evildoer,
68:13
عُتُلٍّۭ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ زَنِيمٍ ١٣
brute, and—on top of all that—an illegitimate child.
68:14
أَن كَانَ ذَا مَالٍۢ وَبَنِينَ ١٤
Now, ˹simply˺ because he has been blessed with ˹abundant˺ wealth and children,
68:15
إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ ءَايَـٰتُنَا قَالَ أَسَـٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ ١٥
whenever Our revelations are recited to him, he says, “Ancient fables!”
68:16
سَنَسِمُهُۥ عَلَى ٱلْخُرْطُومِ ١٦
We will soon mark his snout.[1]
[1] Like 53:33-35 and 74:11-26, these verses refer to Al-Walîd ibn Al-Mughîrah, a leader of the Meccan opposition against Islam. He rejected the Prophet (ﷺ) as a madman, so the Quran responded by listing ten of his qualities—two of which were unknown to him: the fact that he was born out of wedlock and that his nose would be chopped off several years later at the Battle of Badr. At least three of his ten sons accepted Islam—including Khâlid ibn Al-Walîd.
Now, while these ayat are about those who reject the truth of Islam — what I immediately thought of for us as Muslims is fake news.
We are living in a time when fake news is rife, and we as Muslims may inadvertently be sharing it. Think about WhatsApp groups. We have seen how much damage fake news can cause.
The action point that comes from this is to ask ourselves — have we been partaking in fake news? Have we believed it? Have we shared it? Have we really stopped to ask ourselves about the content we consume? Is it content that is there to take us further away from Allah ﷻ? Or is it content designed to cause chaos?
This can be a very contentious issue because a great deal of fake news is believed without question. And it is genuinely difficult to navigate what is truth and what is a lie in this age of information. There is even a hadith about this. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Years of treachery will come to people in which the liar will be regarded as honest, and the honest man will be regarded as a liar; the traitor will be regarded as faithful, and the faithful man will be regarded as a traitor; and the Ruwaibidah will decide matters.”
It was said: “Who are the Ruwaibidah?” He said: “Vile and base men who control the affairs of the people.”
I am not saying that we are already in those times. But what is happening now reminds me of this hadith.
And this does not only apply to global news — it trickles directly into our personal lives too. Are you sharing information about people that is not true? Because we know in Islam — saying something about someone that they don’t like behind their back is backbiting. But saying something that is not truthful is slander. And both carry weight on the Day of Judgment.
The reason these ayat remind me of this is because we are so quick to jump to conclusions without verifying — because of the rapid pace at which information moves today. That speed lowers the moral standards that Islam has set for us. And we as Muslims need to be extremely vigilant about what we share and what we say, because we will be held accountable by Allah ﷻ for every word.
We don’t often think about the consequences. For example, there was a time when news would go viral on WhatsApp, accusing people of certain things — and it damaged lives. When that person never even did what they were accused of. Ask yourself — if you were someone who shared it, would Allah ﷻ hold you to account on the Day of Judgment?
When you think about it that way — you are not just forwarding something. You are potentially committing a sin.
In Ayah 10, Allah ﷻ describes the character of the leader of falsehood — and the tafsir identifies him as Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, who possessed every characteristic described in ayat 10 to 13. Although these verses speak of someone from that time, the lesson for us is universal. We are to uphold the truth of Islam. That means living by Islam, abstaining from haram and partaking in halal — including how we behave online.
When it comes to what we share, we have to pause and ask — who is behind this? What is the motivation? Could this be a falsehood? If you let it stop with you — if you simply do not share it — you are potentially preventing harm and refusing to be part of whatever mischief was intended.
Because when we look at the bigger picture, fake news has created an immense distrust and a pervasive feeling of anxiety. And we as believers do not want to be part of that.
This Week’s Action
This week, before you share anything — stop. Ask yourself three questions:
Is this verified?
Would this cause harm if it is wrong?
Would Allah ﷻ be pleased with me sharing this?
If the answer to the third question is anything other than yes — do not share it. That is it. That is the action. Simple. But if we all did it, the damage that fake news causes in our communities would be significantly reduced.
May Allah ﷻ make us steadfast on the truth. Ameen.
Much love,
Nour Cauveren
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