بسم الله والحمد لله
والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد
So we see that just for the sake of sharing and keeping their pages & blogs buzzing & twittering, some people are posting anything and everything which THEY judge it to be authentic or correct. The real problem begins with the fact that a lot of them do not even post the reference.
A brother posts on his wall:
Quote: “…”
Scholar: XYZ
OK, we get it, that such-and-such scholar said such-and-such, but the name of the scholar is not a reference akhi/ukhti. The reference has to be a book (or if he is a contemporary scholar, than an audio or a video if there is one).
How in the world did you ever come to know what `Alee ibn Abee Taalib or Ibn `Abbaas رضي الله عنهما said or what Ibn Taymiyyah or Ibn al-Qayyim or Sufyaan al-Thawree said, whereas they died centuries ago?! You did not meet them nor did you hear from them. Akhi/ukhti, between you and them are the books.
And when you ask them for the reference, they will not be able to provide you one because regrettably they blindly did the “ctrl+c” & “ctrl+v” (copy paste) from someone else.
So you see, we need the reference to identify the authenticity, as well as to know that the Imaams are not being quoted out of context and that we are not attributing a lie on them by quoting that which they never said.
And Allaah’s help is sought from such foolishness.
Keep it simple:
ReplyDeleteIf there is no reference, then do not share it, as well as avoid clicking on the "like" button.
Over the years, it has been noticed that many brothers post statements (in the form of text or picture) and attribute it to a scholar on their wall/page without mentioning the reference. And upon verifying, it turns out that that statement is wrongly attributed to that scholar. Even if the statement is correct in its meaning, it is improper to attribute it to a person who has never said it.
I have seen statements being attributed to the Companions like `Alee, Ibn `Abbaas and others رضي الله عنهم or to scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, Hasan al-Basree, Ibn Baaz, al-Albaanee رحمهم الله without a proper reference so that one could verify them.
I personally believe that a person who does not quote the reference is being insincere. And I avoid sharing or clicking on the "like" button if I did not or could not verify the post.
There are four issues that one comes our way:
1. Statement is quoted without the reference.
2. Statement is correct but the referencing is wrong.
3. Reference is correct but the statement is wrong.
4. Statement is wrong and the reference is wrong.
There are four issues that one comes across:
Delete1. Statement is quoted but the reference is missing.
2. Statement is correct but the referencing is wrong.
3. Reference is mentioned but the statement is wrong.
4. Statement is wrong and the reference is wrong.