{"id":63843,"date":"2026-10-08T15:13:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T13:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/?p=63843"},"modified":"2026-10-08T15:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T13:31:46","slug":"the-rights-of-others-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/the-rights-of-others-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rights of Others on Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Brothers and Sisters!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Islam calls us to uphold good character in our speech, our hearts and all our actions. A believer lives with the awareness of being in Allah’s presence. This awareness extends beyond the mosque, the home and the workplace to our phone screens and social media. Today, our words come not only from our tongues, but also from our keyboards. A sentence we write, a comment we make or an image we share can reach thousands of people within seconds. We must therefore never see the digital world as a place where we can hide behind false names and identities and act however we want. Rather, it is a great test in which we must be especially careful to respect the rights of others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dear Brothers and Sisters!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Allah (swt) says: “O you who believe! If a wrongdoer brings you news, verify it, lest you harm people unknowingly and then regret what you have done<\/strong>.”[1]<\/a> In another verse, He says: “O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, for some suspicion is sinful. Do not spy on one another or backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of your dead brother?<\/strong>“[2]<\/a> The Qur’an’s commands are also the basic moral principles of the digital age. Every post shared without checking its truth can harm someone’s dignity. Exposing another person’s private life, mocking or insulting them, or spreading their faults is far more than a simple social media post: it is a grave violation of their rights.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dear Brothers and Sisters!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, social media can be more dangerous than beneficial. Many people are publicly condemned by a comment written in seconds, discredited by unverified statements and subjected to online attacks. Yet Islam does not permit anyone’s honour and dignity to be harmed. Liking a post, sending a message or sharing content can sometimes make us complicit in spreading slander. We may forget, but the words we speak while hiding behind our keyboards are also recorded before Allah.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “It is enough of a sin for a person to repeat everything they hear!<\/em>“[3]<\/a> In another noble hadith, he said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or remain silent<\/em>.”[4]<\/a>Just as a believer’s tongue is a trust, so too are their pen and keyboard. Every word we write will either become an ongoing charity in our favour or a continuing burden of sin against us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dear Jama\u2019ah!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before sharing anything, let us ask ourselves: Is this information true? Could these words hurt someone’s feelings? Is this a comment that would please Allah? If our answer is ‘no’, let us remain silent. If we would hesitate to say something face to face, we should also hesitate to write it on a screen. Let us teach our children to use technology with good character and proper manners. At the very least, let us make our own social media a channel for goodness, spreading truth, wisdom, knowledge and kind words instead of backbiting, anger and hatred. A deleted post may be forgotten, but our accountability for violating another person’s rights remains unless that person forgives us.<\/p>\n

May Allah (swt) make us among His servants who use their tongues, pens and keyboards for what is right and true, protect people’s honour and take great care never to violate the rights of others. Ameen.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Surah al-Hujurat, 49:6<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Surah al-Hujurat, 49:12<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Abu Dawud, Adab, 80<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Bukhari, Adab, 31; Muslim, Iman, 74<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Dear Brothers and Sisters!<\/p>\n

Islam calls us to uphold good character in our speech, our hearts and all our actions. A believer lives with the awareness of being in Allah’s presence. This awareness extends beyond the mosque, the home and the workplace to our phone screens and social media. Today, our words come not only from our tongues, but also from our keyboards. A sentence we write, a comment we make or an image we share can reach thousands of people within seconds. We must therefore never see the digital world as a place where we can hide behind false names and identities and act however we want. Rather, it is a great test in which we must be especially careful to respect the rights of others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[23243,23237],"tags":[24987,24986],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63843"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63890,"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63843\/revisions\/63890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.igmg.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}