In the name of Allāh, ar-Raḥmān (the most merciful), ar-Raḥīm (the bestower of mercy).
An unfortunate trait is prevalent in some zealous youth who lack both manners and knowledge. This trait is that of publicizing private correspondence intending to expose and refute. Often ‘refuting the opposer’ is used as a pretext to broadcast private Whatsapp messages, emails and texts. The same applies to a private sitting between a group of people, wherein issues are discussed and then selective quotes – or misquotes – from the sitting appear on the internet the following day.
This trait is even more scandalous when the publicized correspondence is either exaggerated or only snippets of the conversation are broadcast to grossly pervert what was said.
It is known that whatever is said privately is very different to what is meant for the public. Statements made privately are often ‘off the cuff’ and said without structure, whereas a written article is revised, structured and edited. The reason for this difference is due to the person not expecting details of a private sitting or a text message to be publicized whereas an article is intended for publication.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
Sittings [between people] are a trust. [1]
What is said and discussed in a small sitting of people is assumed to be private and thus restricted to the people present. The details of such sittings should not be broadcasted or made public on the internet. The same can be said about private text messages or emails.
Al-Ghazāli said,
Broadcasting a secret is betrayal and it is impermissible if it leads to harm, and is still blameworthy even without any harm. In both cases it is undesirable and it is a sin. [2]
In some “refutations,” messages may be publicized without the correct context given; whilst simultaneously and conveniently leaving out the full conversation or the statements of the other people in the correspondence. In this manner, the true context is intentionally changed and the individual tries to protect, conceal and dissociate himself and his own contribution.
The whole transcript of the conversation or messages is never shown, nor the messages of the individual spreading such material, rather only small snippets and screenshots of what the other person said. It may be the case that from a two-hour conversation, only a single sentence is broadcast without context and even then exaggerated. Worse than this, records of private messages are safeguarded for a later time when publicizing them will be advantageous to one’s cause.
If one looked into such ‘refutations,’ he would notice that most often these ‘refutations’ lack any real knowledge and the individual publicizing the material is only defending himself and not clarifying a doubt regarding Islam or the Sunnah.
Imām al-Bukhārī devoted a chapter in his Ṣaḥīḥ, entitled: “The Chapter of Guarding Secrets”.
In this chapter, he narrates the statement of Anas ibn Mālik,
The Prophet ﷺ told me some secrets and I did not inform anybody after him regarding them. Even Umm Sulaym (his mother) asked me and I did not inform her.
The Arabic word translated as ‘secrets’ in the above hadeeth is “sirr“. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymīn explained the meaning of the word “sirr” and said,
It is what occurs privately between you and your companion, it is not permitted to broadcast this secret or explain it to anybody.
This is the same whether he said to you: ‘do not tell anybody’ or this is known due to other factors such as an action of his which shows he does not want others to know of it, or another natural factor by which it is known that he does not want anybody to know his secret. [3]
One of these factors is that it is known amongst the people, that conversations between people either in sittings or text messages are not to be publicly broadcasted, and the messages are not for the public – rather it is specific for the people between whom the correspondence took place – unless otherwise explicitly stated.
The above cases are very similar to the blatant disrespect that is shown to the scholars when a phone call is made to them and they are asked certain questions. The Shaykh will answer the question assuming it is for the questioner. Then a few days later the phone call is broadcasted on the internet and it becomes known that the conversation was secretly recorded without any permission sought.
We advise those brothers who take part in such actions that they fear Allāh in this regard. Private and personal text messages and sittings should not be made public unless permission is sought from the person(s) involved. This type of scandalous behaviour only highlights the level of desperation of such people and their corrupt morals. The behaviour is worse still when private messages of other Salafi Du’aat and Mashaykh are publicised to disrcredit them.
If it was indeed Islaam that they were defending then it may be understood, however often it is their selves that they are protecting and defending.
It should be known that this type of defamatory and deceitful behaviour is not from the manners of the people of Imaan and knowledge, nor is it seen in our Ulama. Rather the betrayal of such trusts occurs from the people of hypocrisy. Today, this occurs from those youth who, despite their good intentions, their desperation and lack of manners persist in this way to the extent that their websites are filled with such “refutations” and “articles”.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it and when he is entrusted he is dishonest. [4]
Footnotes
[1] Narrated by Jābir; Compiled by Abu Dawūd.
The full wording of the ḥadīth is: “Sittings [between people] are a trust except for three sittings: in which blood is unlawfully spilt, impermissible lewd actions [are planned] or stealing wealth without any right.”
Shaykh AbdulMuḥsin al-‘Abbād stated: “al-Albāni weakened this ḥadīth in Sunnan Abī Dawūd, however in al-Jāmi’ as-Saghīr he mentioned it and graded it as “ḥasan”. This is without the extra wording. Its weakness is due to the nephew of Jābir (the narrator) who is unknown. He graded it as “ḥasan” due to the same narration being mentioned from another mursal chain upon the authority of ‘Alī .” [Taken from his explanation of the ḥadīth in Sunnan Abī Dawūd.]
[2] Iḥyā Ulūm ad-Dīn, al-Ghazāli
[3] Mentioned by Ibn ‘Uthaymīn in his explanation of Riyād as-Ṣāliḥīn, 2/617
[4] Narrated by Abu Hurayrah; Collected by Bukhārī & Muslim
