Obsession with Accuracy: Harnessing the Islamic Methodology of Discernment to Combat Fake News

The Muslim community should be most immune to fake news. But only if we were true to the methods of discernment our scholars have developed and employed rigorously for hundreds of years. In a recent conversation, a very knowledgeable and articulate scholar very succinctly summarised how Islamic scholars determine what is true. The conversation incidentally started when he posed the question – what is the first thing which someone embarking on a quest for knowledge should ask themselves? The usual answers (purpose, objective, etc.) were offered but interestingly, none in the group thought about what he finally put forward – how do we know what is true? It occurred to me then, that this strikes at the core of an ancient danger – fabrications, misinformation and disinformation – which have become much more potent now because of their sheer reach and the speed at which they can spread.

THE ISLAMIC METHODOLOGY TO DETERMINING THE TRUTH

The good ustaz explained the Islamic scholars’ methodology as follows: In putting across a ruling or an opinion about something, a scholar must also back this up with the dalil (justification) – mainly based on what is agreed to be the recognised sources of all branches of Islamic sciences – the Quran and the Hadith. But of course, the step before this is the determination of the validity of both sources. In the case of the Quran, whether every specific word, sentence and order, is what has been narrated by the Prophet and in the case of the Hadith, whether these were indeed heard or observed by people who were actually there when it happened. The scholars have developed a very clear, rigorous and even scientific method of determining whether these were indeed narrated by the Prophet and those close to him. This is in the context of the proliferation of volumes of fabricated Hadith. Effectively, a method of filtering out fake news.

In the simplest terms, Hadith are classified as sahih (strong), daif (weak) or mawdu’ (fabricated). But there are many other subcategories covering a broad spectrum of possibilities and probabilities. The strongest are Hadith which are mutawatir. There are effectively two conditions for Hadith to be classified as such: (i) The number of narrators must be many at all levels of the chain, and (ii) there is no possibility of the narrators coming together to conspire to lie or fabricate. It is indeed one of the most rigorous ways of determining the truth when someone has not actually seen it with his or her own eyes. For example, we do not deny that there is actually a country called China even if we have never been there ourselves to see and experience it. This is because there is just too much information about it and it is just not possible that the diverse sources have conspired to fabricate them (an example given by the ustaz).

Hadith which are not mutawatir can still be classified as sahih if there is an unbroken chain of narration by persons deemed to be both trustworthy and competent right up to the primary source who is close to the Prophet. Scholars have rigorously investigated and classified the veracity of each of the narrators claimed in the chain. A single known defect in the character or competence of a narrator puts his or her narration into question.

MAKING DISCERNMENT A HABIT

While the above rigour and scholarship cannot be practically applied to every single piece of information we receive today, the thought process can. The pervasiveness and effects of fake news are well documented. In some cases, false information has led to tragic events including the loss of lives. The parliamentary Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods has reported instances of deliberate attempts of using fabrications spread by social media to create divisions in society which could ultimately result in strife or worse. Historically, misinformation has been used in propaganda to create conditions where persecution of whole communities and even genocide are justified.

I would argue that the onslaught of information we experience today and the potential power it wields require that we treat every piece of news critically. The desire and ability to discern should be habitual. For the Muslim community, perhaps the discipline which has traditionally been demanded in matters of theology and religious practice could be harnessed towards this end. Revisiting and emphasising the rigorous methodologies of Islamic scholars in arriving at dalils and in determining the truth or strength of Hadiths can help us educate and remind ourselves of the immense value our faith places on truth and rejecting falsehoods. I would suggest that the examination of these methodologies – the fundamental question of “how do we determine what is true” – be the prerequisite introductory

module or chapter in our religious classes and curriculums.

Besides strengthening the confidence we have in opinions backed by dalils which have been painstakingly built and documented by scholars throughout our history, emphasising and re-emphasising this question of “how” will give us the courage to accept new or changing opinions when faced with unprecedented situations or contexts. In demanding reasoning and evidence, we will more easily, quickly and definitively reject spurious and misleading opinions and over time, discourage the proliferation of such opinions. Importantly, this habit of discernment would then hopefully be carried over into our daily affairs to make the community more critical and less vulnerable to the onslaught of fake news, fabricated and misleading information.

This is of course not a new thing for our Islamic classes or curriculums. But the question – how do you determine what is true – has become much more important now. More than ever, we all need to be ‘infected’ with our scholars’ obsession with the truth.