Verify Every Speech To Avoid Defamation

عَنْ أَبي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّبيَّ ﷺ يَقُولُ: إنَّ الْعَبْد لَيَتَكَلَّمُ بِالكَلِمةِ مَا يَتَبيَّنُ فيهَا يَزِلُّ بهَا إِلَى النَّارِ أبْعَدَ مِمَّا بيْنَ المشْرِقِ والمغْرِبِ 

From Abu Hurairah, the Prophet SAW said: "A servant when he speaks about a word that he himself did not verify (about the truth), then he will slip into hell whose distance is as far as east and west."

(HR Bukhari No: 6477)

Status: Sahih Hadith 

Learnings:

1. For everything that we say or what we write and spread, we need to make sure it is true and not a fitnah or slanderous. 

2. Anyone who speaks or writes something that is not verified for its truth can cause him to slip into hell. 

3. Al-Qastalani said: It is a word or speech without thinking about the bad results of the conversation.  (See Irsyad al-Sari, 9/274) 

4. The end of time witnessed so much slander and widespread fraud. 

There are parties who accuse without solid evidence and there are parties who so superficially believe news that has no basis.  The Prophet SAW gave a warning to anyone who likes to talk about things that are not known to be true. 

The words of Allah SWT: 

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ جَآءُو بِٱلْإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنكُمْ 

"Indeed, the people who bring such false news are a group of you."  

Surah Al-Nur (11) 

Ibn Kathir said: The words of Allah SWT, "Indeed those who bring the most false news," that is with lies, slander and vile swearing. (See Tafsir al-Quran al-‘Azim, 6/25) 

May Allah SWT protect us from being so easily uttering about something without investigating whether it is a fitnah or a slander.