What does classical Islam say about speech in the age of social media?
The Prophet's ﷺ warnings on speech — backbiting, tale-bearing, idle talk — land with fresh weight in the age of social media. The classical rulings update themselves.
3 passages from 2 books in the library
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 2 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
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"This is the sin of envy itself, not to mention how envy leads to discord, denial of truth, and letting loose the tongue and hand in vile acts in satisfaction from enemies."
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"You might wish that his tongue would be silenced, so he would not speak, or that he would fall ill, so that he would neither teach nor learn."
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
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"During my stay in Mali, the Sultan became angry with his chief wife, his cousin's daughter named Kasa, meaning queen in their tongue."
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