How we keep the rumour mills churning

By Shafaat Shahbandari : What do you do when you see a handy new tool? Learn how to make good use of it, or abuse it? What I am referring to here is our use or rather misuse of social media. It is heartening to see that, as a community, we have taken to this powerful tool big time. What with many of our grandmothers using WhatsApp now! But, I have no qualms in saying that, unfortunately, we have come to abuse social media more than use it. Our treatment of WhatsApp, in particular, is most unimaginative. As the saying goes, old habits die hard and it's not always easy to change inherent nature. As we do in our daily lives, likewise we behave on the social media. Lies, fabrications, accusations, vulgarity, we don't care what it is and from where it comes. We just love to spread it. Yeah, it's new in the market, let me be the first to forward it. Isn't that feeling familiar to you? In our race to become first and in our quest for most likes, we have actually forgotten all our values and ethics. As Muslims, we should know that spreading rumours and lies is forbidden in Islam and it's a grave sin. But when do we bother to implement Islamic values in aspects that matter the most - the social sphere. For us Islam is restricted to the confines of mosques and limited to a few rituals. Ok, if not for values and principles, people might as well use some common sense before pushing on that forward button. What we actually don't realise is that we are playing into the hands of rumour-mongers. Do we ever think about the origin of these messages, or who is behind some of these distortions? No, come what may, we just pass it on. It's as if we are on a mission. It's the latest fad, it's what everybody is doing, so why miss on it. Unwittingly, we have become an assembly line of a fabrication factory, producing the same lies over and over again in large scale. For some people it's fun, for some others it's compulsion, for many more it's just time pass. The posts vary from being absurd and ridiculous to downright outrageous. There is one particular message that goes around all groups almost every other day, in some form or the other and it's been going on for years now. But we don't get tired of it. Yeah, guessed it right, it's about WhatsApp becoming paid. Why in the world would someone do that again and again? It's as if we don't like the idea of WhatsApp being free. We have spread this message for so long that I am afraid, the owners of WhatsApp might as well start charging for it. Then there are these photoshoped images of men and women, whose bodies are shown to be disfigured, because they allegedly insulted Islam. Some of these are so vulgar that it fills me with rage to see sane and educated people falling for it and spreading it so readily. But, what I find most outrageous are the graphic images of accidents and calamities, showing maimed and mutilated bodies from close range. Do we ever think, what if God forbid, this happens to us or our loved ones? Would we like our own pictures circulating in the same way? And not to forget those conspiracy theories that spread like wildfires, suggesting that every other person in this world is out to kill or harm Muslims, which is not true. No doubt there are isolated instances of mischief, but spreading fear among the masses by citing such instances as the norm is the height of paranoia. And how could I miss those chain messages that threaten you with dire consequences if you don't pass them on. Oh, it makes me cringe! However, among the army of gossip-mongers, there also some lone fighters who are doing their best to make positive use of social media, and I salute them for their relentless Jihad (struggle). There is no denying, its human nature to love gossip, rumours and the grapevine. But, spreading blatant lies with impunity, passing on distortions without as much as batting an eyelid and disseminating falsehood in the name of God without realizing gravity of the act, shouldn't be acceptable. That we are quietly letting it pass speaks volumes about the moral state of our society. Two hoots for the authenticity and to hell with verification. Who cares!