The representative of the supreme religious authority said during the second sermon of Friday prayers held in the holy shrine of Imam al-Hussein "pbuh", that lying, forgery, indecency, slander, fabricating the news and publishing it without prior knowledge are among the phenomena that threaten the moral system, social coexistence and the cohesion of social entity.
Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbala'i has said on Friday February 1, 2019, that the tongue or what performs its function represents the main means of understanding, communication, dialogue and discussion that no one can live without it as an individual or society. In addition, it represents the basic tool and the biggest means of man for the definition of scientific, cognitive methods and cultures as well as for the dissemination of them among human beings, along with the transfer of historical facts and events experienced by humanity in the past and the present time, and for the transmission of translations of great and righteous people, beside reporting the history of past events regarding the nations and peoples that have passed to be considered as an example.
Al-Karbala'i added that "The tongue is used sometimes for good and at other times for evil, as well as for the pen, which is perform the tongue's functions, and sometimes exceed its seriousness, especially in light of the availability of media and social networking".
"Understanding, solidarity, cooperation and dialogue among the people of society are the social necessities that we need to carry out the functions of life in order to reach the goals that we seek to achieve society stability, happiness and peaceful coexistence," he explained, stressing that "No society can reach these goals if there is no dialogue, understanding, or mutual trust among members of society."
He noted that the tongue or heart or what's take their places such as pen or blogging can be a pioneer of good and a messenger of reform that will lead to the state sought by the community in happiness, stability and perfection if the mentioned means were honest in their tone and speech, and if they were trusted with reporting the events, as well as uncovering the facts of history or present, and precise in the translation of biographies.
The representative of the supreme religious authority has also pointed out that in contrast, the tongue or what is in its place could be a pioneer of evil and a messenger of viciousness and corruption as well as a cause of doom to the individual and society when they lie about the revealing of feelings, wills and attitudes, and being used as a means of deception, lies, falsification and fabrication, either on the transfer of scientific facts, or on the translations of men and former people," quoting the holy Hadith "Those who have been thrown in hellfire for the consequences occurred because of their tongues," noting that many Quranic verses and holy Hadiths had indicated that the most common reason that getting people to end up in hell is the outcome of their tongue and pen.
Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai has criticized in the sermon, the behaviors and ethics that have spread in the recent period which represented by the fabrication and falsification as well as the deception and speaking without prior knowledge on a satellite channel seen by millions or through a website or social networking sites that reach millions with the click of a button, indicating that these social phenomena are very dangerous and threatens the individual and society alike, calling for the importance of being alert and cautious.
He said that "There are a number of reasons for these phenomena as the main one of them is envy," indicating that "Sometimes, a certain individual sees another one who has more knowledge and intelligence or more money or has a greater position or even has more popularity in society, so they would be filled with envy and drive them to the defamation and fabrication against others and attributed incorrect qualities to them in order to dropping them in society," adding that "This envy is limited at the level of the individual, but at the level of entities and institutions and so on".
"Every human being, even the believer one is not fully free of envy, but the danger lies when the envy goes beyond the heart and becomes an act or speech or a grudge towards a person or a party," he warned, citing the story of Abel and Qabil referred to by the holy Quran, stressing it wasn’t just a historical story occurred thousands of years ago, but it is an example and lesson taken from of the children of a prophet, one of which has envied the other because he had a greater deeds than him, so this envy drove him to kill his own brother, as for the brothers of prophet Yusuf "pbuh", whom are also the sons of a prophet and could not bear the distinction granted to their brother because of his father's love for him, so they decided to kill him, but God had destined him otherwise, not to mention that many prophets and Imams were killed or displaced because of envy.
Al-Karbala'i called for the need to pay attention to what is written by man or what to say about others, which the real motive behind it is envy, but Satan encapsulates and frames that act with another frame and titleو so it misleads the individual who has no faith and ability to distinguish between right and wrong and between good and evil.
He said that "Among those reasons are hatred and feud to others, so they pushe some individuals to fabricate and falsify news about innocent people, as well as the greed for money and position or for flattery of powerful figures, in addition to the partisan and intolerance toward a religion or doctrine or community, which leads the person to resort to defaming and slandering against others."
"The mistrust is also among the reasons leading to the phenomenon of slander and forgery. Many of us give the act or behavior of others, a bad explanation and carry it badly, and that made us say bad things about them because of mistrust." he pointed out, saying that "One of the reasons that plagued a lot of people are the rush and hastiness to judge things," noting that many of those who follow the media and social networking for published writings, articles and films are rushing to confirm the validity of those published materials and republishes them without verifying them, which makes them accomplice to the transfer of falsehood and against figures and entities, especially with regard to scholars and people of knowledge.
The representative of the supreme religious authority has revealed the position of Islam regarding accusing people wrongfully and slandering innocent ones, as well as the transfer of false and fabricated news, especially concerning those related to people of religion, virtue and goodness, pointing out that it is a major crime and a great sin when a person hears or sees something null and falsified that wasn’t measured with mind or solid proof, and take it for granted, citing the Quranic verse: "Thou shalt recite it with your tongue, and saying with your mouths what you did not aware of and thinking it is simple but it is great in Allah's calculations".
Al-Karbala'i has concluded with the call for the need to pay attention to the fact that "The defamation and attrition of any person, especially the believer ones and the men of knowledge, morals and righteousness, will lead to alienate them from people," warning that "Many who cover and frame themselves with a religious title and write false fabrications in the pages of social media about religious figures in order to deceive some people as a result of the names or religious titles carried by those who do such acts after being seduced by Satan," calling also for the need to pay attention to the people of religion, piety and goodness, which Allah wanted the public to benefit from their knowledge, jurisprudence and their moral characters, as well as to pay attention to the quantity of innocent women who have been accused with many of heinous charges and immoral things, which led to the killing or separation among families and tribes or depriving men or women of their right to live, in addition to the moral and psychological harm that will be experienced by the person who had been falsely attributed with such accusations.
