Verify and Then Accept

Misunderstanding is a common phenomenon of social life. People tend to believe everything that is reported to them without scrutiny. And it is a common experience for reporters always to report things selectively or in a partial manner. It is selective reporting or partial reporting that creates problems. Sometimes people fall into grave misunderstanding, and the result is disastrous. Chapter Al-Hujurat (The Apartments) of the Quran deals with this problem. It gives a clear direction in this regard. The translation of the relevant Quranic verse is as follows:

Believers, if an evil-doer brings you news, fully ascertain the correctness of the report, lest you unwittingly harm others, and then regret what you have done.

There is a background to this Quranic verse. When the prophet of Islam established a state in Arabia, making Madinah its capital, he sent one of his companions, Walid ibn Uqba, as a collector, to a tribe called the Banu al-Mustaliq. When Walid reached the tribal area, he saw a crowd gathering outside the town. He feared, due to some preoccupation, that the tribe wanted to kill him or beat him. After seeing this, Walid returned to Madinah and told the Prophet that the Banu al-Mustaliq had rebelled and they must therefore send an army against them.