وعن ابي هريرة رضى الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: إياكم والظن فإن الظن اكذب الحديث .
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the most false of speech.”
Takhrij:
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And others; see Tuhfat al-Ashraf
In Sahih al-Bukhari, the complete hadith is as follows:
ولا تحسسوا ولا تجسسوا ولا تناجشوا ولا تحاسدوا ولا تباغضوا ولا تدابروا وكونوا عباد الله إخوانا
“Do not spy on one another, do not conduct espionage, do not inflate prices (in buying and selling) by deception, do not envy one another, do not harbour malice towards one another, do not turn away from one another (cut off relations), and become servants of Allah as brothers.”
Benefits:
➊ Al-Qurtubi said that by ẓann (suspicion) in this place is meant an accusation that has no cause, such as forming in one’s heart the notion that a person is an adulterer or a drunkard, although nothing has occurred from him that would lead one to think so. Therefore, right after it, he ﷺ said ولا تجسسوا “do not spy.” Because when the notion that someone is bad takes root in the heart, even though there is no evidence for it, a person spies to prove that thing, searches and eavesdrops. Therefore Allah the Exalted forbade it. This hadith closely resembles that verse:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا
“O you who have believed, avoid much suspicion, for indeed some suspicion is sin, and do not spy, and do not let some of you backbite others.”
The verse strongly emphasises preserving the honour of a Muslim. First, it forbade suspicion about any Muslim brother without any reason or cause. If the one who suspects says, “I am investigating this suspicion,” he is told وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا “do not spy.” If he says, “Without spying, this matter has been proven to me,” he is told وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا “do not backbite one another” (mentioning a brother in his absence what he would dislike, even if it is true of him).
➋ Suspicion has two states. One is ghalib ẓann (strongest presumption), which is strengthened by evidence or a strong sign; acting upon it is permissible, and most rulings of the Shariah are based on it, and nearly all the affairs of the world run on it. For example: court judgments, testimony of witnesses, mutual trade, information received by telephone and letters, and the narrations of the narrators of solitary reports (khabar wahid). Knowledge acquired through reflection, scrutiny and full effort in these matters is also ghalib ẓann, and acting upon it is obligatory. It is called ẓann because there remains a slight possibility of the opposite: for instance, the witness’s testimony may be inaccurate, the informant may be lying, or the narrator may have erred. But this possibility is not taken into account, because if one were to act on such a possibility, no work in the world could be done. Therefore, knowledge obtained through evidence after full effort is obligatory to act upon, even though it is only ghalib ẓann.
The second kind of suspicion is what comes into the heart without any evidence. Since there is no evidence, its existence or non-existence in the heart is equal; this is also called shakk (doubt). Or the possibility of its being true is even less than its not being true. This is called waham (imagination). These forms are blameworthy, and avoiding them is obligatory. إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ “Indeed some suspicion is sin” means this very thing, and إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا
“Indeed, suspicion avails nothing against the truth,” and وَمَا تَهْوَى الْأَنفُسُ
“They follow only suspicion and what their souls desire” refer to this same kind of suspicion.
➌ As mentioned above, the hadith commands avoiding suspicion that is without evidence. For example, a person who appears righteous outwardly, whose faults Allah has covered, who in general observation is chaste and trustworthy, and for whom there is no proof or sign of dishonesty or sinfulness; to harbour suspicion about him is haram. However, if there is a genuine proof or sign for the suspicion, then suspicion is not forbidden at that time. Therefore Allah did not forbid every suspicion, but rather said: اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ “Avoid much suspicion, for indeed some suspicion is sin.”
Imam al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his Sahih: ما يجوز من الظن “The suspicion that is permissible,” and he mentioned in it the hadith from ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ما اظن فلانا وفلانا يعرفان من ديننا شيئا “I do not think that so-and-so and so-and-so know anything of our religion.” Layth said: these two were hypocrites. End quote. The suspicion that is permissible means that whose signs and evidences are clear.
➍ If the thought that a person is bad comes into the heart, but the person does not let it settle in his heart, nor pursue it, nor backbite him, then there is no sin in it, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ان الله تجاوز لامتي عما حدثت به انفسها ما لم تعمل او تكلم به
“Allah has forgiven my ummah for what they think to themselves, as long as they do not act upon it or speak it.”
➎ Suspicion is the most false of statements, because when a person harbours suspicion about someone, he decides that this person is such-and-such. Since in reality that person is not like this, his decision is called a lie. And it is called the worst because he has declared him bad without any indication or cause, merely on the basis of his own self and Satan’s prompting, while there is no foundation at all for his being bad.
