KUALA LUMPUR: Muslims must be wary of religious teachings by 'celebrity ustaz', to ensure that they do not become disseminators of unverified information, a religious expert said today.
"Take the words of these 'celebrity ustaz' - who became overnight social media sensation - with a pinch of salt as they too could be purveyors of fake news," said Dr Farid Ravi Abdullah in a Bicara BH forum on cyber slander today.
He said some of the interpretations of the Islamic teachings, including hadith, by these 'clerics' were questionable and could lead to conflict and instability in society.
“(For example) There is one particularly troublesome and viral hadith that promises women who allow their husbands to re-marry a golden umbrella in paradise.
"It has become so viral that some women are taken in by it,” he said.
Farid said he did his own check and contacted religious experts as far as India and Pakistan but could not verify the truthfulness of the hadith.
“I called up some clerics in India and Pakistan who told me that there is no such thing, even in Hindi,” he said.
Farid said as a rough guide, any hadith which gives happiness and advantage to one side while at the same time cause a disadvantage to another party should be viewed with skepticism.
He said the best way for Muslims to verify such matter was to consult those who are more knowledgable on the subject matter, in this case, experts in the field of hadith.
"Interpreting hadith is no easy task. It takes years of study and research. The 'ulama' in ancient times took hundreds of years to interpret the messages of the Prophet."
The International Islamic University College Selangor's centre of graduate studies director said it was worrying that with the availability of social media, people do not think twice when it comes to sharing unverified news and teachings.
"People easily accept and trust whatever they get on the net without verifying them first." he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi recently urged religious authorities to not only monitor printed materials on Islam, but also other mediums to curb the spread of false hadith.
He reportedly said that a lot of invalid hadith were being spread through various channels, including social media and video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, which needs to be stopped.