Digital sins: If it involves others’ rights, make amends with an apology

SHAH ALAM – Society today tends to take digital sins such as slander, exposing others’ private matters and spreading false news lightly because they are done behind a screen without direct face-to-face confrontation with the victim.

However, in reality, digital sins are still recorded by Allah SWT and their impact can sometimes be far greater than physical sins because a single post, comment or video can spread to millions of people in a very short time.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Dean of Faculty of Islamic Studies Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Izhar Ariff Mohd Kashim said many people assumed that pressing the ‘share’ button is a small action, without realising that it can become the cause of spreading slander, hatred and damage to someone’s reputation.

“Repentance from digital sins is not sufficient with regret and seeking forgiveness from Allah SWT alone. If the sin involves the rights of another human being, it should be returned or corrected,” he told Sinar.

If someone wished to repent from committing digital sins, Izhar advises them to delete the content that harms others.

He added that they should retract false statements and clarify the actual situation to the affected parties and if possible, offer a sincere apology.

“The offender should resolve not to repeat the act and increase good deeds as a sign of sincere repentance,” he said.

Izhar further said Maal Hijrah teaches that change towards goodness must be holistic, including in digital life.

“Digital hijrah means shifting from a culture of slander to a culture of tabayyun (verification), from insult to respect and from spreading hatred to spreading knowledge and benefit,” he said.