5 Islamic Principles for Respecting Privacy in the Digital Age
In an age when human life has
developed at a rapid pace, and people’s curiosity about the secrets and news of
others has grown with it, so that breaching privacy has become an easy matter
in our time, we ask: is everything that can be known fit to be shared?
Allah says, {O
believers! Avoid many suspicions, ˹for˺ indeed, some suspicions are sinful. And
do not spy, nor backbite one another.} [Al-Hujurat 49:12] This is an explicit prohibition against seeking out
information about others, which is what is called spying or prying.
Respecting Others’ Privacy
Five limits have been set that should
not be crossed in dealing with others:
First: Never Intrude Just Because You
Can
Before inventing the internet, closed
doors and hushed voices protected people once they were inside their homes. The
Quran set a clear limit to protect those homes, ensuring that no one would peek
at people or expose their private affairs. Allah says,
{O believers! Do not enter any house other than your own until you have asked
for permission and greeted its occupants.} [An-Nur 24:27]
Expanding the circle of the sanctity
of homes, Allah says, {And if you are asked to
leave, then leave. That is purer for you.} [An-Nur 24:28] A sudden visit
at an inappropriate time may not suit the people of the house. Their
circumstances may not allow them to receive anyone at that moment. So the
visitor should not get angry if told, “Go back,” and should look for excuses on
their behalf.
Thus, the Prophet, peace and blessings
be upon him, said to a man who looked into his room through a gap in the door
while he had in his hand something he was scratching his head with: “Had known you were looking (through the hole), I would
have pierced your eye with it (i.e., the comb). Verily! The order of taking
permission to enter has been enjoined because of that sight, (that one should
not look unlawfully at the state of others).” (Narrated by
Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The gap in the door that one could look
through has now been replaced by suspicious programs and applications that can breach the privacy
of accounts protected by private passwords. So do not use every ability that
modern technology has given you to invade people’s privacy.
Second: Don’t Let Curiosity Drive You to
Spy
The Prophet, peace and blessings be
upon him, said: “Avoid suspicion, for suspicion
is the gravest lie in talk and do not be inquisitive about one another and do
not spy upon one another and do not feel envy with the other, and nurse no
malice, and nurse no aversion and hostility against one another. And be
fellow-brothers and servants of Allah.” (Narrated
by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The prohibition against prying into
people’s affairs is absolute, as the hadith states. Curiosity makes falsehood
look appealing, under the pretext that one only wants to know or to verify. So
one starts searching for those programs that open up what one should not be
spying on, until the matter later turns into passing judgments and then
spreading them as facts and reality.
Third: A Secret Is a Trust, Hold Your Tongue
A person who is burdened by a secret
may confide it to someone, either while glancing around or while urging them
not to disclose it. In this regard, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon
him, said: “When a man tells something and then
departs, it is a trust.” (Narrated
by Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi) So a secret is a trust, and whoever discloses it betrays
that trust.
This precision in how Islam protects
people’s secrets is in no way compatible with those who turn on the
speakerphone so that those present can hear the call without the other party’s
permission, or who record it without permission so they can return to it at
another time!
Here the saying of the Prophet, peace
and blessings be upon him, becomes clear: “Whoever
covers (the sin of) a Muslim in this world, Allah will cover him (his sin) in this world and in the
Hereafter.” (Narrated by Muslim) The concealment here is bound by
considerations of public interest. It is not required to cover for a criminal
or for someone who has denied people their rights. What is meant is not turning
personal mistakes that people have not made public into material for defamation
or revenge.
Fourth: Never Use What You Know to Drain
or Blackmail
Through unjustified digging, a person
may learn something that embarrasses someone else: an old mistake, a painful
experience that person went through, or some other weak point. Then they use it
against that person when some dispute arises between them. After the secret had
almost died, they remind the person of it, saying: “I know this about you,” or
“Don’t forget that I know,” and then keep doing this again and again.
Yet Islam has prohibited backbiting.
Allah says, {Nor backbite one another.} [Al-Hujurat
49:12] And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Do you know what is backbiting? They (the Companions)
said: Allah and His Messenger know best. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said:
Backbiting implies your talking about your brother in a manner which he does
not like. It was said to him: What is your opinion about this that if I
actually find (that failing) in my brother which I made a mention of? He said:
If (that failing) is actually found (in him) what you assert, you in fact
backbited him, and if that is not in him it is a slander. (Narrated by Muslim)
Backbiting is mentioning your brother
in a way he dislikes, even if he is afflicted with it, and if it is not true of
him, then it is slander.
Fifth: Don’t Spread a Story Just to Stir
Excitement
It is painful to see other people’s
lives turned into material for collecting likes and increasing follower counts,
especially when they are well-known figures. One shares a private photo of
them, or a piece of news that stirs people’s curiosity, or even a personal
mistake that someone fell into, saying: “I am not lying.”
But the Prophet, peace and blessings
be upon him, warns: “He who believes in Allah
and the Last Day should either utter good words or better keep silence.”
(Narrated by Al-Bukhari) Here the character of a Muslim shows in resisting the
temptation of sensational news, if it holds no benefit for Muslims.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Sharing Others’
Information
In our time, amid all these technologies
that have made it easy to look into others’ private affairs, we need to ask
ourselves important questions before wading into what may lead us into the
forbidden. We should ask: does this information concern me? Do the parties who
will see it need to know it? Will sharing it cause harm or embarrassment? And
can I bear the consequences of sharing it?
True character is revealed not only when we have the power to act, but in overlooking and concealing faults despite having the power to harm.
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