Why suspicion is sinful in the eyes of God
By: Mutiu Bakare
Quranic view on suspicion
In the Quran, God states that even a small amount of suspicion is a sinful act:
O you who believe, avoid excessive suspicion. Indeed, some suspicion is a sin. 49:12
As a result, even though some suspicion may at times turn into an evident truth, yet the act of suspecting itself is condemned.
The aim of this article is to illustrate why suspicion is sinful and why every such act is condemned by God.
Truth versus Suspicion
The primary aim of those who suspect is their wish to establish the truth. However, in the Quran, truth is established through certainty. In contrast, suspicion is based on conjecture; conjecture is never a substitute for truth:
They have no knowledge about it; they only follow conjecture. Conjecture is of no avail whatsoever against the truth. 53:28
Suspicion violates God's system for attaining the Truth
The diagram above demonstrates God's system for attaining the Truth. Truth is attained in the order depicted. The first stage is Verification followed by Witnesses.
Verification
And do not follow what you have no knowledge of. The hearing, the sight and the heart, all these will be questioned for it. 17:36
Importance of having witnesses
And those who accuse married women then do not produce four witnesses, you shall lash them eighty lashes, and after that, never accept any testimony from them. Those are the wicked ones. 24:4
Only through these 2 acts are we able to arrive at the truth. If one of these acts is missing, absolute truth cannot be attained, but instead; conjecture and falsehood.
Conclusion
The act of suspicion destroys the first 2 acts of the process above for attaining the truth. Acting upon suspicion would only bring about injustice to others. Even in situations where suspicion is later found to be founded, God still brands those who engage in unverified suspicion as liars because their claims were mere conjecture and were not attained by means above.
Why did they not produce four witnesses for it? When they fail to produce the witnesses, then it is they, in the sight of God, who are the liars. 24:13
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