A few weeks ago, Oxford Dictionaries released their choice for the Word of the Year 2016 \u2013 an annual exercise aimed at reflecting evolving words from the passing year in language.
\nIts choice, whilst still gaining traction in popular usage, should hardly come as a surprise considering recent global trends and developments.
\nOxford selected \u2018post truth\u2019 as its word, an adjective defined as \u2018relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief\u2019.
\nExplaining its choice, the prestigious dictionary acknowledged that the concept of post-truth has been in existence for at least the past decade, but highlighted a spike in usage-frequency this year in the context of the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States.
\n\u201cPost-truth has gone from being a peripheral term to being a mainstay in political commentary, now often being used by major publications without the need for clarification or definition in their headlines\u201d.
\nFrom its offshoots, the word has also gained prominence in its association with a particular noun, in the phrase post-truth politics.
\nPost-truth politics, says Wikipedia, is a political culture in which debate is framed largely by appeals to emotion disconnected from the details of policy, and by the repeated assertion of talking points to which factual rebuttals are ignored. Under this construct, truth is deemed to be of \u201csecondary\u201d importance.
\nA defining trait of this brand of politics is that campaigners continue to repeat their talking points, even if these are found to be untrue by the media or independent experts.
\nWhilst there are many who stand to be implicated as post-truth practitioners \u2013 some more tactful in obfuscating their deceit than others \u2013 US President-elect Donald Trump has of late emerged as particularly striking specimen of the trend.
\nMr Trump appears not to care whether his words bear any relation to reality, so long as they fire up voters, says The Economist. PolitiFact, a fact-checking website, has rated more of his statements \u201cpants-on-fire\u201d lies than of any other candidate
\nThere was a time, observes the publication, when evidence, consistency and scholarship held political power. Today, however, a growing number of politicians and pundits \u201csimply no longer care\u201d.
\n\u201cThey are content with what Stephen Colbert, an American comedian, calls \u201ctruthiness\u201d: ideas which \u201cfeel right\u201d or \u201cshould be true\u201d. They deal in insinuation (\u201cA lot of people are saying\u2026\u201d is one of Mr Trump\u2019s favourite phrases) and question the provenance, rather than accuracy, of anything that goes against them (\u201cThey would say that, wouldn\u2019t they?\u201d). And when the distance between what feels true and what the facts say grows too great, it can always be bridged with a handy conspiracy theory.\u201d
\nA Trump supporter recently spelt this disdain for the truth out most plainly, when questioned on CNN about anomalies in the Republican presidential candidate\u2019s infamous tweets.
\nScottie Nell Hughes responded that the existence of truth itself was dubious, and that the veracity of Trump\u2019s tweets depended upon whether the person assessing them liked Trump.
\n\u201cOn one hand, I hear half the media saying that these are lies. But on the other half, there are many people that go \u2018No it\u2019s true,\u2019\u201d Hughes said. \u201cAnd so one thing that has been interesting this entire campaign season to watch, is that people who say \u2018facts are facts,\u2019\u2014 they\u2019re not really facts.\u201d
\n\u201cEverybody has a way\u2014It\u2019s kind of like looking at ratings, or looking at a glass of half-full water. Everybody has a way of interpreting them to be the truth or not true. There\u2019s no such thing, unfortunately, anymore, as facts,\u201d she added.
\nRegrettably, for the world, Trump is far from being a lone post-truth practitioner.
\nIn June, Britons voted to leave the European Union on the basis of a campaign of blatant misinformation, including the \u201cfact\u201d that EU membership costs their country $470m a week, which could be spent instead on the National Health Service, and that Turkey is likely to join the EU by 2020.
\nIn Russia, a prominent journalist reported on a political consultant for President Putin saying that in Soviet times, \u201cif they were lying they took care to prove what they were doing was \u2018the truth\u2019. Now no one even tries proving \u2018the truth\u2019. You can just say anything. Create realities.\u201d
\nAs the consultant\u2019s sentiments convey, lying in political discourse is not something unique to the current era. However what is clear from recent occurrences is that the scale of the rot and its prominence do appear unparalleled, enhanced notably by the internet.
\nSocial media and its internal networks \u2013 aided by algorithms, say experts, can become echo chambers where one political viewpoint dominates and scrutiny of claims fails, allowing a parallel media ecosystem of websites, publishers and news channels to develop which can repeat post-truth claims without rebuttal. Of late, the web has also seen a proliferation of fake news sites showcasing articles of dubious factual content with misleading headlines, designed to be widely shared purportedly \u201cchasing down cheap clicks at the expense of accuracy and veracity,\u201d in the process undermining the value of journalism and truth.
\nDavid Mikkelson, co-founder of the fact checking and debunking site Snopes.com, describes the introduction of social media and fake news sites as a turning point, saying \u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019d call it a post-truth age but \u2026 there\u2019s been an opening of the sluice-gate and everything is pouring through. The bilge keeps coming faster than you can pump.\u201d
\nWhen considered cumulatively, there is a strong case to be made that new technology, a deluge of facts and a public much less given to trust than once it was, has goaded into the social order a new depth and pervasiveness of falsehood. Should this continue, the power of truth as a tool for solving society\u2019s problems could be lastingly reduced.
\nThe final Messenger of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him), had forewarned his community of the corruption of the Dajjaal \u2013 the false messiah who towards the end of time, would lead people astray, and tempt them by means of the signs that he is given.
\nAmong his titles is \u2018the great liar\u2019; his name originating from the root dajala meaning \u2018to mix\u2019.
\nThe word dajala is used to denote deliberately confusing matters and being vague and ambiguous, The Dajjaal is the one who speaks in vagaries, who tells many lies and deceives many people.
\nThe word \u201cDajjaal\u201d hence became a title given to the lying, one-eyed, false messiah. The Dajjaal is so called because he will conceal his kufr from the people by lying to them, deceiving them and confusing them.
\nIn the build-up to his arrival, the world will encounter several smaller \u2018Dajjals\u2019 and will witness a widespread proliferation of lies and deceit as is elucidated in numerous Prophetic Ahadeeth, some of which have been reproduced below:
\n*Sayyidina Abu Hurairah (Allah be pleased with him) related that the Messenger of Allah (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him), said, \u201cThere will be Dajjaal Liars in my nation; they will come to you with novel speech, which neither you nor your fathers had previously heard. Beware, and let your fathers beware \u2013 do not allow them to deceive you.\u201d (Ahmad)
\n*Sayyidina Anas ibn Maalik (Allah be pleased with him) related that the Messenger of Allah (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him) said, \u201cIndeed, before Ad-Dajjaal there are deceptive years \u2013 the truthful one will not be believed, the liar will be believed, the trustworthy one will be accused of betrayal, the treacherous one will be trusted, and the Ruwaibidah will speak.\u201d It was said, \u201cAnd what is the Ruwaibidah?\u201d He (Allah be pleased with him), said, \u201cThe base wicked-doer, he will speak in the affairs of the general public (he will be trusted to rule and he will speak by the name of the people).\u201d (Ahmad)
\n*Narrated Hudhaifa (Allah be pleased with him), Allah\u2019s Apostle (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him) narrated to us two narrations, one of which I have seen (happening) and I am waiting for the other. He narrated that honesty was preserved in the roots of the hearts of men (in the beginning) and then they learnt it (honesty) from the Qur\u2019an, and then they learnt it from the (Prophet\u2019s) Sunna (tradition). He also told us about its disappearance, saying, \u201cA man will go to sleep whereupon honesty will be taken away from his heart, and only its trace will remain, resembling the traces of fire. He then will sleep whereupon the remainder of the honesty will also be taken away (from his heart) and its trace will resemble a blister which is raised over the surface of skin, when an ember touches one\u2019s foot; and in fact, this blister does not contain anything. So there will come a day when people will deal in business with each other but there will hardly be any trustworthy persons among them. Then it will be said that in such-and-such a tribe there is such-and-such person who is honest, and a man will be admired for his intelligence, good manners and strength, though indeed he will not have belief equal to a mustard seed in his heart.\u201d The narrator added: There came upon me a time when I did not mind dealing with anyone of you, for if he was a Muslim, his religion would prevent him from cheating; and if he was a Christian, his Muslim ruler would prevent him from cheating; but today I cannot deal except with so-and-so and so-and-so. (Saheeh Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim)
\n*Sayyidina Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him) said, \u201cWhen the trust is lost, then wait for the Hour.\u201d It was said, \u201cO Messenger of Allah, how will it be lost?\u201d The Prophet said, \u201cWhen authority is given to those who do not deserve it, then wait for the Hour.\u201d (Bukhari)
\n*Sayyidina Jaabir ibn Samurah (Allah be pleased with him) relates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him) said: \u201cThere will be liars just before the Hour, so beware of them.\u201d (Saheeh Muslim)
\nThere are unmistakable imprints of these narrations to detected in the occurrences of our \u2018post-truth\u2019 world today.
\nIn fact, the very term \u2018post truth\u2019 is evidence of our tendency to sugar-coat and euphemise lies in order to make them more appeasing to our whims.
\n\u201cAt one time we had truth and lies, \u201cobserves author and speaker, Ralph Keyes.
\n\u201cNow we have truth, lies, and statements that may not be true but we consider too benign to call false. Euphemisms abound. We\u2019re \u201ceconomical with the truth,\u201d we \u201csweeten it,\u201d or tell \u201cthe truth improved.\u201d The term deceive gives way to spin. At worst we admit to \u201cmisspeaking,\u201d or \u201cexercising poor judgment.\u201d Nor do we want to accuse others of lying. We say they\u2019re in denial. A liar is \u201cethically challenged,\u201d someone for whom \u201cthe truth is temporarily unavailable.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is post-truth. In the post-truth era, borders blur between truth and lies, honesty and dishonesty, fiction and nonfiction. Deceiving others becomes a challenge, a game, and ultimately a habit.\u201d
\nKeyes continues:
\n\u201cPost-truthfulness builds a fragile social edifice based on wariness. It erodes the foundation of trust that underlies any healthy civilization. When enough of us peddle fantasy as fact, society loses its grounding in reality. Society would crumble altogether if we assumed others were as likely to dissemble as tell the truth. We are perilously close to that point.\u201d
\nThe rapid disintegration of a set of moral values governing interactions in the world does breed the sense of bleakness conveyed in the assessments above. This degeneracy is not exclusive to politics, but is equally evident in academia, law, medicine, commerce and even family life. Yet, in spite of its newfound prominence, for the believer, there is but one choice \u2013 to buck the tide.
\nTruth saves and falsehood destroys.
\nAs the Messenger of Allah (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said:
\n\u201cSeek truthfulness even if it will bring you ruin, in it is your real salvation\u201d.
\nAllah\u2019s beloved (Allah\u2019s peace and blessings be upon him) advised further: \u2018You must be truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man will keep speaking the truth and striving to speak the truth until he will be recorded with Allah as a siddeeq (speaker of the truth). Beware of telling lies, for lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to Hellfire. A man will keep telling lies and encouraging lies until he is recorded with Allah as a liar.\u201d (Saheeh Muslim, 4721)
\nO Allah! Purify our hearts from hypocrisy, our actions from showing off, our tongues from lying and our eyes from treachery. Indeed You know the treachery of the eyes and what is hidden in the chests.<\/p>\n
Source: Jamiatul Ulama<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few weeks ago, Oxford Dictionaries released their choice for the Word of the Year 2016 \u2013 an annual exercise aimed at reflecting evolving words from the passing year in language.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c71-introduction-to-islam-muslims"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n