Al-Hujurat Verse 6

O believers, if an evildoer brings you any news, verify ˹it˺ so you do not harm people unknowingly, becoming regretful for what you have done.[[ Al-Walîd ibn ’Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’aiṭ was sent by the Prophet (ﷺ) to collect alms-tax from Bani Al-Muṣṭaliq. They went out to receive Al-Walîd but he assumed they wanted to harm him. Therefore, he quickly returned to the Prophet (ﷺ) with the bad news so he would punish them. Shortly after, a delegation from Bani Al-Muṣṭaliq came to clarify the misunderstanding. ]]

O you who believe, if an evildoer brings you some news, verify it, lest you harm a people unknowingly, then you become regretful for what you did.

O believers, if an ungodly man comes to you with a tiding, make clear, lest you afflict a people unwittingly, and then repent of what you have done.

Believers, if a troublemaker brings you news, check it first, in case you wrong others unwittingly and later regret what you have done,

ye who believe! if an evil-doer Came Unto you with a report, then inquire strictly, lest ye hurt a people in ignorance and repent thereafter of that which ye have done.

O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done.

Believers, when an ungodly person brings to you a piece of news, carefully ascertain its truth, lest you should hurt a people unwittingly and thereafter repent at what you did.

O you who believe, if a dissolute person brings some news, verify it first lest you attack a people ignorantly and later regret what you had done.

O People who Believe! If any miscreant brings you some tidings, verify it, lest you unknowingly cause suffering to some people, and then remain repenting for what you did.

O you who have faith! If a vicious character brings you some news, verify it, lest you should visit [harm] on some people out of ignorance, and then become regretful for what you have done.

O you who believe! If some transgressor brings you news (that requires taking action), verify it carefully (before you believe and act upon it), lest you harm a people in ignorance and then become regretful for what you have done.

O you who believe! if a wicked person brings you any news, examine it carefully, lest you should harm some people in ignorance and afterwards you may have to repent for what you did.

You, you those who believed, if a debaucher came to you with news/information, so seek clarification/explanation that (E) you strike/hit a nation with ignorance/foolishness, so you become/become in the morning on what you made/did regretful/remorseful

O People who Believe! If any miscreant brings you some tidings, verify it, lest you unknowingly cause suffering to some people, and then remain repenting for what you did.

O you who believe! If an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it (do not ignore it because he is evil), lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done

O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done.

And if they had patience till thou come out to them, it would be better for them. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

O you who believe! if an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done.

O ye who believe! If an evil-liver bring you tidings, verify it, lest ye smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did.

Believers, if one who publicly commits sins brings you any news, ascertain its truthfulness carefully, lest you harm people through ignorance and then regret what you have done.

Believers, if an evildoer brings you a piece of news, inquire first, in case you should unwittingly wrong others and then repent of what you have done.

O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done.

Believers, if an evil-doer brings you news, ascertain the correctness of the report fully, lest you unwittingly harm others, and then regret what you have done,

O you who believe! If a troublemaker brings you any news, investigate, lest you harm people out of ignorance, and you become regretful for what you have done.

The following was revealed regarding al-Wald b. `Uqba whom the Prophet had sent to the Ban al-Mustaliq in order to ascertain [their loyalty to Islam]. He already feared them on account of an old feud between him and them from the time of pagandom [before Islam], and so [upon seeing them come out to him] he returned and claimed that they had refused to give the voluntary alms and intended to kill him. And just as the Prophet (s) was making plans to raid them, they came to him to disavow what he [al-Wald] had said about them; O you who believe, if a reprobate should come to you with some tiding, some piece of information, verify [it], [ascertain] his truthfulness from his mendacity (fa-tabayyan; a variant reading has fa-tathabbat, from al-thabt, `to ascertain'), lest you injure a folk (an tusb qawman, an object denoting reason), that is to say, for fear of this [happening], out of ignorance (bi-jahlatin is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject [of the verb]), that is to say while you are ignorant; and then become remorseful of what you have perpetrated, erroneously against that folk. After they had returned to their homelands, the Prophet (s) sent Khlid [b. al-Wald] to them, who observed only obedience and goodness in them and [later] informed the Prophet of this.

Investigating the Reliability of the News conveyed by Wicked People

Allah the Exalted says,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُوا إِن جَاءكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا

أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ



O ye who believe!

if a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done.

Allah the Exalted ordered investigating the news that sinners and the wicked bring, to make sure of its authenticity. Otherwise, if the sinner's word is taken for granted and a decision is based on it, regardless of whether the information is true or not, the authorities will be taking the lead of the sinners. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored forbade taking the path of the corrupted and sinners. This is why groups of the scholars of Hadith refuse to accept narrations from narrators whose reliability is unknown, for they might be from among the wicked people, in reality.
The Prophet's Decision is Better

Allah said

O you whose hearts reflect the image of religious and spiritual Virtues and their deeds wisdom and piety: If ever there comes to you someone known to be immoral or potentially harmful, pernicious, malicious or mischievous, and relates to you a message or an event, an incident or something he heard, then be objectively certain of the truth to preclude risk of error and the consequence of wrong action and of injuring the reputation of a people or defaming them in ignorance, and later be pitifully regretful for what you have done