Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the home minister, said it was easy to monitor printed publications as they had permits and were subject to certain standards, such as the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), which allowed them to be withdrawn from the market if found to contain elements that were contrary to true Islamic teachings.
Speaking at a conference on hadith here today, Zahid drew the attention of the audience to the spread of fake hadith via talks presented by instant Islamic preachers, posted on social media networks such as YouTube.
“Even though their talks do refer to the right sources, interpretation is different … even more, they (instant Islamic preachers) have a great number of obsessive followers, which can lead to wrong Islamic practices among the community,” he said.
As such, Zahid urged the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and the home ministry’s Publication and Quran Text Control Division to look into the matter seriously and expand efforts to address the issue immediately.
Zahid said both agencies must act firmly to stop these instant Islamic preachers from continuing to mislead their followers through the spread of fake hadith when presenting talks.
In addition, he said the home ministry’s Hadith Review and Evaluation Committee, or Lajnah Tahqiq Sahih, could also use the social media as one of its channels to share the Guidelines on the Hadith Text Writing and Publication through the use of hashtag #hadithsahih.
Zahid also reminded instant Islamic preachers that the sources of reference of the Islamic law should not be interpreted in their own way as this could lead to an uneasy situation among their followers and the general public.
“When a fake hadith is given a wrong interpretation and given a sense of humour, it can be very attractive … thus tarnishing the image of Islam and disintegrating Muslim unity,” he said.
Zahid hoped that the launch of the guidelines could be translated into action by all concerned parties.