Hadith One: "Hearing is not like seeing" (Ahmed)

The first hadith mentioned in Shah Waliullah's Arabain is narrated by Ali that the Prophet said "Hearing (about something) is not like seeing it" (Ahmed)

An important etiquette to social networking society is to be critical of what is written and heard. Before the acceptance of a piece of news or an article, logical factors of accepting the story should be understood. Not only in social media but it is a general rule of everyday communication. This is important to avoid possible further misunderstanding, accusation and even slandering.

As the Prophet (PBHU) said "Beware of suspicion, because suspicion is the biggest lie".

When explaining the hadith in the Prophet (PBUH) 'The report is not like witnessing'  a famous Russian proverb comes to mind; that 'Seeing something once is better than hearing about it hundred times'. A person might try extensively to describe the situation to a third person but without actually experiencing it personally, it will not be possible to fully grasp the message. Hence, a person is ought to be extremely careful when narrating the story to a third person.

After mentioning the hadith the Prophet (PBUH) gave the companions the example of Musa (A.S). While he went to Mount Sinai to receive the Tablets, his people whom he left behind started to disbelieve. Musa (A.S) did not drop the Tablet when Allah told him, but when he saw them with his own eyes he dropped them out of anger. (Mirqat al Mafatih)

Lastly in the context of this hadith, the companion's interpretation of the ahadith is to be fully trusted because they first hand  saw the Prophet and were emotionally attached to that community. The closer the people to the Prophet, their research on the life of the Prophet will be more credible in comparison to people who the latter generations.

In conclusion of this hadith, if you have not witnessed the news visibly, then be careful forwarding it, as the Prophet (PBUH)  "hearing about something is not like seeing it" (Ahmad)