The Qur'ānic Methodology of Information Verification and Countering Fake News in the Digital Age: A Thematic and Analytical Study

الملخص

The advent of the digital age and the proliferation of social media platforms have fundamentally democratized information access; however, this technological shift has simultaneously precipitated a global epistemic crisis characterized by the rapid dissemination of fake news, disinformation, and AI-generated fabrications. The consequences of this information disorder are profound, leading to social polarization, religious sectarianism, political instability, and character assassination. While contemporary media studies focus predominantly on secular fact-checking mechanisms and algorithms, the Islamic epistemological tradition offers a robust, ethically grounded, and comprehensive methodology for information verification. This qualitative, thematic, and analytical study addresses the critical research gap in interdisciplinary Islamic media studies by conceptualizing the Qur'ānic methodology of information verification. By examining the Qur'ānic principles of Tathabbut (verification), Tabayyun (clarification), ʿAdālah (justice/source integrity), and Amānah (trustworthiness)—particularly drawn from Sūrah Al-Ḥujurāt, Sūrah An-Nūr, and Sūrah Al-Isrāʾ—the research synthesizes classical exegesis with modern Information Disorder frameworks. The original contribution of this study is the proposal of the "Qur'ānic Information Verification Framework (QIVF)," a structured operational model designed to counter digital misinformation. The findings suggest that classical Islamic mechanisms, such as Sanad (chain of transmission) and Matn (textual) criticism, are highly applicable to modern digital provenance and content analysis. The paper concludes that integrating the QIVF into national digital literacy policies and educational curricula is imperative for fostering ethical digital citizenship and mitigating the socio-political impacts of fake news in contemporary Muslim societies, particularly in Pakistan.