Before you press share
How to check an Islamic quote before you share it
Beautiful words with no source are everywhere. Four quick checks tell you whether a quote is what it claims to be.
The problem
Beautiful words, no source. Search for “Islamic quotes” and you find thousands of pictures with no reference at all. Some are real verses or sayings with the reference lost; some are the words of later scholars or poets; some were never said by anyone in early Islam. Sharing one unchecked can pass on something false under a name it doesn’t belong to.
A small amount goes a long way: give sadaqah and follow it to the people it reaches.
Check the reference
Two checks for the number.
- Is there one? A verse should have a surah and verse number, a saying its collection and number. No reference is a warning sign, not proof that it is false.
- Look it up. Open the verse in a trusted Quran site and read it with the verses around it, or search the collection and number, and see whether the words match in meaning.
Check the words
Two checks for the quote itself.
- Is it cut short? A piece cut out of a longer verse can change its meaning.
- Whose words are they? Many lovely sayings belong to companions, scholars or poets. They can still be shared, with their real author’s name.
Common mix-ups
Four we see again and again.
- Words of poets such as Rumi, or of later scholars, shared as if they were verses.
- A real verse with the wrong number.
- A weak narration quoted without saying so.
- A translation so loose it says something the verse doesn’t.
When you can’t find it
Don’t give it an authority it may not have. If a fair search finds no source, it is safer not to share it as a verse or a saying of the Prophet ﷺ; you can still say “I read this somewhere and liked it” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6018 asks us to say good or stay quiet).