The Reframing MUI’s Hoax Fatwa Qur’anic Foundations of Tabayyun in Contemporary Islamic Law

Abstract

The circulation of hoaxes on social media demonstrates that digital information problems concern not only factual accuracy but also moral responsibility, public benefit, communicative propriety, and the prevention of social harm. This article examines how Q. al-Hujurat [49]: 6 is interpreted and transformed into operational norms in the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) Fatwa No. 24 of 2017 on Law and Guidelines for Social Interaction through Social Media. The study employs library research, thematic exegesis, and qualitative content analysis. Its primary sources comprise Q. al-Hujurat [49]: 6, the commentaries of al-Tabari, Ibn Kaṡir, al-Qurtubi, Tafsir Al-Misbah, and the text of MUI Fatwa No. 24 of 2017. The data were examined by identifying units of meaning, coding epistemic, ethical, procedural, and social categories, comparing exegetical positions, and mapping the transformation of the verse into fatwa provisions. The findings reveal three interpretive movements. First, tabayyun is expanded from examining a report conveyed by a problematic source into a general obligation of caution toward digital content. Second, the verse's structure – linking source, report, action, impact, and regret – Is contextualized through the examination of sanad, matn, time, place, background, and the competence of clarifying authorities. Third, factual verification is integrated with tests of benefit and public appropriateness. The study's novelty lies in formulating digital tabayyun as a layered framework encompassing source validity, content accuracy, contextual precision, public benefit, and publication worthiness. The fatwa therefore does not merely restate the verse's moral message; it operationalizes it as an ethics of producing, consuming, and distributing information in digital spaces.