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Is it obligatory to alert someone who errs in writing certain religious phrases, such as "Lā ʾilāha ʾillā Allāh" (There is no god but Allah), on social media, and is one sinful for not doing so?

2 min readAlso available in العربية

We have not found an explicit text from the jurists regarding the ruling on correcting a specific word, but we have found their sayings on the ruling of correcting the writing of the Qur'an and ordinary written texts. It states in the Hashiyat al-Bujairimi that if someone borrows a book and finds a mistake in it, it is not permissible to correct it except with the owner's permission. However, if it is a Mushaf (copy of the Qur'an), it is obligatory to correct it. Al-Balqini restricted the permissibility to ownership, while for a waqf (endowment), it is permissible to correct it. In Hashiyat al-Rahmani, Al-Shawbari al-Shafi'i mentioned that it is obligatory to correct an error in the Mushaf immediately or inform its owner to correct it, because delaying the correction implies an affirmation of the error. Al-Atfihi narrated from Al-Shabramallisi that if someone borrows a owned book, other than a Mushaf, and finds an error in it, they should not correct anything unless they believe the owner would approve. However, it is obligatory to correct a Mushaf if its handwriting does not diminish its value, and it should be given to someone who can correct it. As for a waqf, it must be corrected if the error is clear and its handwriting is suitable for correction, whether it is a Mushaf or otherwise. If there is doubt about a specific word or ruling, nothing should be corrected. What appears to us is that if the error in writing the word "ilah" (god) corrupts the meaning, such as omitting the alif from the negative particle "la," then it is obligatory to strive to correct it. However, if the error does not corrupt the meaning, such as the inclusion of the alif maddiyah (long alif) in the word "ilah," then its correction is not obligatory, nor is it necessary to call attention to it.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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