Can you see the misinformation tactic being used?
These are real kinds of posts about Islam that go around on Instagram and TikTok every day. The fake version is on the left, the truth is on the right. Hover over (or tap) Reveal trick to see the tactic behind each one.
“Muslims worship a totally different god called ‘Allah.’”
Usually a meme or a comment under any post about Islam.
“Allah” is simply the Arabic word for “God” — the one God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews say “Allah” too, and Arabic Bibles use the word. The Quran says: “Our God and your God is one.” (29:46)
Verify it: Read Quran 29:46
Making a translation sound like a different thing
A foreign word is left untranslated so it feels alien. Say “God” instead of “Allah” and the claim falls apart instantly.
How to check it yourself
- Look the word up: what does it mean in Arabic?
- Ask yourself — would this sound scary if it were translated?
Screenshot: “The Quran literally says ‘kill the unbelievers wherever you find them.’ (9:5)”
One sentence, cropped, with no verses before or after.
Verse 9:5 is about a specific group that broke a peace treaty and attacked, during a war. The very next verse (9:6) orders Muslims to protect any enemy who asks for safety and escort them somewhere safe.
Cut the context and a rule about a specific war looks like a rule for all time.
Verify it: Read 9:5 and 9:6 together on Quran.com
The crop that flips the meaning
Real words, fake meaning. Quoting one line of any book — the Bible, the Quran, a speech — without the lines around it can make it say the opposite of what it says.
How to check it yourself
- Open the actual chapter and read the verses before and after.
- Ask: who is being spoken to, and about what situation?
Quote card: “The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Whoever shares this post will be blessed 1,000 times.’”
Pretty calligraphy, lots of likes, no source anywhere.
This is not in any hadith collection. Made-up “hadith” quote cards are everywhere online.
The Prophet ﷺ himself warned that knowingly attributing false sayings to him is a serious sin (Bukhari 107). No source, no grade = don’t share.
Verify it: Search any hadith on Sunnah.com
Borrowed authority
Put a famous name on a sentence and people stop checking. Fake hadiths spread faster than real ones because they’re written to be shareable — and they often come with a guilt trip (“share or else”).
How to check it yourself
- Search the exact wording on Sunnah.com. Real hadith have a collection name and number.
- Any post that pressures you to share is a red flag, not a blessing.
“🚨 Photo: the Kaaba completely under water after a massive flood in Makkah today!”
A dramatic, cinematic image reposted by dozens of accounts.
The image is AI-generated. Live cameras from Masjid al-Haram and official Saudi sources show nothing of the kind.
Zoom in: warped tiles, people whose bodies merge together, and Arabic on the signs that is gibberish.
Verify it: Check images with FotoForensics
Sacred places = guaranteed emotion
Fake images of holy sites get shared because they hit people in the heart first. The more emotional the picture, the more you should slow down and look closely.
How to check it yourself
- Zoom in on text, hands, tiles and crowds — AI still gets them wrong.
- Reverse image search it; check a live source like the Masjid al-Haram cam or official news.
“Jihad means ‘holy war.’ That’s the whole point of Islam.”
A confident one-liner, often in a reel with dramatic music.
Jihad means “struggle” or “striving.” In the Quran it mostly means striving to do good, fight your own bad habits, and stay patient.
Armed self-defense is one narrow meaning, with strict rules (no harming civilians, no destroying homes, no fighting those who want peace).
Verify it: Read Quran 29:69 — “those who strive for Us”
One meaning out of many
Take a word with several meanings, keep only the scariest one, and present it as the whole story. It works on any language.
How to check it yourself
- Look up how the word is actually used in the source — not just in a headline.
- Ask a knowledgeable person or check a reliable scholarly site, not a comment section.
“Islam bans women from getting an education.”
Usually posted with a photo from one specific country.
The first word revealed in the Quran was “Read” (96:1). The Prophet ﷺ said seeking knowledge is a duty for every Muslim (Ibn Majah 224).
The oldest continuously running university in the world, al-Qarawiyyin, was founded by a Muslim woman, Fatima al-Fihri. Where girls are denied school, that is local politics or culture — not Islamic teaching.
Verify it: Read Quran 96:1–5
Blaming the religion for one place’s politics
Take something that happens in one country or culture and label it “Islam.” Muslims live in dozens of countries with very different laws — one government’s rule is not the religion’s teaching.
How to check it yourself
- Ask: is this from the Quran / Sunnah, or from one country’s law?
- Compare: does it happen the same way in other Muslim countries?
Places you can go to find info for yourself
Free tools and sites you can use to check a post before you believe it or share it.
Check a verse or hadith
- Quran.comEvery verse with context and multiple translations
- Sunnah.comSearch hadith by wording — shows collection and grade
Fact-check a claim
- SnopesSearchable fact checks of viral rumors
- FactCheck.orgNonpartisan fact checking
- Lead StoriesDebunks trending hoaxes fast
- Captain FactCrowd-sourced checking of videos and quotes
- rbutrShows rebuttals to a page you’re reading
Check a photo or video
- FotoForensicsSpots edited areas in an image
- Reveal Image VerificationImage forensics assistant
- ExifToolReads hidden metadata in files
- Metadata2goOnline metadata viewer — no install
Practice spotting fakes
- FakeyNews-feed game: real or fake?
- InterlandGoogle’s Be Internet Awesome game
- Civic Online ReasoningStanford lessons on judging sources
- Learn 2 DiscernMedia literacy training
- News Literacy Course PackCenter for News Literacy
Who can you trust?
- The Trust ProjectIndicators of trustworthy news
- Pro-Truth PledgeA public promise to share only verified info
- Bot SentinelChecks if an account is a bot
- Disinformation IndexRates news sites’ disinformation risk
- Iffy QuotientTracks how much ‘iffy’ news spreads