Question: A friend of mine who is interested in Islam a lot has warned me that the Islamic websites on the Internet and all these imams are fake and that they do not really provide the right information for the Muslims. Now, I do not know if this is the truth as I have been to many websites and checked that they are ‘safe’ but I would like your opinion on this situation and what you think is the safe way for the Muslims to seek information fast from someone they know that they can trust?
    Answer: I am afraid I cannot forward you any criterion to judge whether someone you intend to seek information from is trustworthy or not. It is simply not possible being a human being. However, Allah has blessed you with some of His favours which can be very helpful in this regard though they too are not error free. You have a common sense and a basic idea regarding what is good and what is evil; Allah has also blessed you with a reasoning faculty. You can easily judge what is being presented to you as right or wrong. You must place credence to only that thing which appeals to your sense and reason and discard everything else. Using these two items, the reasoning faculty and the innate sense of morality, you will be able to judge what has been presented before you though you cannot humanly judge the person(s) presenting it.
    What needs to be appreciated is the fact that Islam is based on certain established facts that are so pronounced that there is virtually no difference regarding them among the Muslims. For instances, God is one, the Last Day of Judgment is definite to come, there are five obligatory prayers, we are supposed to fast during the month of Ramadan et cetera. Obviously, no individual can change our point of view regarding these facts. However, there are certain areas where prudence needs to be exercised. It is here I will ask you to use your reasoning faculty and sense of morality to judge whatever is being offered to you on the net. You should not be worried and as a result, let go of visiting Muslim websites. I would rather encourage you to explore new sites and be acquainted with new ideas because it is only through learning ideas that our opinions become refined and more convincing.