By Abdellatif Sharaa

man tells his friend something, the friend tells his neighbor, the neighbor tells a colleague and the chain continues until complete communities start dealing with it…this is how a rumor starts and spreads. But does the rumor end as it started? The sad and unfortunate answer is no - at least in the majority of times. Each person either adds to or removes from it, until the words are totally distorted or changed.

This is something serious, as each one of us has a unique mindset, which connects bits of information from what we see or hear, in addition to already-formed perceptions. The culture we live in has much influence on our thinking and the way we conduct ourselves, and regardless of how honest the first words of the rumor can be, they will be badly distorted as they spread and sometimes will totally be out of context. This is apart from rumors that are intended to do harm, and these are the worst, of course.

Just an example of what rumors can do - I remember once when a rumor made people believe fuel prices will jump by a whopping 25 percent, so within minutes gas stations were literally flooded by people on foot, motorcycles and vehicles to get fuel at the current price and save a little, only to later discover the price dropped by 2.5 percent (this happened in a country other than Kuwait ). Just one example of what a rumor can do.

"Rumors are fed from every single thing they are surrounded by, either positive or negative. This phenomenon can be studied under many angles - sociology, psychology, narrative theory, marketing, communications, advertisement and internal communication," a writer said. Some people believe anything they hear, especially if it comes from someone they know and will not take the slightest of efforts to make sure whether the information is true or not.

Rumors are getting very dangerous, as they are spread on social media and people are believing and resending them. We have to be very careful nowadays, as we are living through the most dangerous crisis in many years, with what we say and do. We have to always take information from their authentic sources and authorities, and only official authorities.

Let us cooperate and be honest with each other and keep rumors behind our backs. Yes, let us spread the good word and assure people that things will be better as long as we help ourselves and others by following instructions of professional people.

The Holy Quran tells us in surah Al-Hujarat, verse 6 to always make sure about what we hear: "O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful."

A final word: Oh Allah, Grant health to my body. Oh Allah, Grant health to my hearing. Oh Allah, grant health to my sight. Oh Allah, I ask You by Your mercy which envelops all things that You forgive me.

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