On May 22, 2022, Dr. Mabrook Atiyah, an Egyptian Muslim preacher, and professor at Egypt's Al-Azhar University, said on a Facebook Livestream that the platform he is on was mentioned in the Quran.
"Did anyone tell you that the internet and Facebook are mentioned in the Quran?" He rhetorically asked. “I swear to God that the internet and Facebook are in verse 83.”
Atiyah referred to the fourth surah of the Quran, titled, ‘Women’. It reads, “And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger [the Prophet Muhammad] or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of God upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.”
"Isn't this [talking about] the internet, you people who love to broadcast and spread news?" he asked.
The moral of what Atiyah was trying to get at is that people who spread news without verifying it are "sick at heart," in his words.
Atiyah's claims caused confusion and criticism from another Islamic studies professor at his university, Amna Nosseir, who said his remarks were "contrived" and a "deviation" from the meaning of the Quran.
He later clarified his remarks in a television program broadcast by the Al-Nahar TV station. "In the Quran, things are either mentioned by name or by their context.”
