Never mind that it’s true. In Islamic law, it is considered a good thing to conceal the faults of a fellow Muslim, as Muhammad said: “The servant (who conceals) the faults of others in this world, Allah would conceal his faults on the Day of Resurrection” (Sahih Muslim 32.6267). The ordinary understanding of slander in the West is that it involves making false charges that defame another person. But in Islamic law, the definition of slander doesn’t involve falsehood. The Shafi’i manual of Islamic law Reliance of the Traveller defines “slander” as “to mention anything concerning a person that he would dislike.” Nothing is said about whether or not what is said is true — only that the person would dislike it. And as the Qur’an warns, “Woe unto every slandering traducer” (104:1).

“Pak Paper Said London Attacker Is Of ‘Pak Origin’. Mob Attacks Offices,” Press Trust of India, December 3, 2019: