Sinful Speculation (Sinful Guman)
What is required from us Muslims is to avoid excessive conjecture: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا Believers! Avoid being overly speculative, for some speculations are a blatant sin and do not spy on one another . (Quran 49:12) What is required is that we do not think negatively about a person on the basis of mere conjectures. If one starts relying on excessive conjecture then more like than not, he or she will be subdued by those conjectures and will commit a serious sin eventually. This contrast of positive and negative thoughts is perfectly natural, but if we achieve the end result of suppressing conjectures and not forming a negative opinion of the other person on the basis of excessive speculations, then we are achiveing the required objective of this directive. Keeping ‘ Husn-e-Zan ‘ about others is the right objective to keep in mind.