The Islamic Law on Slandering and Wrongfully Accusing Someone in Cyberspace

Qazf means to wrongfully accuse a chaste Muslim man or chaste Muslim woman and it has acquired new forms and conditions with the development of virtual environments and expansion of information technology in everyday life. That is why in recent years a criminal offense involving the use of a computer or similar electronic device is referred to as cybercrime or "computer crime".
This article seeks to examine the Islamic and legal perspective on slandering and wrongfully accusing someone of a crime by way of using computer or the cyberspace. This article has been written with reliance on the existing literature, written works, and documents and by making a comparative study of books as well as by interviewing some jurisprudents and seeking their opinions. As per the cybercrime law, a person who commits such an offence is punishable by fines and imprisonment. Muslim jurists are also of the view that cybercrimes are punishable. Slandering or wrongfully accusing someone is a serious crime about which no mention has been made in the cybercrime law. However, given the fact that the laws are general and unrestricted, it can be said that slandering in the cyberspace is punishable as it is punishable in the real and concrete external world.