THE BETRAYAL OF JOURNALISTIC EXPRESSION IN CONTEMPORARY REALITY: A STUDY IN LIGHT OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS AND MAQASID AL-SHARIAH, COMPARED WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

The media today exerts profound influence, shaping individual and collective consciousness and guiding public opinion, making words a noble trust and a serious responsibility. This power has fostered practices that betray journalistic integrity, including fact distortion, rumor spreading, deliberate falsehoods, and invasion of privacy, undermining public trust and ethical values.This study, The Betrayal of Journalistic Expression in Contemporary Reality : A Study in Light of Scriptural Texts and MaqAṣid al-Sharī‘ah, Compared with International Standards, explores media betrayal in Islamic law, examining contemporary manifestations such as manipulation, blackmail, and defamation, alongside global examples like fabricated news scandals and data breaches. It compares Sharia guided principles with international journalistic standards, highlighting convergences and divergences, and proposes a Sharia compliant media charter balancing press freedom with ethical and religious duties. The study emphasizes that words are a trust; their distortion is a betrayal of God and humanity.Ethical media is essential to build trust, safeguard rights, promote justice, and transform words from tools of deception into instruments of guidance and reform.