Do Not Give People a Reason to Be Suspicious of You
How many times did you come across someone who could quickly clarify suspicions about him just by uttering a few words of clarification in a matter of seconds, but instead, he decides to spend ten-fold the effort and time explaining why he does not care about what people think? This has always baffled me. In a matter of seconds, one could eliminate the doubts lingering in hundreds, if not thousands of people’s minds, yet for some reason, one prefers to show the world why he only “cares about what Allah knows about him.” Or even worse, he stays silent, offering just an implicit “who cares what you think; you’re a nobody” response to everyone.
Contrast this with the behavior of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the following hadith https://sunnah.com/riyadussaliheen/19/42. Notice that the Prophet (peace be upon him) on his own accord clarified to the two Ansar that it was Safiyyah, his wife, who he was with. He recognized the power of the waswasa of Shaytan over those who are weak in faith.
Some scholars who explained this hadith said that this should drive us to prevent ourselves from being subject to the negative opinion of others. Do not be like those people who (for some reason) love being the subjects of negative opinion just to play the victim. Instead, we should put our egos aside, recognize the weakness of man and acknowledge the power of the influence of Satan and do as much as possible to prevent ourselves from falling pretty to the negative suspicions of others.
Some scholars who explained this hadith said that this advice is especially directed toward Muslim scholars, for if Muslim scholars do not exert effort in addressing the negative conjecture about them, then this will result in harm, namely the compromise of that scholar’s credibility and the inability of others to benefit from his knowledge.
Scholars even said that the ruler himself should clarify to his subjects the wisdom behind his actions and policies, lest his subjects speak poorly about him.
Imam adh-Dhahabi and others narrated that Umar b. al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) said that one who exposes himself to being accused by others should not blame those who have negative opinions of him. It was also narrated that Umar once saw a man speaking to a woman on the road in a matter he deemed suspicious, and as he was about to hit the man, the man clarified to Umar that the woman was his wife. In response, Umar told him to make sure that others do not see him (likely in that suspicious manner he saw them in).
Much more could be said, but in summary, if it is within one’s reasonable capacity to dedicate a few minutes typing or uttering a few words to negate or clarify any false rumors surrounding him, then he should just do so for the greater benefit.