The Engineered Rumour and the “Useful Fool”: A Gun Without a Bullet in the Age of Information Chaos

By Muhannad Awad Mahmoud
Rumours in times of war are no longer mere social pastimes; they have evolved into strategic tools of equal impact to military operations. In intelligence theory, an engineered rumour is defined as an unverified piece of information deliberately designed and managed by an active actor to achieve a specific objective. Such objectives may include undermining confidence in leadership, fracturing social cohesion, damaging national reputation, or preparing the ground for foreign intervention. This technical definition draws upon research in mass behaviour and psychological warfare, intersecting with the broader frameworks of disinformation and hostile messaging in terms of intent, structure, and strategic deployment across communication channels.
This danger is not new to Islamic history. The incident of al-Ifk during the Prophet’s era stands as a foundational example of a deliberately orchestrated rumour aimed at destabilising trust within the earliest Muslim community. The Qur’anic revelation in Surah al-Nur exposed the mechanics of defamation and clarified that attacking the credibility of leadership is an attack on the community’s collective cohesion. The same pattern persists today, though with more sophisticated tools and faster means of dissemination, yet with the same essence: targeting symbols of authority, undermining confidence in decision-making, and manufacturing cognitive chaos.
The construction of an engineered rumour follows a precise architecture: identifying the strategic target; crafting a message that aligns with psychological predispositions of the audience; reinforcing the narrative with fabricated documents, doctored videos, or de-contextualised clips; then releasing it through parallel channels—social media influencers, encrypted chat groups, and sympathetic or unwitting media outlets—before repeating it systematically to entrench doubt in public consciousness.
At the centre of this cycle stands the “useful fool”: the individual who adopts and spreads the rumour without verification, driven by enthusiasm, the desire for early access to information, or fear of missing out on what appears to be urgent news. This non-specialist actor becomes the bridge through which a crafted rumour passes from controlled planning to widespread public absorption—just as an unaware host carries a dangerous virus without realising its nature.
The Sudanese information landscape today offers a vivid, real-time model of this dynamic, particularly in the context of the war against the rebel militia, which has turned the digital sphere into a central battlefield. We have seen coordinated rumour campaigns aimed at eroding trust in the Armed Forces, associating them with political agendas, or exploiting informational gaps to generate confusion. The latest example is the claim of alleged negotiations between a Sudanese military delegation and elements of the Rapid Support Forces in the United States. Despite official clarifications that the visit was a standard diplomatic mission, waves of doubt continued—driven by networks of the “useful fool”—in a textbook life cycle of the engineered rumour: launch → denial → doubt in the denial itself.
The long-term consequence of this information war is the erosion of trust, which is the most valuable capital of any nation. As public confusion grows, the effectiveness of official messaging diminishes, and the opponent gains influence without advancing a single metre on the battlefield. Defeat often begins in perception before it manifests on the ground; victory requires cognitive immunity equal to military strength.
Official media institutions must reclaim the initiative by building an integrated information defence system, based on:
• Focused transparency in announcing critical facts
• Rapid clarification before speculation multiplies
• Unified messaging through coordinated strategic communication units
• Public awareness campaigns promoting verification before sharing
• Legal accountability for organised disinformation networks
At its core, this is a battle for consciousness. It requires a healthy relationship between the citizen and national information platforms. Every unverified share of a rumour may constitute a silent blow to the nation.
Winning the information battle is not optional—it is an essential condition for determining the balance of power in a war waged on both land and mind.

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