Should Muslims Use Facebook or Not? - Debate

[daeeofislam]

Assalam o Alaikum WR WB

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah

There are numerous peoples and scholars who do dawah on Facebook. Should they stop using facebook?. If there are peoples in your cities who do crime or ma...lign islam. Should we leave our cities? OR should we try to correct them in any way possible?

Dawah is obligation to every single muslim. So rather saying to avoid we should encourage them to become a daee and to recommend everyone to the truth i.e. the message of islam.

Internet (especially social networking sites e.g. Facebook and chat sites e.g. Yahoo chat) can be a great platform for dawah purposes where we can spread the message of islam (Qur'an and Authentic Hadiths) to thousands and millions of peoples with a single click. We can debate with non-muslims, try to convince and revert them to islam, exactly as we do in person.

[Ghazalah]

FitnahBook has more bad than good. Fact.

[Little_Lion]

I think that, like in life, it depends on the intent and deeds done. I see nothing wrong with Facebook if one keeps good company on it and uses it in affirmation of Allah. When I used it I met many wonderful Muslims . . . but I also met some who were trying to get me to do some very un-Islamic things, so I left.

[MartyrX]

Facebook along with everything else in life has it's positives and negatives. It's all about how we use it and what our intention is.

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[Hamza Asadullah]

Asalaamu Alaikum, prepare for the hereafter by doing everything to please Allah and refraining from anything which angers and displeases him. Make the best use of ones time and avoid danger which may comprimise ones imaan.

One may enter into a place with good intent and end up losing their imaan and doing major sin and waasting time for a lone sheep is very vulnerable in the realm of the wolf.

And Allah knows best in all matters

[Tyrion]

It's silly to say Muslims shouldn't use facebook... There's plenty of good in facebook, as well as some bad, but guess what? That's life. Any argument someone makes against facebook can easily be made for anything else...

[Woodrow]

For some of us such as myself, the internet is our only regular contact with other Muslims. On a daily basis I only see one other Muslim in person and that is my wife. For my contact with other Muslims I rely heavily on forums and facebook. Although to be honest I do not like the chat feature and never initiate conversations with it and cut any conversations short with those who try to chat with me.

But because of facebook I do keep some level of contact with Yusuf Estes and other Muslims on their walls. I do agree facebook can be used wrong by those who desire too. But if one is careful with who they accept as friends and avoid chat it can be beneficial.

[*charisma*]

Wa'alaikum Assalam wa rahmatallahi wa barakatuhu

To say there are benefits in facebook religiously is something I cannot agree with completely because facebook is not and was never intended for religious purposes. However, there are some reminders from brethren of the ummah to stay on the correct path while we're on facebook which I believe is necessary because shaytan can intervene if we are not constantly reminded of what is good and bad and how much time is being spent, but once again that is because it lacks religious benefit and it is easy for people to get off the wrong track if they are not using it simply to connect with family and friends.

With that being said, I read something like dawah should begin with our families, then our close friends, then neighbors, city/town...etc. I don't think dawah should solely be based through facebook since there is a greater effect when it's from a physical person than when it's read online, nor do I think that people should seek dawah through facebook when there are more reliable and effective ways to seek it.

As for the da'ees and scholars using facebook, that's something that I think is could be utilized for reminding users not to trangress and also as a means to maybe organize a service for those who are interested, but it shouldn't always be done online.

It's all about knowing your boundaries in the end and not crossing them. A person can make it strictly islamic if they wanted, but most people don't because that's not the initial intent often.

fi aman Allah
w'salaam

[GuestFellow]

One may enter into a place with good intent and end up losing their imaan and doing major sin and waasting time for a lone sheep is very vulnerable in the realm of the wolf.

:sl:

I think that applies to the Internet too. :p:

[MartyrX]

Using the internet can lead us astray, message boards weren't created for religious purposes either, but here we are. I turned off my chat feature, so it never comes on when I log in.

[Reflections]

Faceboo, Fitna-book,Fasaad book..whatever you want to call it..I personally-which is soley my own opinion, do not want to bring myself in an enviroment online where there is a chance of fitna lurking about amongst all them 'likes' and 'pokes' and what nots. I prefer staying facebook free.
Let me mention here, I'm not saying all those on facebook are wasting their time or are indulging in fitna or fasaad...But that was most probably the sole purpose Zuckerberg decided to make it for.

[Ğħαrєєвαħ]

Faceboo, Fitna-book,Fasaad book..whatever you want to call it..I personally-which is soley my own opinion, do not want to bring myself in an enviroment online where there is a chance of fitna lurking about amongst all them 'likes' and 'pokes' and what nots. I prefer staying facebook free.
Let me mention here, I'm not saying all those on facebook are wasting their time or are indulging in fitna or fasaad...But that was most probably the sole purpose Zuckerberg decided to make it for.

Assalaamu Alaaykum

I call it 'Wastebook' :-\


From my personal view, i never found facebook beneficial, err i found it really boring, and i can truely say it depends on the intention of the person using it and it is them who can control themselves i.e. the one using the site. So if some shiekh use the site, it is only for spreading the deen and inviting people to maybe learn about Islaam, or give Dawah to muslims and non-muslims, doing work such as posting videos, etc etc you get the point insha'Allaah, so for us we can do that in some way.

However, for those who wish to continue using the site, as far as i am aware use it to keep in contact with friends and families. Some of the ways fitna can be prevented is not use the chat feature if a non-mahram wants to talk, not to post pictures of yourself, (i personally dont use facebook anymore, but if i did put pictures up and put my profile on 'private' or whatever you call it, i would never do that, i couldnt trust the site, just mentioned for those who say they put their profile to private :-\). They should try not to add those of the opposite gender ,not sitting on facebook 24/7 etc etc. Or if its only for wanting to keep in touch family or friends, ask for their email address and speak to them there, and on msn you can show each other pictures etc etc. you know try find alternatives if you are able to insha'Allaah. But really its everyones choice what they want to do and up to them in being careful, we should constantly remind ourselves to keep our intentions straight, we are humans and we forget, by this i mean before doing something or using it we need to ask ourselves, will this task please Allaah? will it benefit me in this dunya and the hereafter in any way? would i reccomend this to others for the purpose of increasing in emaan? etc etc, we shouldnt ask ourselves this once but all the time, this applies to other situations/tasks we take part in life.

Also we should think about how it benefits the youth, for young children today or even teens who use the site i really doubt they use it for 'learning' purposes, its just chat to whoever adds you and pass time, unfortunately. Since the purpose of the site is socialising, meeting people (note: meeting people doesnt mean meeting people for the sake of friendship), so we go back to sister Ghazalah's post, "There is more bad than good", we need to realise how it is benefiting our Ummah today also. So the whole argument goes in sections, depending on who we talk about in general. It is not a site a brother should really reccomend to another, since that isnt the only way we can benefit ourselves, we have the ability to find vidoes of lectures, Qur'aan etc ourselves. For those who think children should be allowed to use it, then you either need to take serious precautions, by checking the history, who they've been talking to etc etc etc. I personally wouldnt recommend it to children, its just a way to 'pass time' nothing more, unless the child is taught how to use it and told what to access on there and what to access having the child monitored everytime they use it.

These things can be applied to other stuff in life but not always. Its almost like trying to make pork halaal, but in facebook's case i believe that is not the case, for those who wish to use it for good reasons and some for bad reasons, again its upto the individual and their intention behind it. As for those who live in the west, it is the job of the muslim to spread Islaam to the best of his ability, whether its through actions,words etc. same way we can give Dawah through some site unless that site forbids us to do so.

I dont know if i make sense insha'Allaah correct me if i have said anything wrong

.. peace ..

[Little_Lion]

Pearl, the first line of your post made me laugh . . . my husband calls it "Faceplant" (as in, falling on ones face and looking foolish).

[Pygoscelis]

Can you think of anything bad that will come to you on Facebook (without searching it out) that could not come to you on this very forum?

[GuestFellow]

How about youtube? I suspect there are more anti-Islam material on YouTube than compared to Facebok.

[Ğħαrєєвαħ]

^Again it depends on the intention of the individual, on what they are searching for, what they click, it is in their hand. like i said in my post the same rule can be applied to many other things in life. Youtube, as a muslim i wouldnt be watchin and anti islamic stuff, i would avoid it as should anybody else against the anti islamic videos or useless amount of stuff on there. Whatever we want we type it. The rest is easily preventable if we choose to avoid.

Can you think of anything bad that will come to you on Facebook (without searching it out) that could not come to you on this very forum?

It is an Islamic forum and their are rules, its the job of the members to follow the rules or do what they want by not following the rules and get banned. Facebook however is totally different as it doesnt have rules that should be applied to us as muslims, so for those who arent aware of the dangers will use it however they will.

On facebook, there are a lot more features. but i agree there are few things that we cant compare such as freemixing of genders. but its the 'fault' of members and not the forum itself.

[Pygoscelis]

It is the fault of the members in both cases. Facebook gives you total freedom on who you "friend" and who you don't. Facebook, to my knowledge, doesn't force any of this on you any more than an Islamic forum would. It is there if you go looking for it, but so are non-islamic forums (just a click away).

[Ğħαrєєвαħ]

It is there if you go looking for it

Yeah i agree. And this depends on the intention of the person, what they're looking for, to know what to stay away from, how much time to spend on it etc.

It is indeed a click away if the person chooses to click on it, or may have clicked on it to know what goes on etc many reasons.

What i mean as a whole if the individual is aware of the dangers, then they should try to avoid it as much as possible whether it be on Facebook, Islamicboard, real life , wherever. As its better to use your time wisely by doing the permissable and staying far away from the impermissable. I am not just speaking of Facebook in general, but rather i am speaking in general. It is basically common sense.

But if the individual is not aware of the dangers of something, it is best to inform them,ofcourse and then the choice is theres. but sometimes it is soo easy to fall into the 'dangers'.

[Uthman]

The Fiqh of Facebook

[Ansariyah]

Can you think of anything bad that will come to you on Facebook (without searching it out) that could not come to you on this very forum?

Pictures?...........

[Little_Lion]

I'm not sure how many people here are aware that there IS a "Muslim Facebook"?

http://www.millatfacebook.com/

It is based in Pakistan, and was created specifically because of the issues the other version can cause for Muslims.

[Woodrow]

The Fiqh of Facebook

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But it is a very good article.

In my opinion I believe Facebook is a personal choice of Ignoring it, Using it for haram reasons or using it in a beneficial halal way.

A person can go fishing to obtain food, yet care must be taken that they do not get carried away with the joy of fishing and neglect their prayers. Is Fishing Haram, as it does have the fitnah of distraction?

[sherz_umr]

iv bn usin it fr 2plus yrs. Farmville (i luv it!) ate up half my life so i stopd playing..i hd creatd anothr ID just to play it..coz if v need to progres in the game,v need LOT of ppl who plays (so we'd hav to add strangers)..i hated the idea of adding ppl i duno,hence a different ID. So i deactivatd it.
(simple rules i folow:
1.NEVER add ppl i dont know..not even old classmates that i dont keep in touch anymore. Its pointles.
2. NEVER post pics. I snd it to them via email.
3. Check out the privacy features..in detail and set it acordingly.
4. Dont spend more than 15mins (usualy its lesr thn tht,nothn mch to do) pr day on fb.
Wn ther is a lot of thngs i need to read from the net. I bukmark em. I read em latr wn im free or totaly bord.

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Combine all the threads about facebook ( too many) and itll look like a massive debate :)
Why even allow another FB thread, when we have so many others before this. When things get repetitive, admins usually close the threads and post references to old ones. Just do that instead of starting new :/

:sl:

[aadil77]

Bro theres more than enough threads on this topic, use the search function

[Endymion]

I did not want to arrive in this thread and to tell people about the good aspects of Facebbok.I just dont want me to be mistaken as convincing people towards Facebook but the objections people made on Facebook made me think that i better share what i observe and feel,may be it will help someone making their way of action better.

There were pages against Muhammad SAW and the compitition of Caricatures that made people hate Facebook.Let me tell you first that on every social net work (except a very few Muslim Networks) there are pages against Islam and Muhammad SAW and almost every religion,dont think that it was the first and the only page over there.When i first watch that page,there were only 70-75 people liked that page and said rubbish against our Beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW.I ignored it and just report that page which was my duty.After sometime,My Muslim Brothers and Sisters came to know about that Compiition and the page and they almost bombard our inboxes with messeges agiainst this page.And in a few days,they did what The fitna people of that page were unable to did,to convert people's attention towards this page and to give it much more attention.The result was that so many people who were unaware of that nasty page,become aware of it,thousands of people joined that page and it became an international issue and the whole world start talking about it.
I know,my Muslim Brothers and Sister had good intensions but you need to know that we cant win wars with emotions,we need to do something practical.If Muslims just ignored that page,it wont be able to become an international issue.They are just a few people and all they want,is attention.If you dont give them attention,they will die themselve.Its a fact that you cant fight this war by debating and closing your accounts.We need to do something useful,to stop all that in a logical way.
The same was with Terry Jones.That person announce all that a few times before,but nobody give him any attention,but this time he get what he want.
Please,be logical,do something useful.Stop giving them importance and attention.If you want to quit Facebook,do it but stop projecting these nasty people who dont belong to any religion.Its just a game for them,to offend Muslims and have fun.Act like players,not the football.

[muslimfirst]

There are many alternatives of Facebook, e.g. Millat Facebook. It is always better to use products or services of Muslims/Muslim countries. We should promote Muslim media.

[muslimfirst]

Be a good Muslim
Buy & use the services/products of Muslims

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Don't use google/bing/yahoo then :). You're basically implying someone is not a good Muslim because they utilize things not by Muslims...which are plenty of things. Instead of indirectly implying somethin as silly as that, just say use the replacements made by Muslims.