Wonderful words of advice regarding social media by brother Gabriel Al Romaani below.
I really believe that we are killing our selves with THE USAGE OF MOBILE PHONES AND SOCIAL MEDIA. I see parents sitting next to their children waiting in line or in a park and each and everyone of them is on their mobile updating statuses, checking instagra or tweeting. They don't talk to each other, they walk and text, they drive and text. I HAVE ALSO FALLEN INTO THIS MANY TIMES AND HAVE FELT THE PAIN OF THIS. SO I'M TALKING FROM MY EXPERIENCE and how I feel.
You finish your salah and you check your mobile to see if you missed anything. You walk on the street and you check your mobile. You are at work and you check your mobile. There are hundreds of updates every minute.
We loose our time and do not even open the Quran for a fraction of that time. The Shaitan has locked us down on this and made us worry about other people's problems.
Yes I have tweeter and Facebook and Instagram and that's why I feel this way. I know many dayees have these social media platforms and they are doing great work. BUT - 99 percent of people do not do any dawa and only watch and check and go back and forth and like and dislike and argue sometimes and waste time.
In the Muslim countries it is a disease. Instagram has swept most people and caused them to fall prey to narcissistic tendencies. Selfies are a proof of how infatuated we are with ourselves. Again I speak from analysing myself and looking at how I feel sometimes. No doubt we have to take a picture or two here and there, but there are people who are constantly taking selfies and showing their bodies - brothers and sisters uncovering what Allah ordered to cover only to get a few likes - it shows that we are in need of attention, in need of love and recognition, while at the same time that we are getting it in the wrong way.
I advise everyone and myself first to reduce time on social media and if you are on it use it for beneficial things. Start a dawa program where you reach out to people and not some kind of FAN CLUB for a muslim speaker or dayee. Our social media MUSLIM SPEAKERS pages are becoming fan clubs. People making weird appealing comments and blunt proposals as if these people would be some kind of super stars. Remember that everything we write and we say is being recorded by the malaika.
May Allah free us from deep addictions of social media and make us use beneficial use of our time Ameen.
The danger of using social media, or anything else for that matter, lies not in social media but rather with our own selves. Let me explain with a very simple example. Hae you seen the knife that was shown in the ISIS video? Yes, I mean the knife that was used to behead the American journalist. So let's talk about the dangers of using knives, and end up by recommending that everyone not to use knives unless absolutely necessary. Does that make sense?
No, that doesn't make sense to me. A knife is a tool. In the hands of a killer, it kills. In the hands of a butcher, it butchers. In the hands of a craftsman, it carves. Follow my drift?
Ditto for social media. It's a tool. In the hands of a sex pervert, it is used to abuse children. In the hands of a teacher, like me, it is used to help my students to get their homework done. In the hands of a parent, like me, it is used to keep updated with what's going on with my children who are all over the place.
So, please don't blame social media when it creates havoc with your lives. Don't even suggest that using social media takes me away from reading the Holy Quran. My Facebook page is connected to other serious Muslims who notify me when they find some gems in the Holy Quran. And I follow up on their posts to find out more about the Holy Quran.
Blaming social media for your own weaknesses is, more or less, like blaming women for inciting you to rape them just because they are there. Face the truth and admit that you rape a woman not because she is there but rather that you have allowed Shaitan into your heart. And the woman plays no part in your allowing Shaitan into your heart.
My apologies if you find my comment to be rude or crude or both.
Social media is filled with too many interactions that allow for drama to occur. This means that there will be a lot of people who will spend most of their posting innuendos and trying to pretend to be hurtful or funny because they want to hurt others. Social media is fine as long as you use it to communicate with people who are worth your time and not just with any random person.
If Social Media is used effectively, it can be a good thing to have in your arsenal (to increase sales if you have a business, to track down friends from the past etc). However, I know some people who use Facebook as a stalking tool and that is definitely not good. Also, a lot of lies and deceit can be spread on those portals.
I would advise people to stay away from it if they can unless it is absolutely essential.
Last edited by hisnameiszzz; 09-14-2014 at 06:39 PM.
im a teen and I just use it as a tool I don't have a smart phone because I don't need on for apps twitter social networking I use it to follow news and scholars I follow a lot of muslim scholars and debates.
Just like everything in life social media also comes with its pros and cons. One can use social media for beneficial purposes because there is a ton of knowledge and opportunities available on it.
But being a worldwide network it also has every kind of distraction for a human. One can become consumed in it. Secondly it also makes you envy people and gives you a fear of missing out.
Good thing is that you can build your own algorithms with it so it will be a good suggestion to build your feed in such a way that just fulfills the pros for you
Just like everything in life social media also comes with its pros and cons. One can use social media for beneficial purposes because there is a ton of knowledge and opportunities available on it.
But being a worldwide network it also has every kind of distraction for a human. One can become consumed in it. Secondly it also makes you envy people and gives you a fear of missing out.
Good thing is that you can build your own algorithms with it so it will be a good suggestion to build your feed in such a way that just fulfills the pros for you
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