In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
“O you who believe! Protect yourself and family against a fire…” (Q66 :6)
WHEN, in 2004, the American, Mark Zuckerberg, who was then a student at Harvard University in America, developed the Facebook, little did he know that he was breaking new grounds in human socio-political and cultural realities. Little did he know, back in 2004, that what he named Facebook was going to open huge opportunities to billions of people across the world. As a ‘window’ on the World-Wide-Web, the Facebook is sui generis in the connectivity it provides; it is unique with reference to the information it yields, it is unparalleled with regard to the education it vouchsafes.
But Mark Zuckerberg could equally not have predicted that his product, the Facebook, would become like the honey-bee, its taste is sweet, its sting is venomous. Mark could not have imagined that the Facebook would, one day, become like the proverbial knife, with it yams and oranges are peeled, with it murder can be committed. The latter was brought to the fore last month with the murder of Cynthia Osokogu in the hands of “friends” she met on the Facebook. Cynthia Osokogu was a precocious, highly promising and highly resourceful young Nigerian woman.
In other words, she was a woman on the go, a woman in pursuit of life. Or, rather, Cynthia was a woman on the go, a woman who was being “pursued” by life.
At 24 she had accumulated such wealth, as would be a source of envy of her peers. Yet it felt as if she was at point zero. Thus she could not resist the urge to continue to grow her business. She wanted the world to know about her potential, that she combined beauty with brain, that her business sense was benchmarked against creativity. Thus she hoisted herself on the Facebook.
Cynthia displayed her business potentials and concern on the Facebook and ended up losing her soul, she was enticed and beguiled by agents of death who sent her to the morgue. The question becomes urgently pertinent, what could be the position of Islam on “keeping accounts” on the Facebook?
Brethren, one of the primary principles in Islamic jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh) is al-aslu fil Ashyai al-Ibahah – the primary regulation governing all things in Islam is their permissibility. In other words, every good thing on earth is lawful and permissible to the Muslim except and unless an evil or an infraction of the law is envisaged from its usage.
When viewed from this perspective, Facebook and other features of the social media then becomes lawful and permissible for the Muslim to enjoy particularly when the intention behind its usage and the activities people carried out on it are equally lawful. There is no doubting the fact that the Facebook, as I alluded to above, provides lots of opportunities to humanity. But there exists some skeptics out there who, while recognising the potentials and opportunities the Facebook affords us all, are more concerned about the negative underbellies of keeping accounts on it.
Let us begin from the beginning. To keep an “account” on the Facebook is to display your personal details for the world to see. You are equally encouraged to upload your picture. In order to do this, young men and women go extra miles to take pictures that would mask their “original copies.” The other day, a younger sister of an associate was seen on the Facebook with no hijab on her head, a young Muslim boy displayed a picture of himself in which he appears as if he is a member of the “whatz up guys” on campus.
In other words, dear Brethren, Facebook sometimes works towards ensuring modesty is thrown into the rubbish can. Our leader says, “modesty is part of faith and faith is of Paradise; but obscenity is part of hardness of heart and hardness of heart is of hell.” In addition to providing information, Facebook also opens up doors of indecencies and immoralities. Have you not heard about ‘hang-outs,’ which result from keeping friends on the Facebook?
Put differently, to sign up for an account on the Facebook automatically means listing friends and associates who would be invited to “check you out”. In a small village, which the world has become, you would even get invitations from people you never had any dealings with. Once you respond to an invitation, it means you are soliciting for hundreds more. Thus in order to be active on the Facebook, you need to have more than 24 hours in a day.
Thus, dear brethren, despite its promises and the opportunities it offers, I refuse to be seen on the Facebook because I do not wish to commit the “other” murder – that is, killing time. In other words, I consider Facebook as an enemy, which lowers my productivity and constitutes a cog in the wheel of my personal achievements and targets. If the number of hours people spend on their computers connecting with their friends is estimated in monetary terms, it is likely to be in the regions of billions of Riyals and Naira. I recently learnt that the time people spend on the Facebook costs Australian businesses around $5b dollars every year!
Brethren, Facebook has become another home for young children who, perhaps because of lack of parental care or their to submit to parental guidance, are now exposed to illicit and indecent values and ideas. Years before its emergence, the consensus had been reached that immorality and profanity had taken the world by the jugular; years after the birth of Facebook, the moral currency of the world has simply gone bananas.
Brethren, I refuse to be active on the Facebook because it deprives you and I of our privacy. The Facebook is like a scythe, which harvests information for the use of organisations far beyond our reach and control. Thus all the information you enter into your Facebook account, including your name, address, e-mail address, interests, job history, education history, relationship status, and much more may be turned against you and used to profit multi-national conglomerates.
Brethren, the moment you supply those information, the moment you click on that button, which signifies your agreement to the terms and condition governing the use of the Facebook, you are actually shipping your personal details away forever. That was what Cynthia did, that was what led, in part, to her death.
Brethren, the point I am making is this, even though Facebook has its advantages, it has become like a narcotic to which some have become gravely addicted. Its detriment has, consequently, become greater than its benefits. It has become like the proverbial “little thing.” The sage says: “Watch the little things, a small leak will sink a great ship.”
But brethren, upon greater reflection, it appears the use and abuse of Facebook is reminiscent of the use and misuse of every good thing Almighty has endowed us with on earth. In other words, everything the Almighty has made available to us on earth are, by themselves, good. They become bad or evil sequel to human’s iniquitous intervention.
Can it then be suggested that we become more attentive to the freedom we afford our children? Can it then be suggested we emphasise self-discipline each time we have spiritual sessions with our families?
Author of this article: By Afis A. Oladosu
“O you who believe! Protect yourself and family against a fire…” (Q66 :6)
WHEN, in 2004, the American, Mark Zuckerberg, who was then a student at Harvard University in America, developed the Facebook, little did he know that he was breaking new grounds in human socio-political and cultural realities. Little did he know, back in 2004, that what he named Facebook was going to open huge opportunities to billions of people across the world. As a ‘window’ on the World-Wide-Web, the Facebook is sui generis in the connectivity it provides; it is unique with reference to the information it yields, it is unparalleled with regard to the education it vouchsafes.
But Mark Zuckerberg could equally not have predicted that his product, the Facebook, would become like the honey-bee, its taste is sweet, its sting is venomous. Mark could not have imagined that the Facebook would, one day, become like the proverbial knife, with it yams and oranges are peeled, with it murder can be committed. The latter was brought to the fore last month with the murder of Cynthia Osokogu in the hands of “friends” she met on the Facebook. Cynthia Osokogu was a precocious, highly promising and highly resourceful young Nigerian woman.
In other words, she was a woman on the go, a woman in pursuit of life. Or, rather, Cynthia was a woman on the go, a woman who was being “pursued” by life.
At 24 she had accumulated such wealth, as would be a source of envy of her peers. Yet it felt as if she was at point zero. Thus she could not resist the urge to continue to grow her business. She wanted the world to know about her potential, that she combined beauty with brain, that her business sense was benchmarked against creativity. Thus she hoisted herself on the Facebook.
Cynthia displayed her business potentials and concern on the Facebook and ended up losing her soul, she was enticed and beguiled by agents of death who sent her to the morgue. The question becomes urgently pertinent, what could be the position of Islam on “keeping accounts” on the Facebook?
Brethren, one of the primary principles in Islamic jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh) is al-aslu fil Ashyai al-Ibahah – the primary regulation governing all things in Islam is their permissibility. In other words, every good thing on earth is lawful and permissible to the Muslim except and unless an evil or an infraction of the law is envisaged from its usage.
When viewed from this perspective, Facebook and other features of the social media then becomes lawful and permissible for the Muslim to enjoy particularly when the intention behind its usage and the activities people carried out on it are equally lawful. There is no doubting the fact that the Facebook, as I alluded to above, provides lots of opportunities to humanity. But there exists some skeptics out there who, while recognising the potentials and opportunities the Facebook affords us all, are more concerned about the negative underbellies of keeping accounts on it.
Let us begin from the beginning. To keep an “account” on the Facebook is to display your personal details for the world to see. You are equally encouraged to upload your picture. In order to do this, young men and women go extra miles to take pictures that would mask their “original copies.” The other day, a younger sister of an associate was seen on the Facebook with no hijab on her head, a young Muslim boy displayed a picture of himself in which he appears as if he is a member of the “whatz up guys” on campus.
In other words, dear Brethren, Facebook sometimes works towards ensuring modesty is thrown into the rubbish can. Our leader says, “modesty is part of faith and faith is of Paradise; but obscenity is part of hardness of heart and hardness of heart is of hell.” In addition to providing information, Facebook also opens up doors of indecencies and immoralities. Have you not heard about ‘hang-outs,’ which result from keeping friends on the Facebook?
Put differently, to sign up for an account on the Facebook automatically means listing friends and associates who would be invited to “check you out”. In a small village, which the world has become, you would even get invitations from people you never had any dealings with. Once you respond to an invitation, it means you are soliciting for hundreds more. Thus in order to be active on the Facebook, you need to have more than 24 hours in a day.
Thus, dear brethren, despite its promises and the opportunities it offers, I refuse to be seen on the Facebook because I do not wish to commit the “other” murder – that is, killing time. In other words, I consider Facebook as an enemy, which lowers my productivity and constitutes a cog in the wheel of my personal achievements and targets. If the number of hours people spend on their computers connecting with their friends is estimated in monetary terms, it is likely to be in the regions of billions of Riyals and Naira. I recently learnt that the time people spend on the Facebook costs Australian businesses around $5b dollars every year!
Brethren, Facebook has become another home for young children who, perhaps because of lack of parental care or their to submit to parental guidance, are now exposed to illicit and indecent values and ideas. Years before its emergence, the consensus had been reached that immorality and profanity had taken the world by the jugular; years after the birth of Facebook, the moral currency of the world has simply gone bananas.
Brethren, I refuse to be active on the Facebook because it deprives you and I of our privacy. The Facebook is like a scythe, which harvests information for the use of organisations far beyond our reach and control. Thus all the information you enter into your Facebook account, including your name, address, e-mail address, interests, job history, education history, relationship status, and much more may be turned against you and used to profit multi-national conglomerates.
Brethren, the moment you supply those information, the moment you click on that button, which signifies your agreement to the terms and condition governing the use of the Facebook, you are actually shipping your personal details away forever. That was what Cynthia did, that was what led, in part, to her death.
Brethren, the point I am making is this, even though Facebook has its advantages, it has become like a narcotic to which some have become gravely addicted. Its detriment has, consequently, become greater than its benefits. It has become like the proverbial “little thing.” The sage says: “Watch the little things, a small leak will sink a great ship.”
But brethren, upon greater reflection, it appears the use and abuse of Facebook is reminiscent of the use and misuse of every good thing Almighty has endowed us with on earth. In other words, everything the Almighty has made available to us on earth are, by themselves, good. They become bad or evil sequel to human’s iniquitous intervention.
Can it then be suggested that we become more attentive to the freedom we afford our children? Can it then be suggested we emphasise self-discipline each time we have spiritual sessions with our families?
Author of this article: By Afis A. Oladosu
