Dealing with Difficulty #25 Social Media Issues

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AI Generated Summary ©

The negative impact of social media on people's views and values is discussed, including the negative impact on people's health and safety. The speaker emphasizes the importance of disciplined use of social media to protect oneself and finding one's own value to determine if it is acceptable or not. The speaker also warns against compromise and the use of social media to achieve goals, and warns against discussing negative comments on social media as a way to gain instant growth.

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My brothers and sisters,

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don't you agree that social media has become

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an issue?

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Everyone

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is on social media, be it WhatsApp,

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Telegram

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or Instagram, TikTok,

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Facebook,

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Twitter,

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whatever it may be. There are so many

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platforms that some of those names

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we don't

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know. My brothers and sisters, people sometimes go

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on to social media in order to find

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validation.

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People want likes. They want follows.

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They want to be famous.

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They want to make money sometimes

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because they've heard that you can make money.

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And therefore,

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they end up doing silly things

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that are at times

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displeasing to Allah

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or compromising their own morals and values

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in order to achieve that.

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If you are going to do something silly

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in order to get a like or 2,

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you might get more than just 1 or

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2 likes, but

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it will come

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at a price

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really long term. It's not going to go

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down well.

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Similarly

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if you're doing something that is unacceptable

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in terms of

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what Allah has ordained as a believer, Obviously,

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those who don't believe,

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perhaps this wouldn't help them. But if you're

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a believer,

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what has Allah taught? He's taught you to

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be disciplined, to hold high morals and values

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and that discipline

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would actually bring about contentment

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and happiness

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and so much

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more.

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If you want to be content and happy,

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you need to be disciplined. That discipline

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will bring about

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the fulfillment

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of goodness that

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even if you're using social media,

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which is not a bad thing on its

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own, it's the way we use it. A

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lot of people have learned so much from

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the different platforms.

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Nonetheless, when you find something negative, you need

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to know how to interact with it. You

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need to know how to keep scrolling. Don't

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waste your time with it.

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Stop at that which you believe is beneficial.

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The minute

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it meanders

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into territory that is no longer beneficial, keep

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rolling. Keep rolling.

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And there you will be able to benefit

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and protect yourself. But

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on the flip side of it, like I

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was saying,

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if we're going to

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just have fun and say this is just

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banter,

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what type of banter? Like I say, it

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comes at a price

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because what happens is

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we always speak about connecting with Allah.

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Connecting with Allah.

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When you're disconnected from Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,

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you're on your

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own. So it might seem like there are

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thousands of people with you, but you're actually

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on your own

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because you've

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disconnected from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Now what

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happens?

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Now you're encouraged to do even more

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silly

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things, and then it doesn't stop there. You

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start living

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for people no longer for Allah.

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So my life rotates around

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me showing people everything.

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Whatever they wanna see, anything that makes them

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happy. And you know what? For as long

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as they give me,

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they call it gifts or money, for as

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long as I'm earning,

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I'm happy

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because that's my source of income.

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What type of income is that? Is it

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filled with blessing?

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Number 1, you disconnected

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yourself from Allah in order to have

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an income.

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We're talking about believers.

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Number 2

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is

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the income came in through something

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that you believe in your own belief structure,

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that it's immoral

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and it's not of the best of values

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or unacceptable in terms of values and morals.

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How then

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would you think the future is going to

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pan out?

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May Allah Almighty protect us. This is why

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we say social media

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is not easy to navigate, but

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it's not harmful on its own. It's how

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you use it that would determine

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whether

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it is acceptable or not in terms of

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its use.

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Like I just said, many people have learned

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so much. In fact, there is a lot

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out there to learn, so much to see,

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and it's good. You can either use it

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in a beneficial way, benefit yourself, or you

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can benefit others,

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or there is no benefit and no harm.

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That's okay still.

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But the moment it crosses the threshold and

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starts harming,

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it's either going to harm you

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and

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the people who follow you. Perhaps

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you start showing them things, they start following

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what you're doing

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Or you see what they do and

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you begin to do what they're doing. It's

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no longer about Allah. It's about them. It's

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about us. It's about the community I've built

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of people I'd never meet in real life.

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Some of them I may, but it's people

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I don't even know. I'm trying to impress.

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And the people I live with, they mean

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nothing.

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So it becomes so difficult

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because

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there we are. We're out there. And what

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we're doing is we're on social media out

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for the likes and the follows and everything

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else. Let's be careful.

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You don't need to be known.

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You don't need to be a famous person.

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Trust me, it comes at a price.

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Yes. If Allah has allowed and you've worked

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in a good way to whatever it may

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be, it may be your business.

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It may

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be faith based.

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It may be something you're teaching worldly.

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It may be for as long as it's

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something permissible. It may be a brand you

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have. It may be something you're showcasing. It

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may be your artwork.

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It may whatever it may be for as

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long as it's something permissible.

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Insha Allah

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Allah will allow you to grow.

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Yes. You work hard. You wanted to get

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out there. Insha Allah it will. But don't

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compromise

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your link with Allah to achieve that. That's

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all I'm saying. That if we are going

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to compromise our link with Allah, we failed

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in our use of social media. It will

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be bearing witness against us on the day

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of judgment. And just like there would be

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millions of people following a good example,

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There would also be millions of people following

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a terrible example.

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So if you are to say something positive

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and people followed you, it's going to bear

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witness for you. And if you're going to

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say something negative and people follow you,

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then it's going to bear witness against you

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on that day.

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Therefore, be careful.

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People sometimes say things that are so nasty.

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The comment section

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on a lot of social media platforms

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is hilarious but it's sad at the same

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time because people who are generally supposed to

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be believers

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worried about and concerned about the day of

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judgment.

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They don't even think what they're saying,

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what they're talking about. You haven't ever met

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this person. You haven't given them a chance

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to clarify. You don't even know what's going

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on. And here you are with the biggest

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and dirtiest and filthiest comments that are not

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actually you.

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So it's not you, but you didn't think

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about it. You know why? You disconnected, unplug

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from Allah

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before you plugged in

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with Shaitan

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and you didn't think.

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So you just started commenting, saying one thing

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after that. No matter how pious you think

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you are, that's not acceptable. So let's consider

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this.

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Let us in these blessed days think about

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what we type and what we say online.

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It's very dangerous.

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It's it's something that a single word would

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actually cause the tipping of our scales either

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this way or that way. The hadith says

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whoever believes in Allah and the last day

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should only utter that which is beneficial

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or remain silent. If you really believe that

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there is a day of reckoning,

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you wouldn't utter a word

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that is going to be held against you.

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Because when the scale is put in, you

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just need one more word to tip it.

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What if that word was that negative word?

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I'd rather it be the positive word. Remain

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silent or say something good.

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Similarly, if you're going to talk about someone

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online,

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and these are some of the difficulties we

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face with social media,

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if you say something negative,

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you don't know

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what might happen as a result of that.

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Sometimes the person may see it. They may

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not see it. So many others might say

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things

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and a whole war has happened behind the

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back of a person who is online or

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maybe sometimes they may know about it.

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The evil effect of that could be devastating.

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So don't do that. Let's be very responsible

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when we use social media

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and understand it's not all about the likes

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and the follows. It's not all about making

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money if it is compromising your values, your

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morals, and your connection with Allah. If it

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is connected with Allah,

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whatever you're trying to do will always succeed

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even if it is a worldly thing. Like

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I said, your business, your talent, whatever it

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you beautiful growth.

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you beautiful growth.