Navaid Aziz – Fiqh of Social Media #04 – Family Envy and Social Media Activism
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The speakers emphasize the importance of privacy and privacy in the online world, as smartphones can negatively impact mental health and social media activity. They stress the need for parents to be cautious and not compromise their identities and privacy, as it is rare for a Muslim person to be identified as a Muslim person. The speakers also emphasize the importance of setting realistic expectations and avoiding distractions, as it is rare for a Muslim person to be identified as a Muslim person. They stress the need for healthy behavior and finding ways to make change, while also acknowledging the negative impact of the death of Kobe Bryant. The speakers provide announcements and news updates for the upcoming week, emphasizing the importance of activism and social justice in achieving change and empowering individuals, protecting privacy and listening to others' perspective when sharing deeds and intentions, and protecting privacy and listening to others' perspective when sharing deeds and intentions.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Al hamdu lillahi Nahum Idahoans there in one iStockphoto when I was a biller Himanshu Rudy unforeseen elements at our Marina Marina de la who furthermore de la la who were my usual who further ha de la are shadow in La ilaha illallah who had the audacity color or shadow Ana Mohammed Abdullah Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa the early he was sabe he was seldom at the Sleeman Kathira and my blood. My dear brothers and sisters salaam Wa alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.
So what's something fascinating or interesting that you came across on social media today or yesterday? I'll start off. I was very shocked to see that DJ Khaled is performing ombre. I'm not sure if you guys saw that. When he was with Mike Tyson Mike Tyson's father, and there was someone else there. I can't remember who. But DJ Khaled performing obrah
neck Subhanallah That was a shock to me. Like I didn't know he still retains some sort of religious identity. Because he's always using like very non Islamic language. Right? And even when he was he had that very funny, funny interview about him praying there. Do you pray five times a day. He's like, you know, I pray like 100 times a day. And I'm praying right now as I'm talking to you. And just like he always has this funny persona. So in sha Allah, you know, that's a form of guidance for him.
He mixes in Quran with his rap. That's not the Djibril that shouldn't be happening.
The Quran, you know, needs to retain its sanctity. Allah.
David, what else is something new that you guys have seen on social media recently?
Interested in fascinating? Anything you want to share?
Shadow funded armor as well. Why you know that Shadi? I won't even ask why you know that. I will not even ask you that. But yeah, for people for running longer. That's huge. And Hamdulillah? Yeah. What do you guys think of all of the memes that came out when Morocco beat Spain? I think those are amazing. Like, you know, Muslims recaptured and the loss by winning. So Alhamdulillah that was a big victory for Islam in the Muslims.
Yeah, so I mean, look, there's there's a lot been going on on social media. Not all of it is great, but you gotta try to find the good that comes out of it. So within Lightoller are scheduled for tonight is we're going to be doing chapter number seven, which is family, chapter number eight, which is envy. And chapter number nine is about social activism on social media, which has changed, it's a lot to cover, we're going to try to go through as much of it as we can be there later either. So that we can get closer to finishing the book. You know, we were just discussing earlier, that while we're taking our time to do our due diligence in explaining these topics, and discussing these
topics, it's also put us behind schedule, the average Holocaust series is about four weeks long, this one's going to end up being around seven Bismillahi. Tada. So I appreciate your patience. And all of you sticking around for this journey, especially the familiar faces that are coming every week. You know, I really, really appreciate that just Xochimilco. So let's start off with family. Let's start off with family, what challenges have the smartphone posed to the family. So obviously, the first challenge that smartphones bring, is you're responsible for your own work life balance, you're responsible for your own social media consumption. Now, when it comes to family dynamics,
we've discussed this already, you have a family that sits down for dinner, everyone has their phones in front of them, everyone's busy and engaged with something else. And no one's actually talking and discussing things with one another. The father comes home from work, he's already exhausted and tired. But the fact that he's accessible through his smartphone, his work is constantly engaged with him. He's responding to emails responding to messages, and the family will feel neglected, even though he's physically present. And then when the fight erupts, you know, the wife will complain that, you know, you're never here, you're never around. And husband's like, I'm always here, what
are you talking about? He's talking about being physically present. She's talking about emotionally and spiritually being present. And that's where the disconnect is happening. So we start off with this dynamic. So we have to recognize that we're responsible for our own balance, we're responsible for our own consumption. And we've spoken about this quite a bit. Now.
Where is this dilemma coming? And stemming from putting work aside? If you have the opportunity to sit down and talk with your family, or you have the opportunity to watch you know, kmpl shorts, on YouTube? What are you going to choose to do? The individual that's had a long day, and just wants to decompress, they're like, all of a sudden, when I watch these kmpl shorts, the short sound bites, 30 seconds to a minute, they're gonna make me laugh, they're gonna improve my mood. And it doesn't require any mental strength, or energy. Whereas engaging with family, someone has a complaint, someone has a request, kids are gonna be like, Bob, I need some more money. And then you have to
start thinking of you know, why do we always spend my money is Am I just an ATM to you? And then you're like, Okay, let me just forget these conversations. I'm just gonna stay busy with my phone. So this alternative reality that you can create where you
Feel like you're decompressing but you're decompressing is not actually leading to anything positive. Right? So yeah, you will get entertained for a little while. But has it overall changed your mood? No, it hasn't. Because you'll become dependent on those clips, to become happy and to laugh. In order for your moods to actually change. This is where you realize the value of action, you do something that makes you feel good, that is going to be sustainable, and that will have a prolonged effect. But if it's an external source that is bringing you happiness, as soon as that external source is taken away, your happiness and your joy gets taken away. So you have to monitor
your own behavior as well. Why are we always craving these short clips to entertain us? Right? You can use it once in a while, but don't depend your happiness and your joy on it.
What other channels do you guys watch? That create good shorts and reels on social media? That make you laugh? I'm just talking from a human perspective. Go ahead Seidman What did they do? Exactly
Okay
Okay,
and do they do they like do pranks or like what are they doing exactly
you like we want you I'll definitely check that out. what else what else do you guys watch
Yeah, yeah. Do you watch that the hubby guy? The guy that always says and Bismillah he was recently on chop on Chopped like he's made a big Mashallah. Yeah hamdulillah how would the sisters What do you guys watch
sorry
but is there like a particular channel that you follow? Or look for these shorts or reels? Just do like I'm just gonna open up Tik Tok and find whatever the algorithm sends me
Okay, got you. Got you. Are there any particular channels the sisters follow?
Me No, go ahead
okay
cat videos.
Cat feels Yeah, I know cat things are like actually they have this massive trend like certain certain people. They'll have like their personal page and then they have like pages for their cats. It's Yeah
No way. So there's like cat celebrities. Allahu Akbar.
Ha
ha ha ha
I feel there's like a flick of catch tick tock that needs to be developed
Oh, no, wait, so final law
jeev
mashallah sister in the back your head
digital sisterhood podcast. Yeah, that's become famous very recently. And they've done a really good job. Mashallah. It's a It's amazing. And I think that's something that really needs to be celebrated. Because it's very rare that you'll find a Muslim personality that reaches like number one across the board. Like if you look at their podcasts in terms of his ranking, like the digital sisterhood podcast is run by a Muslim sister, and across the board, you know, it's been ranked one, number one for a number of weeks. That's really good. Mashallah. Anything else that I'm missing anything else that you guys watch? For pure entertainment purposes? Just to make you laugh? Go
ahead.
I'm glad you said for entertainment purposes, because you definitely should not be taking him seriously. Definitely should not be taking him seriously. So interesting. Sidenote, the there's a brother that attended a couple of weeks ago, he came up to me after the hurricane, he's like, Hey, we need to do a session on mid cell. And I'm like, What's mid cell? And he's like, the Muslim in cell movement. And I'm like, okay, that's really fascinating. Send me all the resources that you have. And there's actually quite a bit that's being written and documented on the Muslim in cell movement. So maybe in the Halacha coming near you we will be discussing and routine in quite a bit
of detail. So we'll consider you the in house expert inshallah. My dear friend Omar, go ahead. Last one. Sorry.
Tell me what that is. I have no idea what that is.
Okay, nice. What's his name again?
I show speed. I show speed. Okay, gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay, good stuff. Good stuff. Time. Let's continue.
So now, we've spoken about what what should families be sharing online, we should have that discussion with your families and with your kids, especially, and make sure that they're not sharing anything that will compromise their identities. And make sure that nothing that will compromise their integrity or their character as well, we have to be cautious. And you have to understand that anything that you put online is going to be there forever is going to be there forever. One thing that we want to speak about our new age parents, so something that's come online is like, family vlogs. And there is a good and a bad to this, like if you're trying to show how you can live in
Islamic lifestyle and Muslim lifestyle, and you want to educate people, thumbs up, I think that's something great, as long as your whole family is on board. What ends up becoming a disaster is you either as a mother either as the Father, you want to do this, but no one else in your family does. So you're forcing your family to create this persona online. But in reality, they're miserable. And there's a lot of underlying issues, and you're creating this facade. That's number one. Number two, is that as you're doing this vlogging of your family, are you compromising your family's security. And what we've seen, like this has happened many, many times. Now, these families become very, very
famous. But they, you know, inadvertently shared which neighborhood that they live in, or which school their kids are at. And then all of a sudden their kids are being approached, they know where your house is, they're being stalked at home, you don't want to compromise your security, as well. And I think the absolute worst thing that you can do as a parent, that's family vlogging is you let off steam about your family, particularly about your kids. And I think this is our brothers in the back that are talking. If you can please not talk I'd greatly appreciate that. Thank you so much.
The worst thing that you can do is let off steam about your family, particularly your kids. So you tell the whole world. Do you know what my kids did today? My kid didn't wake up for budget, how dare they, and you humiliate them. And your kids ended up at school, and your classmates have watched this video. And all of a sudden, everyone knows that didn't pay for it. And I'm just using that as a good example. It could be a wide variety of things, didn't do their homework, you know, God caught doing something bad. And you're basically shaming your child, I want you to imagine the impact that's going to have on your child, it's going to tarnish them forever, and it's going to sever your
relationship with them as well. So as Muslims get into these various online spaces, you want to think from the perspective of Islamically what is allowed, so shaming people definitely is not allowed. Exposing people's sins and mistakes is definitely not allowed. But also look at it from a security standpoint, are you jeopardizing your family security, and then also, the type of impact it's going to have on the personalities? Are you forcing your family to become someone that they don't want to be, and they're being ultimately very fake, on the camera, and off the camera. They're a very different personality. And that often happens with the main vlogger themselves. They pretend
to be all pious and righteous, perfect life, managing have a job cooking and cleaning, perfect meals being presented, laundry is folded. Everyone loves them great relationship with their neighbors. They're part of the parents committee. But in reality, you see that everything's falling apart, and they're just holding on to their lives by thread SubhanAllah. Your real life is much, much more important than the persona we portray. Authenticity is so important for your mental health, congruence, I will highlight this word congruence is so important for your mental health, that if you've created a fake persona online, that is not like that in real life. You're creating your own
mental health crisis, you are creating your own mental health crisis. Because you're setting up an expectation for yourself that when people interact with you, they're expecting to see that persona. But when they meet you, your road, you're angry, you don't care, you don't know you don't have any emotional intelligence whatsoever. You don't know how to run a relationship. And you know you can you create this disingenuous person, which Islamically is a form of hypocrisy, which Islamically is a form of hypocrisy.
Now, similarly, we have the exact opposite as well, where we have children, they get onto Tik Tok and the ranting about my parents know my parents don't understand me, my parents are from back home. And you know what? They don't understand the culture over here. They don't let me go out. They don't let me watch this movie. They don't let me listen to music. They don't let me do a wide variety of things. And you go on and rant and you complain about your parents. And we've seen this regularly. And this panela we were speaking about this early on the impact of what you expose yourself to, even though you may not do this yourself, but if you constantly expose yourself to this negativity, you
get desensitized and you start to think it's okay. And once you start to think it's okay, it may naturally come out of you as well. And that's what we want to try to avoid. So young people have to remember that just that you have to respect your parents in real life. You have to respect them and revere them online as
Well, you can't be complaining and ranting, you can't be exposing secrets and sins publicly. You can't be letting out your your your family laundry, right? Every family has their laundry. Oftentimes we'll look at these families online. And you may think, you know, why is my family so messed up? Why can't my family be like that. But the reality is, as we talk about envy, more is not always better. More is not always better, like the test of gratitude is much, much more difficult than the test of patience. And we'll talk about when when you talk about envy Bismillahi Tala.
In terms of basic etiquette, how many of you know someone that is constantly documenting their whole life on social media, always taking pictures always doing lives? How many of you know someone like that?
A lot of us, right? Even though there's no written law about this, officially. But from an Islamic advocate standpoint, you shouldn't be taking pictures of people without their permission, you shouldn't be taking pictures of people without their permission, and even more, so you shouldn't be putting pictures and videos of people online without their permission. This is a basic other than etiquette to have. So imagine you come to the Halacha tonight, and when you want to take some selfies after the Halacha. And there's people in the background, and you may think you know what, it's not that big of a deal. But if you want to share a picture of yourself, that's fine. You can do
whatever you like. But make sure you blurred those people out. If you're not going to blow them out, seek their permission, seek their permission. This is just basic, other and o'clock. And the deeper underlying issue, the constant need to put your whole entire life online. Where is that desire coming from? What need is it fulfilling inside of you? What need is it fulfilling inside of you. Now, we did the activity last week in terms of screen time, and I want to do it again to get some updates, because I'm hoping that my screen time has gone down with nella Atala, which it has hamdulillah so last week, I reported my average screen time was eight hours. I'm very, very happy to
report to you and hamdulillah my average screen time this week was five hours in 14 minutes. That is reason for celebration for me Al Hamdulillah. Who's going to share some numbers with me. Go ahead.
And what was the last week? You remember? You didn't have a last week? Okay. Bismillah. Who else? Mina, what's your number at this week?
20 servers and down Hamdulillah. But I remember you're doing a lot of like ebook reading. So that's good. Al Hamdulillah Go ahead. You Yeah, yeah. This Mala.
And what was the last week?
Good. So you've gone down as well. Hamdulillah. And how about you?
So you gone up. So the hour that he lost you basically taken over? How the law Go ahead.
Allahu Akbar, why is everyone going down? They do we take heed last week and when they call us, I don't want to be publicly shamed anymore. Go ahead.
hamdulillah that's a big improvement. Man. That's being improvement. Shani, where are you at? It wasn't turned on. Alhamdulillah hamdulillah no worries. Anyone else? The Smilla it went up because you were at like one hour or something last week.
Hamdulillah I would assume as much either called honor or the lecture. Mashallah. That's good. Anyone else want to share? Go ahead.
You want to buy an hour from last week? Okay. Alhamdulillah. Go ahead.
Go down. Because I'm not streaming. You're not streaming the Hello code is tight. There's no need to stream the Holika This is up on Facebook and on YouTube. You just share the link from that inshallah. Go ahead.
Two and a half hours and what was the last week? Around three weeks we've gone down as well. Hamdulillah. Okay, so that's really good. So now,
is there an actual number that we can say as a healthy number for people to be on their phones? Actually, I remember you had a ridiculous number last week, but you were also doing a science project. So you had like 12 hours last week, right? What was it this week?
You're just playing games today.
Okay, Alhamdulillah anything less than 12 hours I would have celebrated man. Anything less than 12 hours I would have celebrated Mashallah. That's great. So, now is there a number that we should be focusing on?
Exactly.
Of course,
beyond
right,
or whatever it is called
Excerpt I love that answer. i It's dependent on the individual themselves. Is there anyone that believes that everyone needs to abide by this one number regardless of their work, regardless of, you know, their position in society, this is a number that you need to stick to Anyone that believes that
not more than 24 hours, I'm sure there's a brother that's gonna prove you wrong. I'm sure there's a brother that's gonna prove you wrong. He's gonna get two votes, and at the same time, and he'll be like, 48 hours right here. Now the law? No, I that. I mean, if that is the standard we're setting. Like that's like, you aim so low that you're guaranteed success, right? You so you're guaranteed success. And that's what you want to get it. So the key thing is not looking at the actual number, right? I know, a lot of times, we get very shy about the number eight hours is so much 10 hours is so much somebody made me feel three hours is so much. And I completely get that. But the key thing
you want to look at is what are you doing on your phone? What are you doing on your phone. So if you're constantly just watching stuff that is useless, you want to minimize that time. If you're constantly just scrolling through social media, without doing anything productive, you want to cut out to that time, if we're constantly just chatting away with your friends sharing memes, then night, cut out to that time. But if you're reading ebooks, you're learning you're watching lectures on YouTube, you're learning something through a course or something like that. It's irrelevant on how high those numbers are right? I can't remember which brother was sharing. But the brother
commutes a lot to back and forth. And he says, while I'm commuting back and forth, I always have my phone playing a YouTube lecture. And if it ends up being like 12 hours, no, that's not something to be ashamed about. It's more about what are you doing with your phone? It's more about what are you doing with your phone? That's what you want to focus on? Should you still set a daily time limit for yourself and for your kids? How do you guys feel about that? You should so what does that look like?
hour
hour, another hour,
hour,
half an hour, whatever it is reasonable enough
Excellent. So that's for yourself, I love that advice. Try to schedule out your day and abide by that schedule. And that's really good because that way you've committed a certain amount of time you fulfilled your obligation with Allah He to Allah and you know that as soon as that portion is over, you can move on to something else. Any other thoughts? Should you be setting a time limit for yourself in terms of how much you use your phone? Go ahead
yeah.
So you should have some sort of control because moderation is a part of our deen I love that
10pm to 6am Do Not Disturb on your phone. But that's no one can reach you But do you still use your phone at that time? Will you put your phone away as well? That's discipline mashallah, that's really good. There's actually this concept of before you go to sleep three hours before you sleep don't eat two hours before you sleep don't drink and one hour before you sleep don't use anything that has a blue light meaning either TV or your phones or your iPads and things like that. And I think that's a very healthy lifestyle to come into. How do the sisters feel should we be setting time limits on our phone usages? We should go ahead do you have a thought to share
what am I?
Right
Of course, right?
Right.
I agree with that design luck. So setting a schedule and key having accountability for your time. You know, we had that famous statement for the heart from an Huseynov bursary into Yamaneika Yeomans, I have about a dog, that you are just a number of days if a day goes by part of you has gone by and even Mr. God Allah who has been saying that if you are the same person that you were yesterday
This is like from the biggest of disasters, I mean, if you haven't learned something, or if you haven't given up a bad habit, then this is a disaster, you know, what have you done with your time, kids setting limits for kids, the younger the kid, this is my personal opinion, we're not gonna have a discussion on this, we can discuss it. Later on in Sharla, the younger the child, the less screen time they should have. They need to learn to interact with people, they need to experience the world, they need to learn hands on experience, and understand that education is a very key component, particularly when you introduce a screen to them, but try to be more inclusive of hands
on experience, and then learning things through their hands and then learning things through their hands. That will be much, much more better for them, we're still studying the impact of screens upon young kids like there hasn't been enough study in terms of a longer to study of the 3040 years of the impact that will have, but I'm very confident that more screen time for the younger child is very detrimental to their development. And that is something we want to stay away from, you have a comment or question?
So yeah, if you have a written down schedule, that's very productive. But I think what I wanted to get at is the way you that you use your phone, in your phone, there is the option that certain apps, you can put a limit as to their usage. And then if you want to use it more than that, you need a passcode that passcode you shouldn't have for yourself, and it must be about you, I'm zooming out the publisher in general, give it to a friend give it to a family member. And then if it's a desperate situation, you get the passcode, you change it again, and then you get access to it. So for example, you shouldn't be watching like five hours of Netflix every single day, you shouldn't be
on Facebook for five hours every single day, or Instagram or Tiktok, or all these social media accounts. Unless that's your actual business. That's the the exception. But if you're just consuming content, there has to be a limit, you need to decide what that is for you. You need to decide what that is for you. So now, the last point I want to mention over here is the trap of action. We've discussed this already comparing your family to everyone else's, we've done that. So let's move on to the action points. Action Point number one, call a family meeting, and walk through the issues that we've discussed over here today. So the issues that we've discussed, call a family meeting,
discuss these issues with your family. What does healthy screen time and social media engagement look like for your family? And how will you follow through on it, that's always the big thing. Like I like this idea of like 10pm to 6pm. Everyone puts their devices away. And it's like, you should not even have access to it like leave it in the living room to charge. You wake up in the morning, you use the bathroom, you've prayed Fudger you've gotten ready for the day. And then you go and check your phone. One of the worst habits that we do, and we've discussed this already, is you wake up. And the first thing you'll do in sha Allah Who Snowdin we make our vicar in Al Hamdulillah
Liliana by the Mammoth and within a short, okay Facebook notifications, Instagram notifications, email notifications, then go use the bathroom, then go pray budget, and then start our day. That's not the way to start your day. Like you're over exercising your brain, when you shouldn't be doing that. Start off your day as calm as serene as possible. You're supposed to start off with gratitude. So you start off by praising Allah subhanaw taala. So I love this example of 26 put it away for those that can actually do it. Number two, identify screen free family times. So dinnertime definitely put phones away, but other other times of the day where you should not have access to
your phones and your tablets. So if you're doing your homework, and it doesn't require you to look something up, put it away and make that mandatory to do your homework in public spaces. Take away the tablets and the phones. Don't you have any distractions, Quran time, take away the phones don't have any distractions, right? set those boundaries. And approach these with a mindset of experimentation. You may try something and after two weeks you realize it's not working. That's not a problem, meet again adjust. And this will constantly be an evolving process. So particularly as your children get older, you want to have a bit more leeway, a bit more flexibility with Allah He to
Allah, chapter number eight, envy chapter number eight, envy. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, envy is permitted only in two cases, a man whom Allah subhanaw taala gives wealth, and he disposes of it rightfully, and a man to whom Allah subhanaw taala gives knowledge which he applies and teaches it. So we look at the differentiation between hassad and Agrippa. has said and Gupta has said is, is often what we call envy. And this is what we're familiar with to Through The sortal falak. Right. But when we look at this hadith this hadith is not actually talking about Assad is talking about Gupta. How do we differentiate between the two has said you see someone
that has something, you want it for yourself. And you would prefer that the other person didn't have it, you would prefer that the other person doesn't have it ripped off, you see something good. You want that person to retain it. But you also want it for yourself, you also want it for yourself. So crypto is allowed. Whereas hazard is prohibited has said, is prohibited. So let's establish some very quick rules. Anytime you see something from someone that you like that you admire, that you're impressed by, we want to create our natural habitat and intuition to say Allahumma barik, Allahu Allahumma, Barik Allah, that Allah bless them in it, that should be your natural reaction. And that
is one of the best ways to protect yourself from hasit. Number two, is develop this mindset that more is not necessarily better. And less is not necessarily worse. Less is not necessarily worse. What do we mean by this? People often assume that being rich is better. Being rich is not necessarily better. Having enough for your family to survive, is the ideal situation, you have more than that. You spend it in a way of Allah that is even better than that. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam tells us that the poor people will enter paradise 500 years before everyone else. Why is that the case? Because the more you have, the more accountability you have. The more you have,
the more accountability you have. And just like you understand this concept with wealth, understand this with everything else. Anything that requires gratitude will require more accountability. And here requires gratitude will require more accountability. So just because someone has something of it that requires gratitude, don't assume that they're automatically better off. Because if that becomes a hindrance between them and their deen and it separates them and distracts them from worshiping Allah and thanking Allah subhana wa Tada, it's now become a punishment. Would you consider a blessing? Allah is actually punishing them through it. Right? The Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam has addressed in short, the Tober for that to Juba and Wildhammer hola de Haan in NEMA you read Allah Who are you at Zebra on behalf of dunya What does haka and foster homes will occur at home Crossy Road, or actually no, it says on foster home. I don't remember the end of the
home cafiero behind cafiero. That is how the iron is off. So Allah's Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is taught that do not be impressed by the wealth and the children, that the most raccoon have that what they flaunt in front of you, don't be impressed by it. Because Allah subhanaw taala is only using that, to punish them in this life, and they will be disbelievers in the Hereafter they will be disbelievers in the hereafter. So how does Allah subhanaw taala punish someone? What is the punishment that Allah subhanaw taala is referring to, in this ayah that is to be taken away from the remembrance of Allah to be taken away from the worshipping of Allah. It's not physical pain, but it
has to be taken away from the worship of Allah. And if that is what is happening, that is the greatest form of punishment, it is greater than any form of physical, psychological, emotional persecution that a person can face. So that is a second guideline that we want to abide by. And then we'll build upon this. So number one, anytime you are impressed by something, make dua for them. Number two,
don't always think that more is better, and less is worse. But understand that Allah subhanaw taala, tests people in different ways. And then we move on from there. Now, you'll notice that emotions are fleeting, so there are times where you will be happy. And then you will be sad. There are times where you will be overjoyed. And then you'll be miserable. This is the the way life works. But one of the emotions that has a prolonged effect on your heart, and your mental health is envy. So as soon as you see something, and she thought and plants that seed in your mind, how come I don't have that, or how come they get to have it that will linger in your mind for the rest of the day, if you
do not fight it off as soon as it comes in. So you have to understand that envy is a very different emotion from the other emotions that are out there that are fleeting, you watch a video what makes you happy, you move on, you saw something else that made you sad, you move on. But as soon as you see something that you're envious of shaytan is going to use that to manipulate your heart and your soul. You want to be very, very careful of that you want to be very, very careful of that. Now, who does shaytaan create a rift between when you become envious you're becoming envious of your peers. So I'll give you an example.
You see someone like you know let's go back to DJ Khaled. DJ Khaled is making camera. Like how many of us had the feeling that we saw DJ Khaled making camera? You know I wish I could go from raw instead that you consider DJ Khaled a celebrity. You know that's His Word.
Good for him. But all of a sudden you see one of your colleagues at work that went for Umrah. And he's sharing the whole experience of praying Fudger in the Masjid Al haram, here in the event, being able to make the off. And you're like, Man, why? How come they got to go and I didn't get to go, what's special about them, that Allah invited them, but didn't invite me. So it creates a rift between your peers, your friends and your colleagues. And those are those that we will consider your contemporaries. And that type of animosity is what Satan wants. So you have to be very careful of how shaytaan creates a dissent between people. So you may not be envious, over the same action over
someone else. But as soon as it's someone that you would compare yourself to in your social circle, that shaytaan creating dissent between you shaytaan creating dissent between you. And he creates, you know, Omar masala to particular he presents some great examples. So particularly if you're struggling with something. So for example, you're struggling to get married. And then your friends are posting pictures of their wedding, posting pictures of their honeymoon. Imagine the impact that it has on you, someone that's struggling to pay the rent, and then you see your friends going on these exotic vacations. Imagine the impact that it's going to have on you. Someone that is
traveling, having trouble having a kid, and someone just has a new, you know, born baby, imagine the impact that it's going to have on you. So if you haven't focused on fixing your heart, and wanting good for everyone, and praying for baraka for everyone, it's going to become a punishment for you more than it is for them. Because do you think they're going to know that you're envious of them? Do you think that they know that they are constantly on your mind, and that you're jealous of them, they won't, it becomes a punishment for you. So the best thing to do is to fight it off and to pray for baraka for them to fight it off and create baraka for them. Understand that social media
companies, they thrive on your insecurity, they thrive on your insecurity.
Meaning that if you look up a particular video, they assume that you want to know more about this video that you enjoyed this video and also the on the on the type of content, the videos that you sort of enjoy. They know that you'll naturally search those out. But videos that you're wanting to benefit from and learn more about, they will take the assumption that you're insecure about those videos about those topics. So then they will start presenting to you those even more and more, till all of a sudden, the creators of content that are selling products now No. And they start off, Hey, are you struggling to get married? Are you finding yourself very lonely at night? Do you find
yourself constantly thinking? Why am I so miserable? Sign up for my marriage course 599. But if you sign up right now, in the next 20 minutes, you will get 50% off. You guys know what I'm talking about? Right? Do you think that happens by accident? No, not at all. Social media knows what you are thriving for and what your insecurities are content creators work with those social media companies to create that content. And they create a state of desperation, to sell their product and take advantage of yours insecurity. And that is what ends up happening. And you have to be so careful of that. Every single person in this room has an insecurity. For some person, it will be the
relationships. For some person, people it will be their weight. For some people, it will be their academic standards, their jobs, whatever it may be. And speaking about, like people like Andrew Tate, they are masterminds at this. They recognize that new age men are having an identity crisis, they're having self esteem and confidence issues, and they thrive on taking advantage of them, that I will make you more of a masculine man, and you will pay me for it. Right? Like I want to share an actual quote from you. This is from a couple of weeks back, and Hamdulillah he took this down. But I'm sharing it for the from where his mind is coming from. His exact quote is that I am great. I am
God's greatest gift to men. So after thanking Allah, they should thank me, like this is the delusion of grandeur that he has. And I pray that loss I know to Allah continues to guide him. But this concept on preying on people's vulnerabilities, we have to stop that, like as valuable as your content is much alive. In all content creators believe their content is valuable, as valuable as it is produce content for the sake of benefit, not for the sake of profit. There's a big difference. Because if you're creating it for the sake of benefit, you're going to make it accessible to people. If you're doing it for the sake of profit. You want to maximize your profit margins, minimize your
expenses and you won't care about the quality of your product. care more about the quality as opposed to the financial benefit. If you're able to financially benefit and as a business. Alhamdulillah by all means explore that. But you have to draw guidelines that capitalism continues to destroy us, and it will make the predators even more vicious in their prey of those that have insecurities which all of us do. People have
just learned to manipulate it's panela.
Now,
we've spoken about the concept of how people only share their wins online, they don't share their losses. You have to keep reminding yourself of that, right? You make that principle number three, you know, snap back to reality. Whatever you see online, it's not real. These are no doctored pictures. They're deeply edited, they're brushed up. And people are consciously choosing what they want to share with you, and what they don't want to share with you. So when you're being envious of something and you're desiring something, you're desiring something that isn't real. No one has a perfect life. No one has a perfect life. And we keep coming back to the fact of people whom Allah
subhanaw taala has given everything to Allah has given them fame, Allah has given them money, Allah has given them the world at their fingertips. Yet these are the people that are abusing substances day and night, because they can't stand to live their lives. These are the same people may Allah subhanaw taala protect us all that are committing suicide, because they can't bear to be alive, even though Allah subhanaw taala has given them everything. Right, that's something to think about. That's something greatly to think about.
Now, last couple of points that we want to share with you is this
than the nature of man, and this is from sortal Fudger, where Allah subhanaw taala, he tells us about mankind, then the nature of man is that when his Lord tries him through honor and blessings, he says, My Lord has honored me. But when he tries him through the restriction of His provision, he says, My Lord has humiliated me. So if you're looking for evidence of this concept of more is not always better and less is not always worse. This is the exact delille over here, Allah subhanaw taala tells us when mankind is given provisions, he thinks he is blessed, but if his provisions are restricted, he thinks he is humiliated. That's not the case. Anything that brings you closer to
Allah is better, anything that becomes a barrier between you and Allah is a punishment. He shares a great quote for you over here. And this is like a lecture on its own and Sharla. One day, he says, Alan Doherty, he comments. The other thing about modern society, and why it causes this anxiety is that we have nothing at its center, that is non human. We are the first society to be living in a world where we don't worship anything other than ourselves. We think very highly of ourselves. And so we should we force people on the moon, done all sorts of extraordinary things. And so we tend to worship ourselves. Our heroes are human. That is a very new situation. Most other societies have had
right at their center, the worship of something transcendent beyond themselves. And I think that's phenomenal. Subhanallah like if you look at why people are constantly craving this attention, they've learned to love themselves as the highest form of love. They learned to be afraid of their own failures as the highest level of fear. Their hope, is only about accumulating as much as they can in this life, because there's no concept of believing in the hereafter that they should be striving for. And this is what the social media has exasperated, right. It's drastically built this up and sped up this process of you taking yourself as an inner circle Jaffe, verse number 23. Allah
subhanaw taala tells us Have you seen the one who has taken himself as an ILA. This is what has happened over here.
Last point, or actually last two points that are mentioned
is that and this can be principle number four Bismillah heeta, Allah, everything that you struggle with, is your form of jihad. Everything that you struggle with, is your form of jihad. In October, Ronnie, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, if he is striving to provide for his young children, then he is considered to be in the path of Allah. If he's striving to provide for his elderly parents, then he's considered to be in the path of Allah. If he's striving to provide for himself to avoid being dependent on others, he is considered to be in the path of Allah. And I think this specifically refers to those individuals that struggle with their jobs. Why can't I have a
better job? Why can't I have a better position? Why can't I have this, strive for those things by all means, don't restrict yourself, work hard, get the training, get the skill set, and work towards it. But don't question the candle of Allah. Don't question you know, why has Allah put me in that position? Because perhaps Allah subhanaw taala has saved you from something. But the point that we want to look at is the reality of no matter what you're struggling with. Allah subhanaw taala is rewarding you and I wanted to stir to bring us back to Salah when you're waiting for Salah to be established. You're waiting for that salah. You're being rewarded as if you're in Salah. You come
into this halacha tonight. If you got stuck in traffic
While you were stuck in traffic, you were being rewarded for attending this Halacha, even though you didn't even make it to the Halacha yet. So all of your struggles that are happening in your life, if you frame them the correct way, you're being rewarded for those things. And that's what we want to focus on framing things the correct way. The last point in this chapter, he says, look at those that have less than you, and do not look at those who are above you, for that will make you more inclined to not reject the favors of Allah. This is a Hadith from the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam. So now, when you're looking at people, as a Buddha, always look at people that are better than you strive to
be like them, right? The Crypto that we're talking about, but when it comes to dunya possessions, strive to look at those less than you and learn to be grateful for what you have. And learn to be grateful for what you have, for surely where Allah has placed you is with infinity knowledge and with infinite wisdom with infinite knowledge. And with infinite wisdom. Let's take his action points and we'll take a very small break inshallah. Action Item Number one, set realistic expectations for yourself, based on your circumstances, make dua to Allah and rely on him for a way out of your difficulties. Right, always find a way to connect to Allah subhanaw taala and set realistic
expectations for yourself. So for example, let's talk about struggling with one's weight. Someone wants to lose, you know, 30 pounds. Don't think that if I fast today, and I work out for five hours today, I'm gonna end up losing 15 pounds by tomorrow. And I can repeat that the day after, and I'm gonna lose my 30 pounds. If that is your genuine expectation, you're setting yourself up for failure, be more realistic with a sense of optimism and seek help from Allah. Number two, ensure that your timeline is coupled with time to develop meaningful relationships offline, he keeps bringing this point up, and I can't emphasize it enough either. It is through these relationships,
that you can remind yourself, no one has it easy. Your friends are struggling as well, even if their particular struggle is different from yours. These friends are also important an important source of support. So there's meaningful relationships as you discuss the problems that you're having. It brings you back to reality, right? That, hey, everyone's having problems. And just like you need support, they need support as well. So you support each other. Number three, remember that what you post online may be something that causes envy in others, be mindful of the good news you share and how it may affect those that are struggling. So we shared this rule previously. But try delay
sharing the good news publicly. You graduated, you got married, you had a kid, you don't need to live streaming, you don't need to post it up right away. Give yourself some time shared with your family and friends and close circles first. And then if you want to share it publicly, go ahead but give it some time. let things settle down. And number four, if you find yourself feeling envy towards others, make dua that Allah blesses them and blesses you shaytaan will stop casting it in your heart when he sees it as counterproductive. So if he sees that he's unable to create dissent between you and your contemporaries and your friends, she thought we'll give up at that point. I
want to take a quick like two minute break here inshallah. So why doesn't everyone just stand up, stretch out a little bit, get some energy out. If you want to grab some tea quickly grab some tea, you want to get some water get some water and we'll start up in exactly two minutes with Allah He Tada
so that when he come everyone if you can take your seats inshallah and we'll proceed. And within the heats Allah, we will be done imminently. Giselle Kamala Caden for your patience. And bearing with me of wanting to get through the content. I want to be able to go through the content with quality as opposed to running through it. But I also understand that, you know, it's been a long week, it's been a long day, we've prayed Joomla today, we've had multiple things going on. It's good to take that break with the lights either. So I appreciate those of you that have stick around. There's no credit. So now we talk about social activism, and the concept of trying to make change online. And
hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa sallahu wa sallam American mbN Muhammad Ali, he was such a big man and my blood. Now question for all of you.
Social media activism. Is it real? Or is it just a trick that we play on ourselves? To make us feel good that we're doing something? Social media activism, is it real? Or is it just a trick that we're playing on ourselves? To make us feel good that we're actually doing something? What do you think? Go ahead?
So if there's planning or preparation, it can make an impact but there was no planning or preparation, then it's not going to make an impact. Other thoughts and opinions?
Go ahead.
Google activism and who they are. Because this is just as life goes online
right?
And you notice the trend
is to be gaining popularity and maybe enforcement eventually you're qualified to talk about
information
which is
rarely is of course a
great point because there was another sister that had her hand up
questions after you have to answer my question first?
Excellent. So that's a very unique perspective of data privacy and why people should not be active doing social media activism. Anyone else from the brothers? Thoughts? Is it real and has an impact? Or are we just deluding ourselves? These two go first? Yep.
Okay. So depends on your intention explained what does that mean?
of contracts or getting contracts or getting
getting
weary about
all of the things that happened?
So what's happening
to social media.
Right.
Excellent. I want to come back to this Iran point, inshallah chatty. Okay.
That is real. And I think there is a little bit of armchair social activism where someone changes their focus with certain color, and they felt I did enough come to lack and right. But even in doing that, we're in an era where trending topics can actually catch attention. So even if there's an art armchair social activists who just feel that they're satisfied, again, it comes through intention, there could be a greater good, even with that little x, because if the powers that be noticed, oh my god, there's 2 million Muslims around the world, you know, discussing something right? Not gonna look at the details.
actually catch the attention of someone, it could make a difference. Excellent. So you can possibly catch the attention of someone that can make a difference. Okay. I have a follow up question for you. Can we all agree as a room today that it is impossible to care equally about every course? Can we agree with that? Is there anyone that disagrees with this statement? Anyone disagree with that, that it is not possible to equally care about, about every single cause? And the disagreement? Okay, so that is the premise I want to build. Now, the question I want to ask, if we recognize that we cannot equally care about every single cause, and thus speak about every single cause? How do we
choose which causes we speak about? That is my question for you? How do we choose which causes we speak about Go ahead?
So causes that you understand and know both sides of the story is about greatest perspective. Go ahead.
What does that mean?
Excellent. So causes that you deeply care about. So you have a personal attachment to a personal history to it. Great, go ahead.
Excellent, so I like that mechanism that if you're able to discern between what is more urgent and less urgent care about the most urgent thing first, and then care about the other thing later, who else had your hand up here? I saw another hand up.
Go ahead.
So you have Palestine going on. You have Syria going on? You have Libya going on? Where is your heart telling you to go? All of them are Muslim countries.
I'm living right now.
You know, we were talking about you posting online, and you've already shared your views on, you know, data protection laws. So I completely get that. But we're talking about if you were to choose online, but what is the thought process behind you deciding, I'm going to support this cause right now and not support this cause right now, that's what we want to try to get it and look at
any other thoughts?
I want us to recognize that it's not as simplistic as we think it is. And often what ends up happening is one of two things. Number one, the echo chamber that we live in, so whatever we see our family and friends posting, will naturally follow that trend, like comment share, or this is where I think things get even deeper. And this is where we bring in the issue of Iran, where social media will intentionally promote some causes over others. So we saw this particularly when France happened, the whole Charlie Hebdo incident, everyone created this filters that you can change your picture to, and everyone's talking about it. But something happens in Palestine, there is no filter
for Palestine. Something happens in other part of the Muslim world with the Uighur community, there is no filter for the Uighur community on Facebook, right? So social media plays a huge role in the causes that we choose to support, it plays a huge role in the causes that we choose to support Go ahead.
Right, that's a very valid point, like, if you look at to this,
you know, structural Islamophobia, that it makes us understand that middle eastern Muslim lives are worth less than those that are non Muslim, or perhaps are Caucasian, or white skinned. And we see the treatment of Syrian refugees versus Ukrainian refugees, the amount of support that's put towards the Ukrainian community and towards the Syrian community. This is not to say that we want to less support for the Ukrainian community. What we are asking for is the equal amount of support for refugees coming from Middle Eastern and Western countries as well. treat everyone equally. Yep.
A celebrity?
Right, but think about that for a second. Why does the death of a celebrity have more of an impact as opposed to Achmed Rahimullah dying in Yemen or in Philistine? Why is that the case?
So I'll share, you know, a reflection on the death of Kobe Bryant, like a lot of people in my age group in my generation, they were greatly moved by the death of Kobe Bryant, and Kobe Bryant, just any other basketball player, isn't he? Like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, you? You know, you have all these great players that are still there. Why are we so moved by the death of Kobe Bryant, people see their own mortality in these young people that passed away, they recognize that everything can be snatched away in a heartbeat, regardless of how famous powerful rich you actually are. And they recognize their own mortality.
When I have my daughter Hema hula passes away, they don't see themselves in that mud. Because we're striving to be like Kobe Bryant, we're not striving to be like, Ahmed. So that is why the celebrity death has a greater impact on our society, because we consider them more relevant. And we see ourselves more in them than we do in Akhmad or Fatima or, you know, Muhammad or anyone else. So I like your point. And I think there's a point of reflection to take from that. Now. Let's move on. So now, as we do social media activism, we want to look at the brothers point, what is our intention in doing so? Is our intention to create awareness? Is our intention to make change? Or is the intention
just to show the world that I care, and I've done something about it, and have done something about it. Now, what is point number three look like? Point number three is the LIKE, SHARE COMMENT. Right? So you liked the article, you liked the video, you share the video, because maybe you didn't watch all of it, you share the article that you didn't bother reading, just to show that, you know, you've done something. And by Allah, this is the most annoying thing. And Hamdulillah we don't see this in the community as much, but we're starting to see it. thoughts and prayers. Oh, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Dude, what are your thoughts and prayers mean? Like? Do your thoughts really
make an impact on the world? And surely your prayers do, but if you don't believe in anything, who are you praying to? What are you praying to? So what are your thoughts and prayers mean from that person? And this is like, we see this all the time. Catastrophe happens hashtag thoughts and prayers. And that's just like, frustrating, because they're so disingenuous, so disingenuous. So going back to being authentic and genuine, what is our intention? And then what are the actions that we're trying to?
What are the results that we're trying to achieve through our actions? Are we taking appropriate actions now?
The more that others participate in online activism, the more pressure mounts on you also to participate. So if you see everyone in your timeline in your social media feeds, that is commenting, liking and sharing. And these are people that you regularly interact with, you have WhatsApp groups with them and other social media groups with them. If you don't comment, like and share, people don't ask why do you not care? Right is this, you know, not something that resonates with you. And it actually ends up becoming a trap. So we ended up becoming this, you know, senseless, mindless, social media activists that are doing it for the sake of fitting in, as opposed to actually making
drastic change. So now, if you do not update your picture, you're now accountable to the suspicions of others, do you not care about the cause. And this is what gets labeled as performative activism. So this is the term that we're looking for performative activism. We're doing activism for the sake of everyone else doing it. But with regards to real change, we're not doing anything tangible, that's going to bring about change. Now, here's an idea that I want to explore as a community. Building on this brother's point, something that resonates with you deeply, we recognize the fact that not all of us can equally care about a catastrophe or a cause all the time. So he says that you
should focus on those that you deeply care about building on this very point. Our activism, in person and on social media needs to be strategically done. So you have certain people mashallah diehard Palestinian cause supporters, certain individuals, diehard Uighur cause supporters, certain individuals, diehard Kashmir supporters. And that's great. And what that allows us to do is that understand that activism, and social justice is a foreign key via that as long as one group is doing it, the community is absolved of sin. So all you want to do is that those people that are supporting Palestine, we encourage them to continue supporting Palestine, because that allows me to focus on
another cause. And with all of our organizations with all of our groups, focusing on just one individual cause, we will be stronger that way. As opposed to everyone trying to care about every cause. And feeling that pressure that I have to care about every cause. You don't, you do not have to care about every cause equally, you need to feel pain when most of them suffer. You need to have the desire wanting to change the world for a better place. But it is impossible for you to care about every cause equally. So those people that are passionate about a cause, empower them, find out what you are passionate about, and get involved over there so that you can make the most change over
there that you can make the most change over there.
Social media activism really undermines the Copic of dua. So we spoke about thoughts and prayers, but from a Muslims perspective, where does the priority of dua come into play? So do we make dua first and then do our activism? Or do we do our activism and when it fails, we make dua, right? Dua should always be first. Dua should always be first. And this is a way of asking yourself, Is your social media activism performative? Or is it genuine? Did you make dua for that this cause? Did you wake up at the 100 time to make dua for this? Cause? That is a genuine question to ask. If you are genuine and sincere in it, the impact of online activism is not then measured in lives changed by
the number of views. This is what social media activism does. So as you're just focusing on the likes, shares, and views, you're like, okay, the more likes I got on my video, the more you know, successful I was in the social media activism. But what ends up happening is people watch this video, but they've seen 1000 other videos as well. And you're not going to change people's minds, your amakhala, you're not going to change people's minds like that. The actual way of changing people's minds and this is where we'll get closer to our conclusion is this theory
of when you're on an aeroplane, you will notice that within a set group of rows, people will have similar behaviors. So for example, if someone starts leaning on the right, you'll find that part of the row will start leaning on the right. If someone starts watching something and listening to something, the rows will start watching and listening to something and this is called the Theory of influence of five rows. So the theory is that within five rows if someone starts up a trend, you will see that five rows within the aeroplane will start following that trend. This can be eating, sleeping, watching something, the way that you're sitting the way that you're doing something that
is your sphere of influence. Now within your own life. You have people that you
have deep connections with people that you will debate and discuss things with. Those are the people that you can actually change their minds and get them involved in their causes. As we've, you know, killed to death. debating with people online doesn't work and it's not effective. You have, you know, hashing it out in the comment section on YouTube on Facebook, it's not going to work, create valuable content. But more important than that, create meaningful relationships, that you can have an impact on people's lives that you can have impact on people's lives.
He has a paragraph that I want to share with you. He says accepting that premise and acting upon it has its own consequences, the consequence of likes and views and shares, the cause we are advocating for now is now competing against other causes in the marketplace for attention. We see this most commonly displayed with what adultery when someone posts something about one cause. Another inevitably will reply saying, Well, what about this other cause? This is a passive aggressive way to undermine advocacy, for one cause in favor of another. So one person will say pray for Palestine, someone else will say, but what about praying for Syria, and Subhanallah as an Imam, this is so
true. Like in Ramadan, on the day of Eid, if you start mentioning certain countries, and you forget someone's country, people will be insulted. They will be angry. How dare you forget my country? How dare you forget my cause? SubhanAllah. And you'll come and get a lecture at the end of the football at the end of the sermon at the end of the DUA. What's the easy way out? Allah hormones are the one and Mr. Dafina if you call the Macan, they go Allah help all of our, you know, we can impress the brothers and sisters everywhere. Go ahead.
No, no, you should not do anything and sincerely, that is what we want to establish. If you're not genuine, and you feel aren't taking proactive real steps in your life, liking, sharing and commenting is going to be irrelevant, unless it's a strategic move like she's talking about. So someone doesn't campaign. You know, what the plating of the wiggers is not getting enough intention. So everyone tonight, go and create a hashtag. You know, I started with the Uighur people. So yes, you may not be involved, but for the cause of something specific like this. You can do something like that. But it without a strategic calls. You shouldn't post something that's disingenuous or in
sincere
and we're almost done with Allah heeta Allah, I want to share with you
three more points Bismillahi Tala. Three more points within it. Tada. The danger of trying to care about every cause, is that creates compassion, fatigue, compassion, fatigue, that you get exhausted, and you stop caring about the causes altogether. You're like, I need a break. And we don't want that to happen. We don't want that to happen. That's number one. Number two, here's a quote about from Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg, a journalist was asking him a question about the news feed. And the journalist was asking him, why is this news feed so important? And Zuckerberg said, a squirrel dying in your front yard may be more relevant to your interests right now? Then people dying in
Africa. And I want to talk about what a web based on that idea of relevance might look like. So by its very structure, Mark Zuckerberg wanted to create a web where people feel it is okay. That a squirrel dying is more important than people dying in Africa. That was intentionally done by design. So you get to choose what is relevant to you. Does this align itself with Islamic morals and ethics? No. Yes, you care about how animals are treated. But we care more about humane treatment. Right? We have the Hadith of the cat that was put in the cage that lady was sent into the hellfire. We have the lady lived a terrible life, she gave water to a dog, Allah subhanaw taala forgave her. We
believe in animals rights and good treatment of animals. But if you look at the sin of murder, the sin of murder, Allah subhanaw taala talks about it, that you will have the anger of Allah you will have the severest of punishments, and you will be in the Hellfire for a very prolonged period of time. So clearly the sanctity of human life is greater than the sanctity of an animal's life, even though it is still sacred, even though it is still sacred. So if you create an algorithm that allows you to value the death of a squirrel more than the death of a human being in Africa, there is a problem with that platform.
We conclude this by saying without realizing it, we are in the ultimate echo chamber. Everyone we know is talking about the same thing from the same point of view. It is then unfathomable for anyone to not
Take part or have a differing opinion, any difference of opinion becomes marginalized by the mob of people I follow or by the algorithms at play. And activism then becomes an act of intolerance. And I want to highlight this point that particularly when we engage politically, particularly when we engage politically, we may align ourselves, you know, liberal, we may align ourselves conservative. But are we willing to engage with other points of view? Or do we constantly want our own views support it? So someone that listens to Andrew Tate, and we have no issues with and rotate? Does that mean that we cancel this individual and discredit them for all their opinions? No, we can disagree
about our views on and rotate. But I look at each other issue on its merit. What's happened in our current canceled culture is that if you're democratic, I will hate Republicans. Regardless of what the issue is. You're Republican, I will hate democratics regardless of what the issues and you can use liberal conservatives, whatever the issue is, these type of blind allegiances are not from Islam. And you will find that these topics tie in to your social justice, politics, liberals, Democrats, they will care more about certain issues, Republicans, conservatives will care more about certain issues. And we all live in our echo chambers. When you're trying to find out perspectives,
it's important to engage with people from those very perspectives that believe in them, you can just hear about criticisms about those perspectives from your own social circles. So now, what we want to conclude with is this hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and then we'll do the action points. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, As reported by Ernest emblematic, if the Day of Judgment were to be established upon one of you, while he has in his hand, a sapling meaning a small tree, then let him plant it, then let him plant it. What is the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam telling us over here. So you take the example of a digit, you hear the onset of the
coming of the giant, everyone's tweeting about it, everyone's sharing it, everyone's talking about it, you run to social media, read all the articles, watch all the views, watch all the TIC TOCs. Watch all the reels about it. You've spent all of your time learning about the journalist traveling the world and creating this havoc and chaos. Have you done anything that has brought you closer to Allah subhana wa Tada. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says that if you have the sapling in your hand, and something catastrophic is happening, fulfill that good deed that you're doing, because that good deed may not come back, but that catastrophe is always going to be there. So as we
look at social media activism, what are the seeds that we're planting, that are hoping to grow? What are the seeds that we're planting that we're hoping to grow, and that is where true genuine change will happen? Those deep meaningful relationships, those deep conversations where you're really willing to be vulnerable, and hear other people's perspectives, with sincerity, having your convictions challenged, and then having a peaceful, respectful dialogue. And even if we disagree, it's okay. At the end, we're still brothers and sisters, we still love each other. And that is the way it's meant to happen.
So now, action points. Number one self assessment, have you tried to raise awareness for an issue online, but neglected making dua for it, remedy this by making dua for those causes that you advocate for number two, the next time an issue goes viral, that you do not have a directly vested interest in, remain silent about it on social media, and see what the effects are on you personally. Number three, carve out time to have meaningful conversation with a friend. If you have different perspectives on an issue, approach it with the intent of understanding their viewpoint, as opposed to try to express your own. So the difference between hearing and listening, so you can listen to
what someone's saying, but just for the sake of responding to them to counter that every point. But when you hear what someone is saying, you try to look at the issue from their perspective, and try to understand why do they hold this opinion? And then while respecting et Cie? Why is your opinion different? Or the evidence is different? Is it the understanding that's different? Where's it stemming from? And then you try to create this dialogue between the two. So focus more on the active listening component where you're trying to understand as opposed to listening for the sake of responding listening to the sake of responding. Allahu Akbar, we completed a chapter in Hamdulillah
this document Okay, then we'll open up the floor for questions and answers and I greatly appreciate it Bismillah.
videos, articles, everything generally is just raising awareness which I understand. But sometimes you might even like politics. Do not share these with
videos because it causes like masking
the same
problem until a bit later, right? Never.
None of that I had never heard of it. But at the same time, sometimes, especially in the
past few years, and every year they attack, and you just spend the entire day keeping up with it. And then you just feel like you can't even move and a few days.
Yes, your job is children. But then everything else was put on pause. So that impression.
But at the same time, you have to feel guilty if you don't feel that pain and depression, because it's like, am I not caring enough about my brothers and sisters? So where do we like? What is the balance the way that one stand in this situation where you're going to need to do depression, but then you have to know that there's an issue.
Excellent. No one has occurred? That's a great question. And I want to identify some of the issues first, number one, when we share videos, and why certain scholars may discourage sharing those videos. So number one is people's privacy. So oftentimes, someone's being beaten up, they're being humiliated and disgraced. And then you're sharing that video online. Like, do we have this person's permission? Do we have their consent, that this is what they actually want? So we need to understand that people's dignity and honor needs to be preserved. Number two, is that when you share this video, what is the impact that it's going to have? Right? We may think that yes, we're creating
awareness. But if it's creating onset depression, it actually defeats the purpose. Number three, understanding that this is all for the CFIA and what how does this translate into the real world? So for example, me and my friends, you know, we all follow Sheikh Omar Salima Shaykh, Yasir qadhi, Mufti Menk, and all these other speakers that are out there. If all of these speakers or the majority of them have already spoken about it,
do I think that means sharing a video or an article or something like that is going to have a greater impact? It's not at that point, my social media activism is just performative. Because they've already reached all my friends, they've already reached all of my family, because we're all following the same people already. So that time, I don't actually need to share it, I don't need to actually share it. And the last point that I'll mention over here, and that intention is very valuable. I know people have very noble intentions, sharing content for the sake of creating awareness. But we have this simple concept will come in Meridian Bill Heidi, lamb Yabloko, that how
many people intend to do good, but never reach it. So if we're, you know, not respecting people's privacy, not retaining their dignity, creating onset depression amongst people, distracting people in the month of Ramadan, like in the month of Ramadan, your priority is meant to be the rebirth of Allah subhanaw taala, the catastrophes that happen every in Gaza. We use those to motivate us to increase our EBA not to distract us from our EBA direct, there's a huge difference. So your intention and your actions will will go along with I hope that helps. Allah HwaDam. Any other questions, comments, concerns? I know it's been a long night. I can look at it. Now. Let's find out
how to make it heavy on your skill of good deeds. I mean, go ahead.
Yes.
I almost feel that you're asking the wrong person, because I have very strong views on this issue.
Before
Right.
Right, right, right.
Right.
Ron?
Yes.
All right.
Hold on. Yeah.
Just thank you so much for asking this question. So let's look at an a couple of things. Number one, the topic of RIA. Are you showing off your deeds? Never tried to document yourself doing aboda. Right. So as you're performing your camera, don't be like, Hey, guys, I'm in Macau right now. If you have any advice that you want me to make, send me your advice. Don't do that. Now is your time to focus on you focus on you at that moment. You don't know if that moment is going to come back. Right. So protect yourself from RIA do not document your activity by the number two and perhaps this is the bigger issue. Are you becoming a hindrance to other people? So you're trying to get down an
escalator and you have this guy at the bottom of the escalator. Hey guys, I'm in Macau right now and you're holding up the whole escalator that people are about to tumble on you and throw off you know people are trying to make around their toe off and this person is trying to document take a selfie with the camera in the back
and people are about to trip over because of how crowded it is right? You have to be considerate of other people, be considerate of other people. So now the conclusion is that if you're not engaged in the act of EBA, and you're not going to be a hindrance, by all means, take pictures for your own memories, show your family members that are unable to come SubhanAllah. I know relatives in Pakistan, India, they may never get the opportunity to go to the Kaaba. So me taking a short video at that time and doing it live for them, it will mean the world to that will make them so happy. But you have to make sure that you're not compromising your own Deen, and you're not compromising the
safety of others? If you can do that, by all means, take pictures and videos, if you can't, then refrain from it. And Allah knows best Go ahead.
Yeah.
Excellent. So there are certain clauses that are directly related to you. So for example, hypothetical scenario, someone has children. And, you know, there's a new policy with regards to how washrooms are going to be created, how identity is going to be discussed in school. Because of you having children, it transfers from fourth Keifa to 14, you have to participate in that, because it's directly important to you. But again, let's just say, you know, creating awareness for Palestine or the Uyghurs. And that sort of situation, if you're overwhelmed, you have a lot on your plate, and you know that other people are doing it, you're absorbed by the fact that it's hard to keep fire,
because it's not directly related to you. But at the end of the day, I still also think that a signature is so easy. And it's not even a performative act. Because in sha Allah, if you're signing the web, there are correct websites, like from the House of Commons, or something that's on change.com that's going through the House of Commons, those will actually have real change. But if you're citing like a Google form, that Google Forms aren't going anywhere. So don't bother wasting your time there. But with everything else that you hope to make change, literally, it's a two second jobs, automated now you press click, and they sign it for you, right, because you fill it out in
advance. So those are just some thoughts on that. And Allah knows best.
Any other questions, comments, concerns?
No, we'll conclude with that inshallah. So just a couple of announcements before Lightoller. Just bear with me. announcement number one, next week. Holika will still be over here. Next week's halacha will still be over here. But after next week, we're moving to the northeast. After next week. We're moving to the northeast. That's number one. Number two for the sisters. She's mostly fine is holding an event called 10 is that every Muslim needs to know that's happening on December 24 in the northeast, kindly sign up for that event. You can get more [email protected] Number three, we're having our winter conference at the icy in the Northeast on December 25. from Lahore to
Asia. You will have myself Sheikh Ali Nasir Sheikh Abdul Rahman, Qatar Pacific bol Gora
and several others Sheikh Hamza so please to dry to try to join us. We want all of our family and friends. What are you going to be doing on the Sunday on Christmas? Everything's closed anyways, come to the masjid learn and we'll we'll be having free pizza as well inshallah. So you don't have to worry about food. Go ahead. Yep.
I believe that she comes up with that's going to be starting January 23. That's January 23. If I'm not mistaken.
So I'm continuing all the way till January 6.
Sorry, so January December 2030. Shamelessly fine, then back to me. Then January 6 is me. Then January 13. Is shift yeah he Abrahim and then she company's gonna be starting the his new series after that, believe it or not
I'm going to continue talking about social media till January 6 Inshallah, we will have some gaps in between. So let's conclude with that. So practical one we have Nick a shadow now Hilary Lanchester forgot to be Lake thank you so much. I really appreciate you sticking around was Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh