Social Networking Websites

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
Assalamualaikum

Prophet Muhammad saw once said: The life of this world compared to the Hereafter is as if one of you were to put his fingers in the ocean, and take it out again, and then compare the water that remains on his finger, to the water that remains in the ocean. [Sahih Muslim]

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to name a few, are great social networking websites that is trending today. I am currently an active user of Facebook, Instagram and Blogger. In the next few paragraphs below, I'll share with you about why I use FB, IG, & Blogger.

Facebook: Research have shown that most Facebook users do not know almost 80% of their 'friends' in their contact list. But that is not true for me, teets. I've been on Facebook since I was fifteen. I've deactivated my Facebook account for about 5 times thus far; only to get active on it again after a few months of deactivating. What got me really hooked to Facebook was the thrill of having people 'liking' my status updates. I have this habit of updating my status at least once a day. Sometimes, the posts are thought provoking. Sometimes the posts are just plain funny experience that I've experienced in the day. & sometimes, the post are just really pure silly and immature. But despite all that; it seems that whatever that you post on Facebook, no matter how 'clean' your intentions are, there will always be someone who will take it the wrong way. Over time, I no longer find joy in doing that, because I found joy in a new place. And that is, reality.

*I have since permanently deactivated my personal Facebook account, as of January 2014. A new Facebook account has been created, for official school/work related use. Kindly refrain from sending me any friend requests on that account, unless if its for an official matter.*

Instagram: It's for the love of capturing moments. Moments that I find worth remembering, are captured here on Instagram for my safe-keeping. I've been using Instagram since about a year ago. I use this platform to post personal pictures that I find meaningful and worthy of remembrance to be shared with others; accompanied with a decent caption. My account was initially unprotected and my pictures were free for all to see. But after some time, I decided to make it protected by making my account private. following. I have never deactivated it and I can't deactivate it because if I do, the photos in there will be gone forever, and unlike Facebook; I can't retrieve it back.

Blogger: I am not a good writer, but I love to write. Oh the irony, I know. It's the place for me to reflect upon my doings, pen down my achievements, joys and sorrows, and write whatever that I think is beneficial and worth to be shared with. I've been writing since 2011. I probably will never delete this account, because I like to read my previous posts over and over again.

After years of bittersweet experience toying around with FB, and IG etc; I can now safely conclude that these social networks actually brings more harm than good. And here's why. May this small piece of sharing benefit us all insyaallah.

Let's begin with ego. Yasmin Mogahed mentioned: 'the danger of feeding the ego is that, as the ego is fed, it becomes strong. When it becomes strong, it begins to rule us. Soon we are no longer slaves to God. We become slaves to ourselves.'

Ego is the part of us that loves power. & the social network provides a powerful platform for this to happen. Every word, or picture that we post; will gain recognition from people. We wait for it to be praised, 'liked', and shared. It's thrilling, and addicting. We've put our life up on public display. Suddenly, what we ate for breakfast & what outfit we wear for the day becomes news important enough for us to publish.

Why? This is a phenomenon that I just can't comprehend because I am just as guilty too. The more 'likes' we get, the more praises we read in the comment section; the bigger our ego. Ego is the part inside of us that loves to be seen, recognised, and adored. Without realising it, we've become consumed with gaining human praise, approval and recognition. But what happens when this 'phenomenon' ends? Fear starts to kick in. The fear for the loss of status, loss of praises, and the loss of approval. Then what happens? I'll end this with 2 things.

1) A quote from the Quran that brought me to remembrance:
"The mutual rivalry for piling up of (worldly things) has preoccupied you." [102:1]

> Whether that rivalry is piling up in terms of monetary wealth, friends or 'likes' on FB; the result is the same; we have become preoccupied by it.

2) In a profound hadith:
A man came to the prophet and said: "O Messenger of Allah, direct me to an act which if I do, Allah will love me and people will love me. Rasulullah saw then said: "Detach yourself from the world, and Allah will love you. Detach yourself from what is with the people, and the people will love you."
[Ibn Majah]

> The less needy we are of others, the more people are drawn to us and seek our company. This hadith teaches us a profound Truth. Only then, can we succeed in building a good relationship with Allah and with the people around us.

The soul still seeking for peace,
Suhaidah Amran