The definition of a Muslim woman from time immemorial is similar to that of a Muslim man; which is, a person who submits completely to the will of Allah, who does what he has been commanded to do and refrains from what Allah has prohibited him from doing in beliefs, deeds and dealings. From the time of our noble Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his companions, the Tabi’in and the atbaa’ taabi’in down to this century of ours, we have had women who try to live within these venerated scopes and praiseworthy limitations set by Islam – we still do. Alhamdulillah.
As it was prophesied by our noble prophet ﷺ that there would be different calamities and trials that would face this Ummah (see hadith 26 of 40 ahadith of an-Nawawi), the Muslim women from the past to the present faced and are facing different trials. The trial that befell us (women) and still hasnt left us till this day is the trial of decadence in morality, shyness and modesty. Every generation of women has had its fair share of decadence in modesty. In the 21st century, where human being are said to be advanced and well civilized such that things are now done at the snap of the fingers, women are losing their shyness, modesty and morality to the ubiquitous product of human civilization and technological advancement; The social Media.
Due to our careless management of the social media, some of us have confused the definition of a Muslimah with different tags. Liberal Niqabi, Feminist Muslimah, Fashionista model Muslimah, progressive Muslimah, LGBTQIAAP+ Muslimah and what have you. You cant be two opposite things at a time. You are either clean or dirty. There is nothing called semi-clean or semi-filth, or Halal alcohol etc. our priorities should be focused on fulfilling our duties as the trustees of Allah on earth, as revealed in Suratul Baqarah.
Unfortunately, our children are also trapped in this web due to the heedlessness and carelessness of Mothers, Fathers, and other relatives concerned. Just because we want to be regarded as a social, versatile and well informed Muslim, we have chosen to set our on fire. What is the fruit of your socialization when your children are critically deficient of proper Islamic and cultural upbringing? For the sake of being noticed as a socialized muslimah, we have lost control of our matrimonial, parental, and even the core parts of our intellectual life is not left out. What kind of a child are we going to raise for this ummah to inherit? Self-delusioned and ego-driven youths who will not bow to the injunctions of Allah but to what suits their whims and caprices? Allah’s aid is sought.
Dear Muslim youths, why are you loosing yourself to the deceitful game of life when it is but a fleeting momeny? When we are told by our creator that whoever desists from the path of Allah will live a depressed life. When you fail to nurture your Iman with good deeds and seek increase in beneficial knowledge, how then can you benefit the society? Have you forgotten that you shall be asked on how you used your youth? We have forgotten the value of time and we shall be made to account for whatever we do with it. Now think about it my dear sister, if on the day of judgement, you are presented with your records — good or bad, and your tweets and chats were brought before you, how would you feel? Ponder! The time you are supposed to guard jealously and seek closeness to Allah with, you rather use that time to disobey Him and commit different cadres of sins with like seeking pleasure in chatting with opposite sex, watching pornographic contents, engaging in online slandering under the guise of ‘bants and savagery’.
Alhamdulillah, there are some who are active in online dawah activities in order to maintain sanity and refute those who are casting false aspersions on Islam. Also we have another section of people who all in the name of dawah engage in character assassination, backbiting, slandering, fraud, sexual harassments and the likes. These faceless scumbags along with those who are out on social media to show immorality and obscenity are of the same category.
We are as well losing our chastity and bashfulness as Muslim women, the remnant of which could only be found in our mothers and a few sisters. The social media gave us the false confidence to utter words that we cannot use offline. We now find it easy to share our pictures with strangers and have illicit conversations forgetting that all our actions are being recorded. We feel secure with strangers than our own relatives. We seek validations by sharing our pictures on statuses, in DMs and on timelines whilst forgetting that we are engaging in Tabarruj and breeding fitnah for conscious and unconscious individuals. We long after the rosy life of ‘online couples’, not knowing what they’re going through behind the screen.
Allah’s mercy upon us is infinite, and that is why for thousands of black sheep, there will be some with white straps, which means even as the world is going gaga we still have good and pious sisters who fear Allah and endeavor to stick to His rulings. Sisters are enjoined to read about the women of jannah, women who sacrificed their own life in fulfilling the will of Allah and never sought validations from anyone except their Lord. The likes of Aishah (RA), Aasiyah, Nusaybah, Fatimah Bint rosul. Surah An-Noor, Verse 34: And certainly We have sent to you clear communications and a description of those who have passed away before you, and an admonition to those who guard (against evil).
On the day when their tongues and their hands and their feet shall bear witness against them as to what they did. This is but a reminder, for us to keep it in mind when our own hands that we use in typing some unheard and un-islamic words will come against us. Let us rise from our slumber, from doing the devil’s biddings. Social media be used positively, we can employ it as a tool to propagate the goodwill message of Islam, but most of us are venturing into the negative usage of it.
This article does not say that social media is for men alone, we are not misogynists. We are only calling for caution and should avoid things that are not permissible like irrelvamt posting of personal images, chatting unnecessarily with the opposite sex, sending and uploading of obscene contents, promoting ideologies that are against the dictates of Islam, among others . Social media is here to stay but your life can end anytime and whatever you do will remain. There is a streaming reward for both the good things and bad things we do.
In addition, because brothers are not mentioned does not mean they are not being referred to. The same warning that is given to women covers the men too. We should endeavor to be the protector of our homes and our family. Ensure that we monitor the activities of our women folks on social media. Dont be a Dayyuth someone who does not guard his women folk jealously, the prophet said he will not be granted Jannah. We should be tools for the alleviation of fitnah, not a tool for spreading it. We should avoid unnecessary interactions with women who are not lawful to us, we should avoid posting contents that would put us in trouble in the presence of Allah.
Dear Muslim sisters, let us remember we are wives, mothers, teachers, builders of our homes. Our husbands only provide us the atmosphere, we are the real builders of our home, we shouldn’t lose our home to social media. we raise a daughter, we raise a nation, we raise a son we raise a household, let us have time for our children and raise them well, being at home maintaining ornaments doesn’t mean we can’t be of great effect to our society. The Mother is but a school which if of a high standard, will breed alumni whose positive impacts will radiate the society for years unend.
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