How to Act on Social Media - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

How to Act on Social Media

As-salamu alaykum. If the brothers and sisters of Tezah could get up and move forward and fill all the spaces in front of them, we are expecting a large amount of people today. JazakAllah khair.

Every Word is Preserved

All he did was say something that he didn't really understand, didn't really think of. He typed something, he sent something — a message, a Facebook post, a tweet — didn't really understand and appreciate. But Allah in His skills and in His records, everything is meticulously preserved. And each and every single one of us will have to answer for that.

The Hadith of the Two Graves

The Prophet ﷺ, in the hadith of Abdullah ibn Abbas, passed by two graves. And he said to the companions with him: "These two men are being punished within their graves, and they're not being punished because of something that you would consider to be major. It's not something which you would consider to be a major issue in our eyes. But Allah is punishing them within their graves."

He said: "As for the first of them, he wouldn't protect his body and his clothing from his urine splashes. And as for the second man, he was a man who would spread rumors — he would spread rumors amongst the community." He didn't think it was something major, but both of them were being punished in their grave as a result.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 218; Sahih Muslim, Book 2, Hadith 575)

And so these are things that we need to understand. When we have principles in the Qur'an, when we have these texts in the sunnah, they're not just about speaking, but they can be translated to everything else that we do. So just as you are not allowed to lie in Islam verbally, or to cheat, or to slander, or to backbite, or to make fun of someone, or to call them names that they don't approve of — then likewise to write such a thing, or to type such a thing, has the same ruling in Islam.

Social Media Is Not a Place for Islamic Scholarship

The fourth principle that we need to understand with regards to this is that social media is what it says on the tin. Social media is a way of communication. It is not a place of seeking Islamic knowledge. It is not a place of fatwa. It is not a place of Islamic debate.

Because one of the problems that we have now — and this is also one of the wider issues that we as an ummah are facing — is that people are using the internet to tell people and to show them through Facebook posts that just have a few words, and they consider it to be a means of seeking Islamic knowledge. Facebook and Twitter have their place. They're good for reminders. They're good for inspirational quotes. They have their place for the odd question and the odd issue that the Muslims are facing. But you don't become a student of knowledge or a scholar in this religion by studying Facebook and Twitter, by following certain individuals, even if they are scholars and sheikhs. It has its place and it has its role. But we must understand that.

To think that Facebook is a place where we can go and start debating the minutiae of Islam — issues of difference of opinion, issues which, as the Salaf used to say, that were they to come to the likes of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he wouldn't have ruled in that issue until he gathered all of the companions of Badr. Over 300 companions attended Badr. In his lifetime, the vast majority of them during his khilafah were still alive. If a new issue came to Umar, he would gather all of them and seek their counsel before he gave a religious verdict.

It is extremely dangerous to think that you can speak on behalf of Allah, to make things halal and haram, to speak about issues of the religion through a Facebook post or a tweet when you don't know what you're doing. And just because it's anonymous and no one else may know what you're doing — know that Allah knows what you're doing.

As Allah says in the Qur'an in Surah al-Qiyamah:

"And indeed, mankind — you know best yourself and your intentions and why you do something, even if you make excuses." You can say to me, "I didn't know." You can say to me that you were ignorant. You can say to someone else that you had this excuse or that excuse. But Allah knows what was in your heart. And you, deep down, know what your intention was as well.

These are things that we need to be aware of. Because we live in a time now when, because of these social media outlets — even though there is some good in them — there is also much harm that can be done as a result of them.

We ask Allah that He preserves us in word and action and that Allah safeguards us from all evil and safeguards us and our families from Shaytan and his evil and his traps.

Second Part of the Khutbah

The Danger of Publicising Sins on Social Media

One of the things that I also want to bring to your attention — and the final thing that I want to mention in today's khutbah — is that Facebook, Twitter and all of these other social media outlets, there is good to them. There is some benefit that can be attained from them. It is a good way to inspire people, to motivate people. It is a good way to inform people of what is going on. But we as Muslims must understand that everything can be used for good and for bad, and we must be aware of this.

One of the potential pitfalls and dangers in using social media — and it is something which is becoming more and more prevalent — is that people use it as a way, unfortunately, to display their evil deeds. A person may sin, and they may sin in the privacy of their own home or in their own room at home, and no one else knows. But then they will mention openly and they will boast about their sins with their friends on Facebook and Twitter and these other outlets. They will take photos and they will post them on Instagram. And this is extremely dangerous.

It is bad enough that we sin in the first place. But the way that a person sins between themselves and Allah is that they then show remorse and they repent to Allah, hoping that Allah will conceal their evil deeds and will not expose them. But to expose it yourself — it is more of an aggression in the sight of Allah, because not only do you have the audacity to sin against Allah, but then you have the arrogance to display it openly that you are sinning and disobeying Allah.

For this reason, our Prophet ﷺ told us:

"All of my ummah will be forgiven except those that make their sins public — those who expose themselves." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6069; Sahih Muslim, Book 53, Hadith 52)

And in the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, our Prophet ﷺ said: "And from the way that a person exposes his own sins is that during the night he will commit a sin in the privacy of his own home, and Allah will conceal that sin. But in the morning, that same person will go to his friends and his companions and he will boast and he will say, 'Do you know that last night I did such and such?' — so even though Allah placed upon him His veil and He concealed him, he goes out and he makes his sins public."

And so if that's the way that you do it — by words and by deeds, by boasting — it has the same ruling when you do it through social media or email. These are things that we need to be aware of. Because the vast majority of us use social media in one way or another, but we have to understand that the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ gives us principles on how to use everything, how to interact with everything that we face within our lives. It is upon us to take those principles and apply them to the situations that we face.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah by His most beautiful names and lofty attributes that He protects us and our families from harm, that Allah conceals our sins and that Allah forgives them and showers His mercy upon us, and that Allah enters us into the highest levels of Jannah, and that Allah makes our affairs easy and the affairs of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and that Allah helps our brothers and sisters in places like Yemen and Syria and Palestine and throughout the Muslim world, and we ask Allah that He showers His mercy upon them, that Allah protects their lives and their honour and their wealth and their families, and that Allah enters us all into His mercy and into the highest ranks of Jannah.

Brothers and sisters, as you know, the masjid is extremely busy today. We have people all the way to the back, people standing on the side. So please make room for your brothers and sisters. If there is a gap by your side or in front of you, fill in that gap. Make that space for your brothers and sisters. And if there is a gap next to you that no one is filling, then ask or encourage someone to move forward. Make sure that the rows in front of you are complete. Don't leave any gaps.