Dangers of Social Media | Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi | Jumuah Khutbah

Opening

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. There is no god but Allah.

O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

The Heart: Center of Our Spirituality

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah has reminded us that the قلب (qalb), the heart, is the center of our spirituality and our humanity. Therefore, one of the primary messages of the Quran is the purification of the heart, the تزكية (tazkiya) of the قلب (qalb). Allah reminds us that a pure heart is the most beneficial aspect of your life to maintain, because all that you have in this world will be of no value when you come on the Day of Judgment except for one thing.

Allah says:

On that day, all of your wealth, all of your money will be of no use to you, but the one who comes with a قلب سليم (qalb saleem), with a pure heart—that is what is going to benefit.

Our Prophet ﷺ underscored this reality when he said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52)

Know that in the whole body there is a small morsel of flesh. If that morsel is pure, the body is pure, and if that morsel is impure, the body is impure. Then he said, know that that little morsel—it is the قلب (qalb).

Shaitan's Tactics: Distraction of the Heart

Realize, O Muslim, that one of the tactics of Shaitan when it comes to the heart is to distract the heart. The Quran calls it لاهية (lahiya), and that's why Allah describes one category of mankind: لاهية قلوبهم (lahiyatan quloobuhum) - their hearts are distracted.

There are higher levels, worse levels: the diseased heart, the corrupted heart, the sealed heart - على قلوبهم غشاوة (ala quloobihim ghishawa), ختم الله على قلوبهم (khatamallahu ala quloobihim). These are other levels, but where does it begin? It begins by the heart being distracted away from its goal and its purpose, and this is the term غفلة (ghafla).

Allah says:

Don't be of those whose hearts have غفلة (ghafla) in them.

Allah reminds us that there are many things in this world that Shaitan is using in order to divert your hearts away from the remembrance of Allah. For example, Allah says with regards to gambling, with regards to alcohol:

Know that Shaitan wants to cause animosity and fighting between you via your gambling, via alcohol, and he wants to use these things to divert you from noble aspects like worship, to divert you away from the ذكر الله (dhikr of Allah). So won't you understand? Won't you stop this?

Social Media: A Modern Tool of Shaitan

Now, my dear brothers and sisters, without a doubt, some of what Shaitan uses to divert us is absolute haram—there is no good in it, such as alcohol and such as gambling. But today's khutbah is about another tactic of Shaitan, another tool that is not pure haram, but it can easily become haram. It is without a doubt one of the greatest manifestations of لهو (lahu), of diverting away from nobility and the ذكر الله (dhikr of Allah), and that is the reality of social media.

The reality of being distracted from our lives, from our noble purpose, from our productivity, from our spirituality, and to instead sit and spend countless hours scrolling through YouTube or Instagram or TikTok or Facebook—and before you know it, hours have gone by and nothing of value has been accomplished.

Today's khutbah is a reminder that this is not child's play. This is one of the tactics of Shaitan. This is not a trivial point. This is one of the realities that is being used to bring about a hardness of the heart, to bring about a غفلة (ghafla), a لاهية (lahiya) of the قلب (qalb), which is something the Quran and the Sunnah strongly criticize.

From Youth Problem to Universal Epidemic

You know what? I will be honest with you, my dear brothers and sisters. A few years ago, we used to give this type of khutbah for the teenagers, and all of us adults would say, "Oh, look at these youngsters, look at how they're spending so much time." But let's be honest here—wallahi, now it is the uncles and aunties. Wallahi, now it is me and you. We are the ones sitting in the corner and just scrolling through and just having hours go by. We are more guilty probably than our youth now in this regard. لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله (La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah). It has now become an epidemic.

And these are not words I am using. Social scientists who don't believe in God, people of our society of intellect who don't have religion, they are saying the negative impact of social media is reaching catastrophic proportions. Go listen to TED talks in this regard. Go look at some of the surveys that are being done here—the spiritual emptiness, the loneliness, the marriages breaking up, the high rates of suicide, of depression. All of this is linked to the reality that we have lost our human touch. We have lost our connection with other people, and instead every one of us is glued to our screen.

The Loss of Human Connection

Every one of us is looking at our iPhone, at our gadget, at our computer, and we are not even speaking together amongst our family and friends. What a common sight it is, and how tragic it is, that the mother, the father, the son, the daughter—they will sit down on the dinner table and not a single word is uttered. Everyone pulls out their own gadget, everyone pulls out their own personal social media, and they are literally sitting one feet away and yet it is as if they are sitting light years away. Each one is unconcerned about the other. Even as they eat, they are entertaining themselves individually.

How can families like this last? How can marriages flourish? How can children feel emotionally supported?

So it is our job as Muslims who believe in Allah to remind ourselves: this is not a trivial matter. This is a matter that affects the soul, it affects the psyche, it affects the قلب (qalb), it affects our spirituality.

The Algorithmic Trap

And to make matters exponentially worse—it was bad enough ten years ago—what makes matters exponentially worse is the addition of AI and the algorithmic process that is now a part and parcel of social media. And this is something that every one of us should be aware of.

When you pick up your phone and you scroll through and you see a video and you pause, every single video that you automatically like, every video that you watch—it is programmed, programmed into an algorithm just for you, so that the next video caters to something you like. The next video will be in accordance with your own whims and desires. Why? Because the goal of that device is to entrap you. The goal of that device is to keep you directly in tune with that device, and so it will feed you the content that you want.

Hence, the longer you stare at the screen, the longer you will want to stare at the screen. The program will absorb your own likes and it will continue to give you content that will keep you even more engaged. And this is the reality that we see around us.

The Dopamine Addiction

So many social scientists, so many public intellectuals have pointed out the dangers. They are not spiritual people, they are not speaking from the Quran and Sunnah—they are speaking from biology, they are speaking from the reality of humanity, and they are saying there are so many disasters.

Of them, number one: the complete fragmentation, the collapse of paying attention. It is as if humanity has lost the art of concentration. We used to blame the teenagers—they can't concentrate. Now it is the adults—they cannot concentrate. Why? Because the dopamine effect of watching a short video that you like, and then you need another video that you like.

And what is dopamine? Dopamine is inside the brain. Allah created us with a mechanism that if something is good, the brain rewards that good, and if it is done in the proper amount, it is actually healthy for us. A little bit of dopamine when something good happens—you are supposed to feel a thrill. You eat something good, you like it, you eat sweet once a day—that is one dopamine, that is good for you, right? But if you eat nothing but sweets, if you constantly get the dopamine high, that is not going to be good.

Allah created that element so that yes, some good behavior should be rewarded. But what modern AI has done, what the modern algorithms have done—they have learnt to tap into your dopamine. They have learnt to figure out what gives you that high, and they want to continue to give you that high over and over and over again.

And that is why, in reality, many modern psychologists have said we now have an epidemic similar to the drug epidemic, but it is not drugs—it is social media. It is literally like an addiction, but the addiction is not to a substance—the addiction is to a screen.

When you are scrolling, dopamine creates micro rewards, and what you like, what you feel emotional, what you feel outrage—you will be conditionally, compulsively, behaviorally trained. The AI will train you in order to stick to that screen and continue to scroll down.

And that is why I want you to now step outside of your head—see what is happening when you look at that screen. Why does an hour go by and you don't even realize it, but you cannot even have an hour conversation with your spouse? Why? Because you are now trained to look at videos, to look at TikToks, to look at Instagram—little clips that you particularly like, and once that is done, another one. Once that is done, another one. You are breaking your intelligence, you are breaking your concentration, you are breaking the art of being a human, and you are simply becoming the consumer of online content.

Emotional Volatility and Echo Chambers

Another problem that happens—not just dopamine dependency—is emotional volatility, the algorithmic manipulation of belief, of truth, of perception.

Once again, we are so quick to point fingers. We all know that the far right has misunderstandings about Islam because the AI has programmed their TikTok reels, their YouTube reels, to always show negative things of Islam—which is true, that is absolutely true. If you were to take one of their phones and go look at what they are watching, you will be shocked that, "My God, all of this video is nothing but negative of Islam."

But then don't you realize you have also created your own bubble, your own illusion, your own internal validation box of whatever you believe? And what is being fed to you is increasing your misinformation about whatever facts that you have, and you are also guilty. It might not be as bad as the far right, but whatever your beliefs are about whatever issues there might be, the algorithm is reaffirming your beliefs, and you are not being challenged to think. You are not being challenged to research. You are not getting other perspectives.

So don't be so easy to blame the others when you yourself might be guilty of the very thing that you blame other people for. Realize that algorithms—they prioritize reaffirmation of belief. Why? Because you feel good when you hear what you already want to believe. When you hear what you already know, you are like, "Yeah, this is what I want to believe!" So the algorithm is already programmed to make you feel better about what you believe.

How will you gain any knowledge? How will you become more broad-minded?

The Problem with AI Algorithms and Echo Chambers

How will you learn if every information that is fed to you is something that you already want to hear? And this is what happens with the AI. Another problem that happens and it goes back to both of the above - lack of concentration and being fed what you already believe - is that knowledge itself becomes trivial, knowledge of Islam especially. And this is a reality we are seeing on social media.

The Degradation of Islamic Content Online

Look at how sad the online social media is when it comes to Islamic content. Look at the people that are the big names online - they are not generally speaking people of knowledge, they are people of entertainment. And they are demeaning the religion of Islam because what they are interested in is likes and not spirituality. And in order to get likes, you don't give spiritual content, you create drama. When you create drama, people will come and watch you. When you say nasty things, when you give a small clip, when you become controversial, that is when people log on.

And our youth and even our adults are getting dragged into an alternative reality of Islam that is not the real ulama, the real ilm of Islam. Online social media da'wah content people are not representative of the scholarly class, and the dramas that all of our youth are aware are taking place is but one example of this reality.

Do not take your ilm from people that are not people of ilm - they are people of drama. And they have made Islam an online drama. This is not the religion of the Prophet ﷺ. Always vulgarity, scandals, cursing, always going back and forth - how is this representative of what the Prophet ﷺ came with?

So for a while our youth get involved, and then when they grow up they leave spirituality and religiosity because this was the version of religiosity they were given. And that is a mistake.

The True Sources of Islamic Knowledge

Online social content should never be the primary place you learn your religion. Come to the masjid, come to ulama that have studied ilm, come to people قلب إلى قلب - heart to heart. And do not make your primary source of knowledge... yes, you may learn Islamic lectures online, but never make the online the primary source of spirituality. And especially those that are known just for online content - these are not people of ilm because they are people of likes, they are people of drama, they are people who want people to come to their website. That's not the religion of Islam, that's not what we are about.

And so understand that these two-second clips that people like to watch - this is not the wisdom of our religion of Islam. And be careful - it is because of the online reality that the da'wah scene online is a complete mess, because the people that are involved with it, their goal is the AI algorithms, their goal is to get people to come to their webpage rather than the religion of Islam. And all of this unfortunately has a negative impact on spirituality and on the religion of Islam.

Warning from the Creators Themselves

My dear brothers and sisters, one of the biggest ironies is that there is a whole group of people here in America who were one of the main programmers of AI, the people who began social media, the people who began these networks, who are now warning us: "We made a mistake, we made a mistake." Some of these people don't even allow their children to go online, and they are the ones who created the online world.

And this reality is because they have understood the problems of the imaginary world they have created. They understand that this digital communication cuts off the humanity and increases an emptiness of the heart. And this is what I'm trying to explain to you from the Qur'an itself:

Their hearts have become لاهو - they have diverted away from the religion of Allah.

The Comprehensive Impact on Our Lives

And so understand, my dear Muslims, that the problem that we have of social media, the problem that we have of spending too much time online, it is a spiritual and an intellectual and a humanitarian problem. It affects your humanity, it affects your brains, it affects your marriages, it affects your spirituality.

And we haven't even discussed the big elephant in the room - and that is the topic for another khutbah - and that is the vulgarity and the nudity and the فاحشة addictions that take place online. And the studies that have shown the negative impact, especially on young men and even adult men, seeing those images, those filthy disgusting images, and how it will impact...

Go speak to any person who is involved in the community - the number of divorces taking place, the number of marriages breaking up because of the reality of the evil online content. It is not a trivial point here, it is not something that can be put under the rug. It is actually affecting every single community member. And especially our young men need to be told and educated - this isn't just some fun and games, it is going to rewire your brain. You will not understand human romance and intimacy. You are potentially ruining your marriage if you go down this route. And speak to anybody that is involved in this field and they will tell you firsthand the reality of how this is impacting the Muslim community and even the broader community.

The Gradual Hardening of the Heart

All of this goes back to the reality of the heart being diverted from that which is noble, from that which it should do. And realize, O Muslim, that the heart hardens gradually. It is not something that happens in one day, it is something that takes time to happen. As Allah says:

Their hearts are becoming rusty because of what they continue to do. Notice how the Qur'an is saying it - the more you're going to do it, the more the heart will become rusty.

And the Prophet ﷺ said that anytime a person commits a sin, there is a spot of darkness that comes in the heart. And if he doesn't repent and he does the sin again, the darkness increases, and it increases, and then he says until the heart becomes fully clouded. Which indicates what? When the more you get involved in this world, the more it's going to impact your spirituality.

The Cure and Remedy

So then what is the cure? What is the remedy? How do we cleanse ourselves? Because the fact of the matter is that not all of social media is evil - there's something that is good in it. That's why I said we cannot compare social media to alcohol and gambling - that's pure haram.

When Does Social Media Become Haram?

Let us then advise ourselves about what to be done. First and foremost, when will social media become haram? Ibn Taymiyyah says that there is no doubt that people like to spend fun and games, and not every single person can reach perfection when it comes to the area of mubah - fun and games. And no doubt the more pious you are, the less you would be involved. But as long as your لهو does not cause you to fall into haram and it does not cause you to avoid the واجبات, then you're not going to be punished.

This is the general rule - that it's not good to spend a lot of time in these types of things. But when are you going to be sinful? When are you crossing the red line?

Number one: If the content you're watching is haram, it is filthy, it is خبيث.

Number two: If what you are watching prevents you from the واجبات - you're not praying on time, you're not taking care of your family. If you're a young man or woman, you're not doing your assignments that is obligatory on you, you're not doing your homework. I'm being honest with you - if you are not doing your homework, then you're failing in life. And if you're failing in life, you're failing in the eyes of Allah.

If you are so obsessed with social media, with TikTok, with Instagram that you cannot function as a regular human being, then you are failing in what Allah wants you to do.

So as long as what you do doesn't involve the haram and you are praying and fasting and doing what needs to be done, you haven't fallen into a sin. But still, the more you get involved, the deeper it's going to drag you.

Taking Scheduled Breaks

And so number two, the advice - the second advice - and that is condition yourself to take breaks from social media. Literally put your phone down, look at the watch and say, "Okay, two hours I'm not going to touch TikTok, Instagram. I will do something productive and useful." Become a useful human being by scheduling your time of mubah. Yes, we all need to spend some time doing this and that, but then schedule the rest of your time in productivity.

And this is exactly we can learn this from the Prophet ﷺ - how he managed his routine. In fact, one can even say this is the purpose of اعتكاف in Ramadan - you cut yourself off. This is what we learn in the Qur'an when Zakariya says, "I'm going to observe a صوم to Allah, I'm not going to speak to any human being." When Maryam says, "I'm not going to speak to anybody" - you withdraw from social media, you don't do any of this, and you do that which is useful.

Increase Your Dhikr and Adhkar

Number three: increase your أذكار, increase your ذكر. This is one of the most powerful mechanisms to cleanse the heart - increase your ذكر, your استغفار. Our Prophet ﷺ told us that I seek refuge in Allah and I seek forgiveness from Allah more than 70 times a day.

And he said to us, he said in a hadith: جَدِّدُوا الْإِيمَانَ - "Renew your faith." They said, "How can we renew our faith?" He said, "By constantly saying لا إله إلا الله." And so make it your habit to do constant ذكر.

Train Your Algorithm Positively

And then one other thing that you can do - one other thing you can do - and I call this a halal trick, insha'Allah ta'ala: train your algorithm in a positive manner. Train your algorithm in a positive manner. When a verse of the Qur'an comes up, when a قارئ comes up, when an Islamic reminder comes up, intentionally watch that entire video so that you train the algorithm. "I want to listen to Abdul Basit, I want to listen to Minshawi, I want to listen to my favorite قارئ." Train the algorithm so that it actually gives you - because listen, you can use it to your advantage.

And if you listen to an Islamic content, you listen to a Qur'an, you listen to a ذكر, the algorithm is going to give you more of that. So then train it for your own advantage. Unfortunately, all too often when it once in a while gives us an Islamic one - "Oh, let's not listen to that!" No!

At least something is good in coming your way - increase that so that إن شاء الله تعالى it will actually work for your advantage.

And the final point my dear brothers and sisters is to monitor our heart, monitor our schedule, and make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for a pure heart, for a قلب سليم. Make dua to Allah to guide us, make dua to Allah to not give us a قلب that is قاسياً, a قلب that is لاهياً, a قلب that is خاتم. We don't want these types of hearts - we want a pure heart. And the one who constantly makes dua to Allah and monitors the situation is the one that will have a successful heart.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless me and you with the guidance of the Quran and may He make us of those who His verses they understand and apply halal and haram throughout our life span. I ask Allah's forgiveness - He was الغفور and الرحمن.

And after this...

The Concept of Lahw (Idle Entertainment)

One of the aspects of halal لهو - لهو means to spend time in something that is not very useful. And like I explained, not every لهو is haram, and some لهو is actually mustahab. Some لهو which is just have a fun time is actually mustahab.

What is an example of this category? The number one example of this category is to spend quality family time. Our Prophet ﷺ demonstrated this in his own lifetime and he encouraged us to do the same.

In one hadith, when a man said "O Messenger of Allah, what is the most rewarding charity I can give?" and the man expected charity he is given to strangers, outsiders, and the Prophet ﷺ said that you feed your wife a morsel of food - literally the metaphor a husband feeding the wife. This is a sign of romance, a sign of happiness, a sign of husband and wife.

And our Prophet ﷺ would spend time with his family. He raced with Aisha a number of times - he raced with her in the desert. And he would spend time with his daughters and he would laugh and joke with his family. This is of the greatest rewarding mubah to Allah which becomes a deed of worship.

Family Time as Worship

I reiterate: to spend fun time with your wife and children, to just be with your family, laugh with them, be merry with them, talk to them - it becomes of the highest actions of worship when you do it with Allah in mind. Why? Because Allah wants us to have healthy families. Allah wants us to have children with emotional intelligence feeling loved. Allah wants us to have marriages that are flourishing.

And therefore, rather than waste time on social media, rather than sit down together as a family and everybody pulls their iPhone out, instead say: when we sit down there shall be no phones on the table. When we sit down we will discuss with one another and we will just have family time together, and Allah will reward you for that time frame and you shall be given ibadah, good deeds, for being friendly with your children and your wife and your spouse.

This is the beauty of our religion - being a good husband, being a loving father means being a good Muslim. And the same goes for our sisters - being a loving wife, being a loving mother means you are being a good Muslim and Allah will reward you as an act of worship.

So how beautiful of a faith we have and how amazing of a religion we have that we are told making your family happy is pleasing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Being a good parent is being a good Muslim and a good worshipper.

Choosing Real Connection Over Digital Distraction

And so leave the dubious mubah of the AI, of social media, and embrace the human mubah, embrace the humanity - the family. And sit together with them and talk and discuss and laugh and be merry and expect Allah to reward you by keeping the family together.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect our hearts and our families and our iman.

O servants of Allah, indeed Allah ta'ala has commanded you with a command that He began with Himself, seconded with His holy angels, and thirded with you, O people of jinn and mankind. He said, and He is the All-Knowing Speaker:

O servants of Allah, indeed Allah ta'ala commands justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.

Remember Allah the Great and He will remember you, thank Him and He will increase you, and the remembrance of Allah ta'ala is greater. And establish the prayer.