Throughout the past few years, we’ve been noticing a sharp increase in people’s use of Social Media to share religious posts. This increases even more during Ramadan. We’ve gotten accustomed to people sharing prayers, Quran verses, or status updates about how much they love Taraweeh.
“when a religious sermon is done, apparently now it’s customary to all gather around and take a picture to post all over Social Media. Extra points if it’s with a celebrity sheikh”
This year, however, brought forth a rather interesting upgrade in that regard. For some reason, people are posting selfies taken at the mosque, with other people praying in the background (who probably never consented to appear on someone’s Instagram feed). Not only that, when a religious sermons have become events to be posted all over Social Media.
Our concern grew as we saw people Snapchatting “Lailat Al Qadr”. We would expect pictures of the Quran, or rows of praying Muslims, but many of them were basically selfies taken at the mosque.
“Who would possibly care to see you perform Umra? And who would you care to show that to?”
Social Media’s involvement in religion is unstoppable it seems. We see people basically covering their Umra. You don’t just take a picture of the Ka’aba. Not even the “I prayed for you at the Ka’aba” note picture. You take selfies and videos as you’re doing the holiest thing you possibly can as a Muslim. We’re not saying it’s “Haram”, but it’s extremely odd.
“We’re airing every little thing we’re doing, making micro-celebrities out of our selves, hoping people would care.”
We understand that to each their own, we get that we don’t get to sit here and pass judgment on people for any reason whatsoever. However, this isn’t a religious discussion, but a social one. Our generation’s attachment to Social Media is terrifying. Prayer is personal, it’s between you and God. There’s no reason to share it with the world. We, as a generation, no longer respect our own privacy, let alone anyone else’s. We’re airing every little thing we’re doing, making micro-celebrities out of ourselves, hoping people would care. If I take a picture of my newborn baby they’ll like me more, if I tell them every little detail about my vacation they’ll care, if I show them one of the most private things I can ever do they’ll stay interested. This desperate need to share everything is turning us into creatures that don’t understand what’s appropriate and what isn’t anymore. We pray at the mosque, then go home and pray some more on Facebook. When that’s the case, one needs to take a step back and really think, who’s our real God?