Man is a social being. A social being is difficult to live without society and interaction in society. Every human being’s social environment is formed according to their spheres of activity. In the past, public spaces were the social environment, but social spaces like virtual social media are just a new version of it

Social media has become a part of our lives with no small influence in this time when the world is conquering. We have something to read from the term social media. Through the expression ‘Social’, social media itself creates the feeling that it belongs to the community. Because of that, they are targeting the customers who need it the most. This is where our interactions on social media become relevant.

Social media, which fosters relationships that eliminate distances, has more relevance today. Like two sides of a coin, beyond the countless possibilities of social media, we can see many problems in our interactions. Rather than seeing social media as mere exploitation of technology, we should see them as means of social service and good production.

For a believer, there are many things to keep in mind when using social media. Because the ultimate goal of every believer is success in the Hereafter. Islam has put many restrictions on it. There are a lot of activities that destroy them today through our social media interactions. Some of the fundamental principles taught by Prophet Muhammad  guide the believers and they are timeless. In this age where social media is banned for the sake of reactions caused by exaggeration when emotion prevails over wisdom, and only for mockery, deception and money, believers who live with the times and keep religion close to their chests need to do every action and say every word only after proper thought, rather than merely adapting the trend accepted by the common people. Ways Even in the advent of this new artificial intelligence, we can read from the personal life of the Prophet.

Let me tell you something important about it. The Prophet taught the pearl as a sign of a good believer that the believer will give up unnecessary things. In this situation where social media is giving way to the unnecessary, we need to pay attention to the application of the scriptures that is not necessary without saying unnecessary. By spending hours everyday on social media, we also lose opportunities to do good deeds and acts of worship. Social media should not be a hindrance to worshiping Allah. There are many acts of worship for believers to perform such as prayer, dhikr, recitation of the Qur’an. We need to understand that we should not lose it because we are immersed in social media.

The Prophet used to spend his time carefully. Prophet has introduced two things as the main factors in a person’s personal life. He has also taught that there will be questions about them in the Hereafter. One is health and two is leisure. We can see that both of them are being wasted through social media today. We believers have to think about this issue a lot when we spend our free time on social media without accurate figures. It is said that social media is an investment of our valuable time and resources. Therefore, we have to keep many things here as we have to keep in the normal investment. We should devote our time and health to activities that are consistent with spiritual successes beyond mere material successes.

Another teaching of Prophet Muhammad is about the tongue. The wound of the tongue is sharper than that of the sword. Today, through social media, anyone can say anything, anywhere, anytime. In this era of social media, we are giving out praises and honors. Each of our messages and texts are our words. We have to keep them too. Here we must read together the Qur’anic teaching that we do not utter our every word unless it is recorded. We as believers need to change the habit of using social media only for good things. Do not use social media even for a small matter related to evil. So by using social media effectively we can do a lot of good and reap a lot of rewards. The Prophet taught us that if someone shows a good deed, he (the one who showed it) will receive the same reward as the one who did it.

When social media evolves into spaces for privacy and eavesdropping on others, when social media leads to communal riots and even murders, when social media is used to copy and degrade each other’s hatred, we as believers. It should be noted that while posting and sharing anything on social media, do it only after verifying the authenticity. We should be convinced that no one should be hurt by our carelessness. The method of sharing as soon as possible is not suitable for believers.

In the hadith narrated by Abu Huraira (r) the Prophet says that the habit of saying whatever one hears is enough to make one’s words false. This hadith is very relevant in this age of sharing everything. We need to clearly learn from the examples of the Holy Prophet what things we should pay attention to in social media interactions, what should be considered, what should be avoided, how to live in harmony with the religion while using social media, and how to achieve physical and spiritual benefits through social media interactions.

Islamic teachings enumerate many principles such as ethical communication, honesty and respect for others. We need to follow these on social media as well. Although social media is double-edged, we can reap many benefits from it. Social media is one of the most useful means of Propagation, that we can do in our digital age, just as the models adopted by different prophets for religious preaching are different. We should look for these kinds of methods through it. We as believers should always model the Holy Prophet’s lessons in social media interactions that change through the Prophet’s teachings and interpretations of personal life.  

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