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Negligence in Sharing Images

٢٦ يوليو ٢٠١٨
Negligence in Sharing Images

It has become very common to open a message from your "committed" friend or watch their post and find images of unveiled women under various titles: - A Westerner taking a humanitarian stance toward a Muslim - Condemning activities of enemies of the faith or careless individuals - A political news item - A woman asking a preacher who responds with a strong answer - Condemning the presence of a preacher or influential person at inappropriate celebrations - A foreign health article containing information that aligns with our religion - Or even clips just for mockery and entertainment. The disturbing phenomenon is that all of this is being published and comes from brothers in faith who claim to be religious! Without any caution or attempt to blur the inappropriate images.. And here we are not talking about "modest" images, but rather images that are indecently exposed.. to the extent that you put your hand on your heart before continuing to view what your "religious" brother publishes or sends you! Brothers, I think we need to take a stand here! - What is the ruling on this action? Is it forbidden or permissible? Do all the usual justifications make this action permissible? Don't we always raise the banner of regulating behavior according to Islamic rulings? - Didn't Allah Almighty command hijab and modesty for a wise purpose? Doesn't it play a role in preserving the purity of the heart, the purity of the soul, and the clarity of the mind from attachment to what is not permissible? Does sharing these images and clips preserve these noble objectives or destroy them? - Isn't this a form of schizophrenia? That we are careful about the modesty of our wives, sisters, and daughters, then we share such images that have no hijab or "semblance of hijab" (if that's the right expression) and no modesty at all? - Aren't we killing the virtue and natural modesty that our enemies are eagerly trying to eradicate and suppress from our hearts and the hearts of our daughters? I write these words while genuinely upset and amazed at what I see from the elite of the noble brothers, who were more cautious and careful not long ago. You can share the news without the image, and if the image is more impactful, then fear of Allah is more impactful and more powerful! And Allah will bless brief words that you write, seeking His pleasure. And leave behind the chorus of "terrorists" and "terrorist women" who will label you as "backward extremists" preoccupied with trivial issues" and other distorted records that seem to have affected many of us, unfortunately, so that we act unconsciously under their "terrorism". We may sympathize with these people and understand the reasons for their tension and the complexes they have from the bad practices of some "unbalanced" scholars.. But we do not become obsessed with pleasing them and accommodating their complexes! And we do not move from the extremism of being preoccupied with these issues to the extremism of negligence, but we correct, stand up, and advise them to obey Allah... And Allah knows best.