|
Islam in “Cyberia”
The
computer, as we have come to realize, has become an extension of our
central nervous system. Software substitutes most hardware, and we
now live in a world where the dividing line between virtual reality
and physical reality is fast disappearing.
The
Internet spans the globe in all languages and cultures, bringing
spatially distant individuals virtually close together. Millions are
now online. Almost everyone in the developed countries is wired and
connected, and the rest of the world is expected to reach the same
level of information-rich existence: Virtual reality is slowly
supplanting the real reality.
Virtual
reality is slowly supplanting the real reality. |
|
|
And
the digital gurus now feel that we need much more than the present
cyberspace, so they are planning Internet-2. Once this is realized,
you will be able to check your e-mails over a high-speed Internet
connection while waiting for the bus, or chat with your friends
using high-definition television. You will even be able to inject a
chip the size of a grain of rice under your skin, that will help
others track you wherever you are, check your credit card details,
and so on and so forth.[1]
A
Florida-based manufacturer has already made a chip with “a variety
of security, defense and secure-access applications, such as
government and private sector facilities.” It is very small and
sits dormant under your skin until a scanner is passed over it,
sending out a low-range radio frequency. The chip responds to the
signal and supplies the scanner with its unique ID number. How that
number is used depends on the database the scanner is hooked up to.
A beach club in Barcelona has already introduced it to its VIP
members, according to reports.[2]
We
cannot draw demarcating lines around the “Digital Us.”
As we gradually adjust our lives to the latest digital
experiences, we stray further and further from the world of
here and now. |
|
|
We
have reached a stage where we cannot distinguish the real elements
of our thoughts and feelings from the virtual ones. We cannot draw
demarcating lines around the “Digital Us.” As we gradually
adjust our lives to the latest digital experiences, we stray further
and further from the world of here and now, and that world becomes
less and less satisfying. Once we’re wired for a virtual world,
the present world goes dim and fails to satisfy our digitized needs.
This is the situation the world is coming to.
The
Internet, unlike television or newspapers, provides interaction.
Everyone contributes in some way to its organization. We may call it
a huge dream machine. We know we are likely to fall asleep anywhere,
and on the Internet we are prone to spiritual sleep. But probably
the Internet is less sleep-inducing than TV because surfing the Web
is a relatively proactive pursuit.
Speed
is basically injurious to the spirit. We need time to pray,
to meditate. And a mad rush is not likely to yield any
spiritual benefit. |
|
|
The
problem with high tech is that it tends to impede spiritual growth.
No doubt, superhighways facilitate speed. But speed is basically
injurious to the spirit. We need time to pray, to meditate. And a
mad rush is not likely to yield any spiritual benefit.
Bandwidth
generates a profusion of information, a multiplicity of interests;
indeed, it provides an extremely perplexing maze of pathways. It was
the 19th- century English poet Matthew Arnold who spoke of “the
sick hurry and divided aims” as the disease of modern man.
Struggling to disentangle from the web of confusion, a surfer often
loses the way and follows the wrong lead.
The
19th-century English poet Matthew Arnold spoke of “the
sick hurry and divided aims” as the disease of modern man. |
|
|
Probably
the most serious shortcoming of the Net is its divorce from nature,
as it means a divorce from the body, which is our primary anchor to
reality as also to spiritual energies. Certainly, many people go to
the Net to escape, to abandon themselves to a make-believe world,
even a world of Technicolor dreams. The result is that those who are
constrained to spend much time in cyberspace will learn to cherish
the natural world. After spending hours on end staring at a computer
monitor, there is nothing like the scent of a flower or the push of
the wind against your face.
Religion
on the Net
Certainly,
many people go to the Net to escape, to abandon themselves
to a make-believe world, even a world of Technicolor dreams. |
|
|
People
often try out multiple selves in some of the activities and games
available on the Net. They deliberately indulge in a sort of
consensual hallucination. This allows them to explore their shadow
selves, as it were. The projected “me” need not be the real
“me.” One thing people do on the Internet is to project their
shadow selves into cyberspace and create online characters for role
playing. Cyberspace helps them to overstep the barriers of their
physical presence. They get more insights into themselves if they
integrate all these shadow selves into who they are.
On
the Internet people project their shadow selves into
cyberspace and create online characters for role playing. |
|
|
Traditionally
we posit two kinds of space: the material world in which our bodies
exist, and a spiritual world where our souls dwell. We can think of
cyberspace as existing somewhere in between: a world that shares
some of the qualities of the material world, such as space and time;
and some of the qualities of the spiritual world, such as
interacting with thousands of souls at thousands of locations at
once.
This
takes us to the social, as well as to the spiritual, implications of
the Internet: The Net offers us an opportunity for a new community
life, and it can create in us a new interest in religious pursuits
or even open before us hitherto unexplored areas of spiritual
awakening. This is the positive aspect of it.
The
downside is that the Net can also tempt us to further and further
social isolation. As I engage in more and more online activities, I
can avoid face-to-face human interaction, except for the select few
with whom I really want to be. This leads to a new elitism. But we
can never substitute Internet interaction for flesh- and-blood
contact because we are corporeal beings, because cyberlife will
never be the same as looking into one another’s eyes as we share
our joys and concerns.
So,
the increasing “cyberization” of our lives makes real-life
interaction ever more crucial to keep ourselves human. We can allow
our shadow selves to be in cyberspace, but we must not lose our
souls in cyberspace. In the process of cyberizing Isalm, we must see
what happens to Islam.
Islam
on the Internet
The
Net offers us an opportunity for a new community life, and
it can create in us a new interest in religious pursuits or
even open before us hitherto unexplored areas of spiritual
awakening. |
|
|
We
have said that the increased speed of communication and information
transmission has altered perceptions of time and space, bringing
people together. This is a positive thing about the Internet: People
who wouldn’t talk to each other are coming together in cyberspace.
Thus, people from distant places can be on a single platform to
discuss and debate a wide range of topics and ideas. And for this
reason, religion and culture will never be the same again. It
certainly has a positive effect on the Muslim peoples, as this
becomes a step towards the unity of the Ummah. We may compare the
virtual Ummah to the real Ummah who gather at Makkah every year for
Hajj: They represent all colors, shades, and nuances of the
diversity of the Islamic world.
Around
15 million Muslims all over the world surf the Net. This is a little
above one percent of the total world Muslim population, and only a
fraction of those who watch TV channels. Gary Bunt, in his
pioneering work, Islam in the Digital Age, explores how the
application of electronic media has affected Islam and Muslims.[3]
Bunt explores the whole new life of cyberjihad, cyberimams, and
online Muslim communities. He defines the themes that characterize
the Islamic lane on the cyberhighway.
Bunt
says that before September 11, there were e-jihad sites that
encouraged Muslims to fight the oppression faced by Muslims in
different parts of the world such as Palestine, Chechnya,
Afghanistan, and Kashmir. Many of the Web sites contained graphic
images of victims of oppression as a means of gearing support.
After
September 11, the American government began to crack down on all
these forms of open resistance, which they deemed as “terrorist in
nature.” The United States has “intensified its scrutiny of
websites and is moving to intercept any email traffic generated by
the websites. Western intelligence agencies are also routinely
snooping on visitors to extremist Muslim websites.”[4]
Online
activism in the name of Islam is an area in which tensions might
escalate as Internet technology has become more widely available and
accessible. Muslims were forced to wage cyberwarfare with hackers
from rival groups based in the United States and Israel. The result
was more “protective hacking” and peaceful measures like signing
petitions and the like.
People
from distant places can be on a single platform to discuss
and debate a wide range of topics and ideas. And for this
reason, religion and culture will never be the same again. |
|
|
A
lot of positive work like e-da`wah is done on the Internet
now, which merits more attention than it now gets. In fact there are
hundreds of sites designed to educate the user about Islam and
Muslims. They also provide an interconnectivity between reverts and
other Muslims, giving them a channel to share views and concerns.
Another advantage is the facility for online fatwa. Young people in
particular access these facilities now, as they need not personally
go to an imam or a scholar to get a doubt cleared or a problem
solved. E-fatwas save a lot of time and trouble, while maintaining
the questioner’s anonymity, as any topic is fair game online. At
times the legitimacy or authenticity of the e-muftis is questioned,
and it is not unusual for them to hide under the anonymity provided
by the Internet. There can be an online fiqh council to authenticate
or invalidate the fatwas given, wherever necessary.
We
know that the Internet is a Western product reflecting the freedom
and even lawlessness typical of an open society. There is no doubt
that freedom has different definitions in different societies and
polities. And often the repressive regimes in some of the
“Islamic” countries put forth the view that freedom is injurious
to Islam.[5]
And
what about the people of the Land of the Free, the United States of
America? They, too, have discovered that freedom cannot be
completely free! The American unease with Muslim presence is made
clear in a book entitled The War on Islam by Enver Masud.[6]
Information
Overload and Portals of Knowledge
The
Internet—with a far more pervasive influence than any mass medium
in the history of human expression—is a double-edged sword, but
Muslims seem to have come of age here. Consequently, they use this
medium quite effectively to spread the message of Islam.
Another
point is that there are a number of sites for Muslim women or
managed by Muslim women. Samer Hathout, cofounder of the Muslim
Women’s League in Los Angeles, says, “I think for the first time
for a lot of Muslim women they can be equal partners in a discussion
on anything…. Nobody knows who you are. They don’t know if you
are a woman or a man.”[7]
These
sites encourage women to study and seek jobs and have a more visible
role in social development. Naturally enough, most of the women
sites focus on health, family, and beauty. Particularly noteworthy
is the emergence of an Islamic feminism in a good number of these
sites.
At
times the legitimacy or authenticity of the e-muftis is
questioned, and it is not unusual for them to hide under the
anonymity provided by the Internet. There can be an online
fiqh council to authenticate or invalidate the fatwas given,
wherever necessary. |
|
|
One
of the advantages of the Islamic Internet is the fact that more and
more worldwide debates and discussions are going on about different
topics in Islam. I think this openness and freedom lead to greater
consensus on controversial issues. Over the Internet, Muslims are
engaged in a global conversation no longer limited to a single
country or group.
A
recent poll conducted by the ABC News and Beliefnet showed that
those Americans who knew more about the religion were more positive.
“Americans who feel they’re familiar with the basic tenets of
Islam are much more likely than others to call it peaceful, to say
it teaches respect for non-Mulsims and to view it favorably
overall,” says Gary Langer, director of polling for ABC News.[8]
Perhaps
because they are not sure what to think, Americans are inquiring
more directly about the faith, prompting a big increase in sales of
books about Islam. According to Publishers Weekly, before
September 11, not one of the top 1,000 religion books on Amazon
dealt with Islam. Today, among the top 10 titles in religion, four
deal in part or entirely with Islam. According to a December survey
by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, during the same time
period, 23 percent of Internet users turned to online sources to get
information about Islam, according to a December survey by the Pew
Internet and American Life Project.
There
is no doubt that even before September 11, Islam was well on its way
to becoming a mainstream American religion. In the 1940s,
politicians felt comfortable talking about Christian beliefs. In the
1950s, they started to refer to Judeo-Christian values. Now, they
include Islam as one of the “Big Three,” as Bush did during the
2000 presidential campaign when he talked regularly about the
beneficial activities of “churches, synagogues, and mosques.”
One
of the advantages of the Islamic Internet is the fact that
more and more worldwide debates and discussions are going on
about different topics in Islam. |
|
Comments
by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, that Islam is an “evil”
faith drew support from big pockets of evangelicals—and there were
evangelicals who resented President Bush’s statement “Islam is a
peaceful religion.”
One
point about American Muslims is that they are growing their own
style of Islamic activity.
In
the last two decades, immigrant Muslims have built mosques all
across the country and turned them into vibrant Islamic community
centers—in a way that is unheard of in their home countries. Their
children have shed the ways of the old countries and now, coming of
age in the late 1990s, they have begun grappling with issues such as
gender equality, reconciling democracy and Islam, throwing off
anti-Semitism, and embracing interfaith dialogue, among other
issues. Meanwhile, African-American Muslims, who make up about
one-third of all Muslims in this country, have been quietly and
ever-more-forcefully asserting themselves as leaders on the path
toward a truly American style of Islam. [9]
Certainly
the chief concern of Muslims is with the news and features
that daily spew forth from Western media sources to tarnish
the image of Islam and Muslims. This is the major challenge
that Muslims have to tackle diligently and rationally. |
|
|
After
September 11 Muslims in America and other Western countries have
recognized a need to get out of their cocoons and get involved in
the socio-political life of the country of their adoption. So there
is the chance that within a decade, despite all odds, Islam may
become a mainstream Western religion. And in this evolution,
Cyber-Islam has a crucial role, as is becoming more and more
evident.
Certainly
the chief concern of Muslims is with the news and features that
daily spew forth from Western media sources to tarnish the image of
Islam and Muslims. This is the major challenge that Muslims have to
tackle diligently and rationally.
And
the prospects are good, as many Muslims in the field have proved
themselves capable of taking the bull by the horns. And in sha’
Allah, Islam on the Internet is poised to have a good impact on
the souls that inhabit “Cyberia.”
*
Prof. Shahul Hameed is a prolific writer and a poet specialized
in Islamic topics and comparative religion. He is also a consultant
to Ask About Islam.
[2]
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” The Guardian, June 10,
2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/
0%2C3605%2C1234827%2C00.html
[3] Gary R. Bunt, Islam in the Digital Age:
E-Jihad, Online Fatwas and Cyber Islamic Environments (London
and Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2003).
[4]
A review of Islam in the Digital Age, on www.salaam.co.uk
at http://www.salaam.co.uk/bookshelf/review.php?option=24
[5]
See “Islam and the Internet” by Abdalla Uba Adamu, available
at http://www.kanoonline.com/publications/islam_and_the_internet.htm
[6]
Enver Masud, The War on Islam, 3rd ed. (Arlington, VA:
Madrasah Books, 2003). The book is available online in Adobe
format at http://www.twf.org/Library?woi2edL.pdf
.
[7]
“Islam on the Internet—Part I: Building Islamic Communities
Online,” March 16, 2002: http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/cyberislam
/community.html
|
