ARE YOU A MUSLIM?

“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion”

Are you a Muslim is a seemingly uncomplicated question I’ve often been asked by friends any time they see me talking Islam or Praying, This is not because of anything but because of the name I was known with- Obi Olajide. My answer is always yes, am a devout Muslim, some will disagree with my answer while some will say ‘well noting is impossible in this part of the world.   

Let me ask you the same question here, are you a Muslim? Yes! Am sure that is your answer, but do you have what it takes to carry the name? Ok, who is a Muslim?

Who is a Muslim?

A Muslim is an adherent of the religion of Islam. Literally, the word means "one who submits (to God)". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, called Allah in Arabic, and that Islam existed long before Muhammad though it was not called that until the revelation of Surah al-Ma'ida, which states: "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." Current use of "Muslim" is defined in the Amman Message. A literal translation would be "one who wants or seeks wholeness", where "wholeness" translates islāmun. In a religious sense, Al-Islām translates to "faith, piety", and Muslim to "one who has (religious) faith or piety".

Mu'min is an Arabic term frequently referenced in the Qur'an, meaning "believer", and denoting a person that has complete submission to the will of Allah. One who adheres practically to the 5 Pillars of Islaam (witnessing (shahadah), the five daily prayers (salat), almsgiving (zakat), fasting during the month of Ramadan (sawm), and hajj (pilgrimage) and professes the belief in the 6 Fundamental aspects of faith (One God; The angels of God; The books of God, especially the Qur'an; The prophets of God, especially Muhammad; The Day of Judgment (or the afterlife); and The supremacy of God's will (or predestination). One can become a Muslim by uttering; "Ashadhu An Laa ilaha illa Allaah, wa ashadhu anna Muhammad ar-rasulullah." This means, “I bear witness that no deity has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Final Messenger."

How Muslim are you?

Having known by definition who a Muslim is, the next question I will ask you is ‘how Muslim are you?’ Are you a Muslim by Name, a Muslim on Fridays alone, a Muslim during Ramadan alone, a Muslims of festive period etc? Fadilat Sheikh Adam Al-ilory in one of his write-ups I read some years back said, ‘There is nothing that differentiate a Muslim from the Non-muslims except Solat. How often do you observe your five times daily prayer? What do people say about your characters towards others in the society, I mean can you convince or convert somebody with your character towards them? Yes! you believe in oneness of Allah and Prophet as his messenger, you fast during the month of Ramadan, You have been to Hajji several times, but you are self-centred, you spend your wealth alone and less concern about fellow Muslims and non-muslims around you. Well! You are a Muslim, but how Muslim are?

Why Should You Be A Muslim?

One of several reasons why you should be a Muslim is simply because the Creator commanded you and us to do so, as is revealed in the Quran "Truly! Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him (Alone). This is the Straight Path"(3:51).

Allah has commanded us all to be Muslims, then why are there still many who deny this Truth? Allah answers in the Quran "They have hearts wherewith they understand not, they have eyes wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth). They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones"(7:179).

Being a Muslim means you submit yourself fully to the Creator and accept the fact that you were only created to worship Allah alone. You free yourself from the worst conceivable sin which is associating a partner with your Creator, Allah. You therefore acknowledge that you are a slave of the Creator and to Him is your return when you die, as is revealed in the Quran "And that to your Lord (Allah) is the End (Return of everything)"(53:42).

O reader, think seriously, why do you worship the creations of Allah when it is clear that the only one worthy of worship is Allah? As He (Allah) revealed in the Quran "Say (to the disbelievers): "Tell me, if Allah took away your hearing and your sight, and sealed up your hearts, who is there - an ilah (a god) other than Allah who could restore them to you?" See how variously we explain the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), yet they turn aside"(6:46).

Lastly, but not finally, being a Muslim also guarantees you salvation and deliverance by making a barrier between yourself and the eternal Hellfire. As Allah revealed in the Quran "The sovereignty on that Day will be that of Allah (the one Who has no partners). He will judge between them. So those who believed (in the oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) and did righteous good deeds will be in Gardens of delight (Paradise)"(22:56) and in chapter 2, verse 39 of the Quran, Allah revealed, pertaining to those who disbelieve, "But those who disbelieve and belie Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) such are the dwellers of the Fire, they shall abide therein forever"(2:39). Now, after knowing that you are commanded by your Creator to be a Muslim, what prevents you from being one?



SOCIAL MEDIA, ISLAM AND THE MUSLIMS

Without mincing words the use of internet is on the high side these days, especially now that all the Mobile phones are internet enabled. To my greatest surprise a woman of about 60 years of age pings and chat on ‘BBM’ and ‘what’s app’, besides, the rate at which information circulate on the internet via the social media platforms is faster than the speed of light.

A lot has been written on social media platforms in the past, but here, I will like to see it from the Islamic perspective. The question here is can a Muslim use any of the Social Medias? Or can we put any information about Islam on the platform? And if we are to use it, what can we use it for and how do we use the platform?

However, to do justice to any of the above questions there is need to make some clarifications;

What is Internet? The word internet is defined as a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols to serve several billion users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies.

What is Social media?  Social media is the term for all the ways people connect to people through the Internet computation. Mobile devices, social networks, micro-blogging and location sharing are just a few of the ways people engage in computer-mediated collective action. Social media is also known as Consumer Generated Media (CGM) and there are many types from content communities such as YouTube to blogs such as Twitter or social networking sites like Facebook, Google+, and instagram. There are other forms of Social media such as virtual online games, online chat rooms and collaborative projects such as Wikipedia. Social media allows the vast majority of the public to make their own publications and report or comment on their own news stories

Most people use the World Wide Web to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book vacations and to find out more about their interests. People use chat, messaging and email to make and stay in touch with friends worldwide, sometimes in the same way as some previously had pen pals. The Internet has seen a growing number of Web, where users can access their files and settings via the Internet.

Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have created new ways to socialize and interact. Users of these sites are able to add a wide variety of information to pages, to pursue common interests, and to connect with others. It is also possible to find existing acquaintances, to allow communication among existing groups of people. Sites like LinkedIn foster commercial and business connections. YouTube and Flickr specialize in users' videos and photographs.

Social media presents a huge opportunity for us to reach out to people who may not know about Islam or Muslims. Thousands of Americans have never met a Muslim but they have access to us through social media. “It would be hard for anyone to say that they have not ‘heard’ of Islam with the amount of coverage that our deen has received in recent years through so many different media outlets.

Social Media Increases Learning Opportunities, in the past, seeking knowledge about Islam was mainly restricted to the Masjids, educational institutions, and learning from imams and sheikhs. These traditional learning opportunities remain intact. However, now Muslims are also able to learn, question, teach, and network through social networking sites. “There are more avenues by which to learn about Islam. The Internet has given the public access to all kinds of information and made Islamic literature so much more accessible.”  On YouTube, for example, you can listen to a lecture in any language you want, whenever you want. Blogging sites such MuslimMatters.org and SuhaibWebb.com have become extremely popular with both Muslims and non-Muslims as a way to gain information and learn about Islam.

How to Use Social Media as a Muslim

1 Be Time Cautious. Time is very valuable in all spheres of our lives, and Islam reiterates that very seriously. As a Muslim, you should know when to log on (time not in proximity with your five daily prayers); how much time to spend on (avoiding excessive usage of your time on Facebook to interfere with your daily ibadah); and when to log out (ahead of your ibadah activities).

2 You Can Friend-request a Non-Muslim. Islam is neither a one-sided religion nor a bigoted one. It is an all-encompassing religion that tolerates and invites all people from all walks of life. So, yes, you can send/accept friend request even from the Jews, Christians and non-believers. By so doing, you not only pave way socially for discussion, you also open a platform for online preaching.

3 Share Islamic Resources. You can update your page with a hadith or a verse. Sharing Islamic resources like the fatwa video, articles and links of rich Islamic resources will be a great eye opener to many skeptics and hecklers of Islam as Islam is the most misunderstood religion on earth. Share no matter how small information you have, share it. Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of Allah be Upon Him) said: “the most generous of people after me will be those who will acquire knowledge and then disseminate it”.

4 Be Cautious of your Female Friends. You have to be extra careful with your female networks. Be sure to engage with them in the things that are vital, reproductive, and informative. Its haram (forbidden) to be engaging in some chatty-romantic-play with women be it online or offline. And if you can’t avoid flirting with women on Social Medias, do not befriend them at all.

Islamic ethics are applicable to social media  (This will range from censoring anything that is forbidden/haram such as material deemed indecent, violent or even blasphemous to promoting and propagating Islam as a religion also known as Dawah). The question remains how we ensure social media complies with Islamic ethics and any other theories of ethics. Should this be done by governments, Social media itself or by the very people using Social media? Many countries already regulate the media through government agencies such as Ofcom and the Press Complaints Commission in the UK.

In conclusion, Muslims can use Social Medias if Social media can comply with Islamic ethics and other theories of ethics. However this will have to be applied on different levels ranging from government legislation and regulation to social media outlets self-regulating themselves or by the very people who use Social media. These people will have to decide what is wrong or right according to their own conscience and using Islamic ethics to guide them.