The State of the Blogosphere
Published by Haseeb July 23rd, 2007 in Computers/Web, PersonalI have been making websites recreationally for almost 8 years now. My motivation for doing so was to share information that I particularly found informative and entertaining with others on the world wide web. For me, I primarily wrote about my religion (focusing on the American Muslim experience), my favorite sports, domestic politics, movies/music, & current events. I started “blogging” well over four years ago, and truly was proud of the information I shared with my readers - and sincerely hoped that they would be entertained and more importantly, truly benefit from whatever I have shared on my site.
However, much has changed since i began blogging. In fact, I never referred to myself as a “blogger”. Over the years, many free blogging platforms such as blogger and wordress.com emerged, along with YouTube and Facebook. Now the web is filled with an overabundance of social networks and blogs. I am writing about this now - because I wonder how much of this is actually of benefit. I can easily spend hours surfing through my blogroll and facebook - but very often, at the end of whatever duration that may be – I keep regretting how much time I have wasted on the web.
What bothers me most is the very nature of today’s blogosphere. Shaykh Hamza recently discussed this very issue at a recent event I attended. Anyone with access to the web can write whatever they want on the web. As Muslims, we have been advised to refrain from idle talk, and I am sure most of you will agree with me that most of the web is filled with just that. People who have no authority or knowledge whatsoever about a given subject go on and on writing whatever they want. And this is a huge problem. I will be the first to admit that I have probably written much that I shouldn’t have on my blog and other places on the web, although I have tried my best, especially recently, from doing just that.
As far as those bloggers out there that are active - I hope they all realize that they will be held accountable for what they write. Allah 
(swt) has blessed you with a platform to easily reach millions of people across the world, and with that access comes great responsibility. It shames me to see blogs become nothing more than sources of argumentation and unqualified debate – especially over matters of the deen. Morever, it hurts to realize how much time we all waste on facebook, blogs, and the web in general. We will all be held accountable for how we spend our time, and as we all know, by time, we are all in a state of loss.
So to my fellow bloggers out there, lets try our best to spend our time blogging efficiently and share matters that will be of benefit to our readers and not cause disunity and argumentation, or be nothing more than a “waste of time”. We have a responsibility to at some degree, educate our readers and hopefully increase the level of dialogue and awareness about the issues that we choose to write about.
And to everyone else on the web, thank you for taking valuable time out of your life to visit my site, and to read this post. I hope and pray that you make a positive use of your time and that this post, as well as whatever else you have read/watched on this site, has benefited you at some level.
Jazakallah Khair!
22 Responses to “The State of the Blogosphere”
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Pingback on Jul 23rd, 2007 at 11:40 pm
RIP hahmed.com
jazak Allah
for the reminder. But masha’Allah 
you’re blog has been quite meaningful, alhamdulillah.
lol, im not going anywhere Amir.
Wa jazaki Danya. Inshallah it will CONTINUE to be meaningful!
That was the fastest comeback in the history of the blogging world.
God bless
And save from distress
Making your faith ever greater
And your hair no less.
Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah
bless you for your noble efforts.
I pray that you are in the best of health & imaan.
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May Allah
Wa’salam
Of course u aint goin no where brother Haseeb..
At last I’m capable of reaching this place.. And for no reason! Nothing different.. Same computer, internet connection & everything..
HamduliAllah..
“God bless
And save from distress
Making your faith ever greater
And your hair no less.”
I love that!
With respect,
ASA Br. Haseeb… jak for the good advice. In fact, I have been meaning to write a post about the emergence of “Muslim” tabloid blogging— writing about everything and anything without considering any potential benefits or harms.
Some of it goes along this line: “I am being real”, or “let’s be real”. Some of it along this, “That’s what is happening, so I am talking about it”.
Well, no.
If something bad’s happening, you shouldn’t be talking about it, but doing something about it, unless your talk has some benefit. Talk for the sake of talk, which is exactly what tabloids are about, is futile and potentially harmful. Also, people forget that Islam does not encourage, nay forbids talking about one’s own sins. That’s not the macho thing to do, that’s the plain stupid thing to do.
So, again, good message… I hope it resonates far and wide.
wasalam.
well said haseeb
May Allah
help us to benefit from our time on the internet and may Allah 
help us to refrain from that which does us no benefit.
Ameen, (click)!
May Allah
help us to benefit from our time on the internet and may Allah 
help us to refrain from that which does us no benefit.
Ameen (click above) !
Harry Potter: Facts about Fiction
By Khalid Baig
Posted: 21 Rabi-u-Thani 1424, 21 June 2003
As expected there was much frenzy around the latest Harry Potter book. Bookstores and clubs around the world arranged special midnight parties and other events in celebration of the launching of the long-awaited fifth book in the series. A grandiose countdown was held in Times Square for the coming of the fifth book.
The book was set to break many old records. Online bookseller Amazon had already received one million pre-orders of the new book, its largest pre-order ever. Scholastic, the American publisher had ordered 8.5 million copies as the largest first printing ever. Worldwide, 13 million copies of the book had rolled off the presses in a massive print run.
The other books in the Harry Potter series have been translated into more than 55 languages, including Urdu, Persian, and Turkish. Nearly 200 million copies of the first four books have been sold in 200 countries.
What is all this craze about?
The series chronicles the growing up of a young orphan wizard named Harry Potter who attends a secret magic boarding school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry is a very unique wizard. His parents are killed while he is a baby by a wicked powerful wizard named Voldemort, but generally called “you-know-who” or “he-who-must-not-be-named”. Voldemort fails in his attempt to kill Harry and instead is nearly destroyed when his magic rebounds on him. Harry is left with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead.
Harry is sent to live with his “muggle” (non-magical people) relatives for the next ten years. He lives a miserable life, tormented by his aunt and uncle and his spoiled cousin. They attempt to keep him from knowing that he is a wizard.
Then, suddenly a letter arrives from Hogwarts on his eleventh birthday, changing his life completely. Harry finds out he is a wizard and rather famous for his encounter with the evil lord Voldemort. Despite opposition from his aunt and uncle, Harry goes to the wizard boarding school where he meets new people, including his best friends Ron and Hermione. Harry discovers that he has both admirers and enemies.
Each book details the events of one school year.
The main characters in the story have few noble qualities; they lie with impunity, use profanity, don’t respect their elders, break rules regularly, and are unrepentant.
While the books are characterized by most people as innocent fantasy and entertainment, they contain many evil messages - not all of which are subtle.
The books glorify magic and sorcery. Harry and his classmates regularly cast spells, brew potions, learn to tell the future, communicate with the spirits of the dead, train magical animals, and ride brooms. They study astrology, crystal gazing, numerology, transfiguration, and divination. Darker things occur as well such as murder, human sacrifice, drinking of unicorn blood, etc. The fight between good and evil in this book is actually a conflict between “good magic” and “evil magic”, both of which are evil.
The books are in effect promoters of paganism. They glorify magic and paganism while non-magical people, called Muggles, are despised and portrayed as boring, narrow-minded, and paranoid of magic.
Not surprisingly, the main characters in the story have few noble qualities; they lie with impunity, use profanity, don’t respect their elders, break rules regularly, and are unrepentant.
And for all these qualities and more, the books are popular and are having an effect. It is the “in” thing to purchase the book. And not just the book. Children have gone crazy over Harry Potter memorabilia, surrounding themselves with Harry Potter T-shirts, posters, toys, costumes, wands, hats, etc.
The media has been glorifying the book that glorifies sorcery.
Welcome to the world of capitalism and paganism, where superstitions and the occult reign supreme in the hearts and minds of people, and where the twin forces have forged an “alliance of the willing” that is doing its “magic” on a global scale.
Capitalism is all about maximization of profits and if that requires appealing to the lowest instincts and the darkest recesses of human nature, so be it. Millions of dollars have been spent on advertising the latest craze on billboards, buttons, bumper stickers, and posters etc. U.S. publisher Scholastic alone has planned a $4 million marketing budget for this single book - among the largest advertising budgets ever for a book.
The media machine — equally adept at political, cultural, and commercial propaganda — has been doing its part faithfully, paying a great deal of attention to the smallest events relating to the coming of the fifth book. It has been glorifying the book that glorifies sorcery.
Even if it were innocent entertainment (which it is not) the extreme devotion would be unjustified. But this culture is given to extremes and incidents of mass craziness are nothing new in it. The cabbage patch dolls craze in the 1980s was similar to current craze over the Harry Potter books. The Cabbage Patch Dolls were the fad of the 1980s. The most distinctive feature about them was that each doll looked a bit different from others and came with its own unique name and birthday, “adoption papers,” and a “birth certificate.” Marketing gimmick and television coverage combined to make sales explode starting in 1983. Chartered planes were used to bring the dolls from the overseas manufacturing plants to meet the ever increasing demand. Fist fights among eager customers often broke out in retail stores when a shipment of dolls arrived. In 1985, Coleco posted record sales of $600 million, thanks to their Cabbage Patch Kids.
When life has no higher purpose, entertainment and fun become the over-riding goal in life. When there is no belief in or clear concept of God as Creator and Master of the universe, superstition, sorcery, and the occult become fascinating.
When life has no higher purpose, entertainment and fun become the over-riding goal in life.
It is a reflection on the state of the society that there has been scarce opposition to this series that promises to become darker with each new release.
The Role of Muslims
In this current state of hysteria, Muslims should have played an important role in opposing this book and exposing the flaws of this culture. It is the duty of Muslims to guide the world, rather than blindly follow the ignorant masses. The Qur’an commands us in Surah Al-Kahf, “And don’t obey any whose heart We have permitted to neglect the remembrance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond all bounds.” [Al-Kahf 18:28]
Yet, unfortunately, we find very little opposition or reflection from Muslims, many of whom have chosen to blindly follow the pop culture. Many Muslims have assured themselves that the books are harmless fiction. Others even claim them to be beneficial because they encourage reading. Reading what? It does not occur to them to ask that question.
Islam prohibits both pointless entertainment (lahw) and sorcery. But countless Muslims seem to be unaware of that. And they are the ones fascinated by Harry Potter.
I knew it was all goin downhill since u started postin that Saad Omar stuff!
Haseeb is one of my role models.
assalamu’ alaykum,
well needed reminder. jazak’Allah
khair but i guess, a definition of what isn’t beneficial is probably needed. is art/self-expression/nurturing a talent regarded as not beneficial because the ‘reader’ doesn’t gain anything or doesn’t gain as much as the artist if that makes sense?
thanks for the reminder. will take note most definitely… such beautiful thoughts
May Allah 
bless us all. 
jazakallah khair for the reminder HaseeBhai
Salaams brother Haseeb,
swt bless us with good judgement and sound reasoning on our blogs. =)
This is a great post and definitely something that needed to be addressed. The balance between expressing your opinion and having a qualified debate is very delicate, and these days its very difficult to sort out the neccessity of it all. As humans, we are naturally inclined to be social, and gravitate towards connecting with others. While the time we spend online is probably excessive, I do think its made quite a beneficial impact on our lives. We all deserve the right to express ourselves, as it does contribute to self development, we just need to be be careful not to go overboard. A good reminder though, that we should definitely watch what we say, and use sound judgement in what we wish to express, as it can reverberate for a long time to come. May Allah
Wasalaam
Anika
If you got something to say, Khalid Baig, then say it to my face.
Assalaamu Alaikum Haseeb,
Thanks for the pertinent reminder. I don’t hang out on blogs too frequently, but when I do visit your blog every once in a while, I always find useful tidbits that I didn’t know about before. Such as Shaykh Hamza’s article on holocaust denial, and that interview about the creed of Imam Tahawi. Plus hahmed.com is the one-stop-shop for all things Muslim music related.
Despite the benefits, I imagine that a lot of people waste way too much time blogging and reading blogs such that the harm outweighs the benefit (kinda like alcohol).
Something that came to my mind reading your post is the tension between activism and bettering oneself through seeking knowledge or other means. It’s a conflict that most of us young people involved in MSAs and other activities face. There is no doubt that useful blogging can be considered a form of activism if done with that intention, and there’s no doubt that it has its many benefits. But I suppose one must carefully consider what activities or mix of activities will yield the greatest long term benefits. I for one often feel guilty of too much “activism” and not enough seeking knowledge.
And now I’m off to watch those Poetic Vision videos.
a great reminder akhi
jazakallah khayr