Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Muslims: An Islamic Perspective

Abstract

Information technology has brought a change that cannot be ignored, it has completely changed the fundamental structure of human lives. The world has been converted into a global village due to the invention of social media. This research aims to evaluate the impact of social media on religion through the use of secondary resources such as previous literature and data that exists regarding the relationship between social media and religion focusing on the vision of Islam. Furthermore, it also examines the impact of social media on Muslims globally. Islam has been actively being preached through social media on various occasions, by use of different social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The Muslim world today is changing significantly due to the impact of information technology, for the sake of learning about Islām. The stigma regarding the negative impacts of social media still exists, this study aims to highlight the existing negative impacts of social media can potentially have on religion and to what extent can we tackle those negative aspects of social media. On the other hand, in light of previous literature, this article will also explore the positive impacts that social media has had on religion by the support of mentioning different theories and Islamic teachings. This paper concludes and recommends that social media has a vast impact on Muslim youth in both positive and negative ways, however, they need to act upon according to the collective wisdom of Islam through understanding the core objectives of Islam.