One of my friends, while talking to me on phone, said in nervousness that someone had given me a piece of advice that keeping eggs under the salt and then eating two eggs daily rectifies the blood pressure but the reverse has happened to me. Besides an increase in blood pressure, my blood cholesterol level has also raised. When asked, he explained that he had read this consultation on social media and decided to avail it. I told him that there is a lot of disinformation, circulating through social media. Therefore, the need is that we should not act upon any advice without its verification. Furthermore, it also should not be forwarded as such. Social media is such an unbridled horse which cannot be controlled by anyone. We should take measures to avoid the bad effects of this jibing horse. There is no field which is out of the reach of social media including that of health, religion, general knowledge, research on poetry and life of Allama Iqbal, science and Urdu literature. It is true that we found a lot of authentic and useful information on social media and it has led to a new pathway of knowledge and awareness but disinformation and carelessness do exists at its own. People have been found forwarding the information without any verification. Self-made narrations, sayings attributed to the companions of Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) & pious people, attributing the other’s poetry to Allama Iqbal and the consultations injurious to health use to circulate through social media on daily basis. Posts related to religious extremism, hate and those full of unethical views are common. Is it the teaching of religion to play with the religious fanaticism of people and asking them to share the posts while tempting them for virtue? There is an abundance of self-grown journalists and the one who is able to write some paradoxes, has declared himself as a journalist. Even cheating requires brain which is lacked by these so called journalists. They don’t hesitate to attribute and publish the writings which have many insertions in them. First time in the history of Sweden, when it was allowed to call for prayer (Azaan), it was reported by a famous private channel while attributing this report to me. I was surprised when the same report was presented on social media after making many insertions in it which was portrayed as:
“A mosque in United Kingdom where call for prayer (Azaan) sounds automatically and the English media is amazed at this”.
Oh my God, what a lie it is but people are continuously sharing while saying ‘Sub Haan Allah’. To prove Islam a true religion, false and weak evidences are provided which result in its negative impression. One can write what he wants about the others and didn’t feel a little bit shame while disgracing others. There is no one to ask about it and (it seems that) people have no fear of Allah Almighty. One of our friends is busy in welfare projects in his area. His haters have accused him hither and thither which was heart afflicting for him. Quran has strictly forbid from slandering and disgracing someone. Those who are slandering and disgracing should keep in mind the fact that one day they will also suffer for their own deeds and the punishment will also be there in the world after this.
After the introduction of smart phone, social media has been transformed into an epidemic affecting all the people. Before the era of social media and smart phones, people of Sweden used to have a book in their hands while traveling or sitting in the waiting rooms but now days, it has been replaced with a smart phone. Besides elders, children are also having a habit/addiction of smart phones. When a child teases his/her parents, they hand over the smart phone to him/her and the child is then not ready to give it back. My own maternal grandson Ibrahim is one of
them. The content on social media, reaching a common man is (in such a huge quantity) that even the whole day is not sufficient to see it and even an idler is unable to see all the content. Software being used for messaging has their own benefits but they are proving troublesome. I use to receive so many messages on what’s app. People even don’t ask for consent before adding us to any group. A single message is received from many persons and groups at which one becomes weary/sick. There will exist uniqueness if someone writes his/her own ideas but mostly copy/paste is being done or simply the share button is pushed. No one is able to watch lengthy videos and to read messages. Many of us are only concerned about the likes (on their posts) and they also have such friends who quickly push like button on their posts without reading the message or watching the video. Now days, social media has become a need and even having many evils, it still has some advantages. The friends, about which we had no knowledge, have been re-connected through Facebook and it is pleasing while keeping in touch with them (old friends). Nothing is better than social media for instant messaging, for sharing information and documents in no time without any cost. The need is that its use should be balanced. It should be used when necessary and one should avoid the wastage of time. Although, difficult for social media users, but one must try to use it for fair purposes. Overuse of social media may destroy the peace of house also.
An unbridled horse by Dr. Arif Kisana
