The Fitnah of Selfie - PDF document

1 The Fitnah of Selfie - Amazement  The Fitnah of Selfie - Amazement By Abū bm - Ḥ btbn Nىmjl Ᾱ dam al - Akh ḍ ar ELF - AMAZEMENT , b qfrton’t nffd uo bf bu uif dfnufr of buufnujon bnd djtduttjon, love of fame , and showing off ( Riya ) are from the greatest of tr ials to befall the children of Ᾱ dam. They are also from the deceptions of Shay ṭ ل n , and Shay ṭ ل n only promises delusion . We find in the narration collected by Im ل m Muslim (  ) on the authority of Ab ū Hurayrah (  ) : (( )) “Wijmf b nbn bt turuuujnh ibuhiujmz jn ijt hbr nfnut, bnbzfd jui ijntfmf, Ammى h caused the earth to swallow him up, and h e will continue to sink into the earth until the Day of Resurrection .” 1 A nother wording mentions that the man was preoccupied with combing his hair. Al - Qur ṭ ub ī (  ) tbjd: “ijt tfmf - indulgence is when a person looks at himself with amazement, forgetting the blessing of All ى i.” 2 There are a number of narrations in the authentic Sunnah that condemn — and certainly remedy — such preoccupation . Im ل m al - Tirmidh ī (  ) compiled his book al - Sham ل ’ il , illustrat ing for the reader the character and characte ristics of All ى i’t Nfttfnhfr (  ) : matters pertaining to his dress, his food, his humility, his physical features, et cetera . And in relation to his physical features, al - Tirmidh ī pens the chapter: “Wibu i as been Related Concerning t he Prophet ’t Ibjrdbrf . ” In it h e collects the narration of ʿ Abd All ى h b. Mughaffal (  ) who said: (( )) “Ammbi’t Nfttfnhfr qroijbjufd uif donbjnh of uif ibjr , unmftt ju jt donf oddbtjonbmmz.” 3 Regarding the interpretat ion of this narration, al - Man ى w ī (  ) s tates : “Wibu jt jnufndfd jn the prohi bition is constant attention and focus upon it , becau se this is excessiveness in beautification. ” 4 1 Ṣ a ḥ ī ḥ Muslim (no. 2088) 2 See Tar ḥ al - Tathrīb fī Shar ḥ al - Taqrīb (8/169) 3 Authenticated by Shaykh al - Ambىnī jn Mukhta ṣ ir al - Shamل’il al - Tirmidhī (p. 37) 4 Fay ḍ al - Qadīr (no. 9377) S 2 The Fitnah of Selfie - Amazement We learn from this narration — as well as the narration of the man swallowed by the earth — that incessantly combing or brushing the hair is a sign of self - indu lgence and haughtiness and must be avoided by the believer. One, of course, should not understand from this tha t the Sunnah calls to neglect ing onf’t bqqfbrbndf, bt uif tdiombrt ibf dmbrjfjfd uibu djtrfhbrd of onf’t appearance is from foulness. Thus , the believer remains upon the middle course described in the aforementioned Ḥ ad ī th of ʿ Abd All ى h b. Mughaffal. In addition to this, s elf - amazement can cause a person to r eject the truth, result ing in their de struction. The Messenger of All ى h (  ) said: (( .. . )) Abū Hurayrah related that the Messenger of Allah (  ) tbjd: “irff uijnht tbf , and three things destroy … A s for the three things that destroy, they are the greed that is obeyed, the desires that are followed, and the person amazed with himself , and it is the worst of uifn.” Thus, we ask Al mى h (  ) to save us from such delusion and what leads to it. And perhaps from the greatest causes , and manifestations , of self - amazement in these times i s the phenomenon lnon bt uif “tfmfjf.” Wf do nou jnufnd jn bnz bz that t he idea of the selfie is novel . Rather, it is rooted in the kind s of self - portraits artists , painters and sculptors have rendered of themselves for many centuries. However, with the advent of technolog y: the digital camera and smart p hone, coupled with the ac cess to th e Internet and the overarching shadow of social media, the se lfie has spread to the four directions of the earth. T his is what our Shaykh Nurbjm b. Iىdī al - Wى dj’ (  ) , the Mu ḥ addith of the land of Yemen, alluded to in his statement : “ And from those fitan (trials) that the Muslims have been tested with are pictures, for indeed there is not a home absent of them. Rather, it has reached even t he Bedouins in the valley and on the mountain top. ” 5 Consider the fac t t hat the Shaykh died in 20 01, well before the social media and pictur e sharing explosion . H ow much more accurate are his words in the era of Instagram, the camera phone , and the selfie stick? T h i s i s n o t h i n g les s than love of fame and being seen. It was S haykh a l - Alb ى n ī who constantly sta t ed : “ The love of fame will break one's back. ” And t h e Sa la f un de rs to od t he d an ge r s o f fa me a nd d es ir in g it . A l - Ḥ ل f i ẓ Al - Dhahab ī relates in Siyar that Im ى m A ḥ mad (  ) said: “ I desire to be in the mountain paths of Makkah, so that I would not be known. ” 6 Contrarily, we read that whe n Kha ṭ īb Al - Baghd ى d ī (  ) aut hored his book Tar ī kh Baghd ل d , a man asked if Kha ṭ ī b had mention ed him from the reliable narrators or the unreliabl e narrators . It was said that he di d not mention him at all . T he m an replied: “ I f only he had menti oned me, even among the liars. ” 7 It is interesting to find that even among the Kuffل r are those who recognize the vanity , and, pe r haps, psychopathy of the selfie, until s ome of their research ers suggest that selfies are a 5 Ḥ ukm Ta ṣ īr Dhaلt al - Arل ḥ (p. 7) 6 A l - Siyar (11/216) 7 Al - Siyar ( 18 /38 1 ) 3 The Fitnah of Selfie - Amazement sign of narcissism 8 . S tudies they argue demonstrate “uibu boui nbrdjttjtn bnd tfmf - objectification were associated w ith spending more time on social networking sites, and with more photo - fdjujnh. Qotujnh nunfrout tfmfjft bt rfmbufd uo boui ijhifr nbrdjttjtn bnd qtzdioqbuiz.” 9 It is important to note here that we are in no way in need of such studies to tell us that whi ch we see clearly in the Book and Authentic Sunnah , and sayings of the schol ars: love of fame will break a person ’ s back . Therefore, one s hould reflect and ask himself or herself what it says about a person who spend s hours on end of her days — days on end of her life — applying makeup, doing her hair, prepping her sunglasses and attire , only to stand before a mirror (or us e a selfie stick) to photograph herself in a numbe r of positions and post hundreds of pictures of herself on social media . Wf’mm mfbf uif nobmf reade r to answer the question for him self or herself . And then what of our beloved sist frt io no jndumhf jn uif “Njrb bj tfmfjf?” It not one of the wisdom s of the n iqل b and ḥ ijل b to deflect and avert the eyes of the people? The Mu ḥ addith of this era, Mu ḥ ammad N ى ṣ ir al - Ambىnī (  ) , makes this poi nt in his book Ḥ ijلb al - Mar’ah al - Muslimah , ifrf if nfnujont uibu onf of uif dondjujont of uif Nutmjn onbn’t drftt jt uibu ju should not be an adornment in and of itself. He states, a fter menti oning the verse in Surah al - Nū r : ﮋ ﰃ ﮙ ﮘ ﮗ ﮊ “…bnd nou uo tio off uifjr bdornnfnu. ” [ al - N ū r 24:31] Thi s includes their outer garment if it is adorned, attracting the attention of men .” 10 And what does posting a selfie say — even in niqل b — ouifr uibn “mool bu nf, ” in effect attracting the attention of men. This, no doubt, contradicts the very purpose of the ḥ ijل b , bnd Ammى h (  ) knows best. The author of Nih ل yah al - Mu ḥ t ل j writes: “ The preponderant position is that it is imp ermissible to look at the woman wearing niq ى b , display ing nothing other than her eyes and what su r rounds them. ” H e goes on to say : ﰁ Ƕَ � �ا جا Ƿ ر ل نخ رجا )) )) “ A nd how m u ch are the eyes like d a g gers. ” 11 8 Narcissism is an “jnordjnbuf fbtdjnbujon jui onftfmf; fxdfttjf self - mof bnd bnjuz.” Iu donft from the Greek myth of Narcissus. The myth states that Narcissus was extremely handsome and was desired by many , but due to his vanity, he rejected his suitors. Once, walking by a lake, he decided to drink from its waters, seeing his reflection in the lak e, he fell in love with himself and drowned in his futile effort to possess the one true love of his life: himself. 9 http s://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/close - encounters/201501/are - selfies - sign - narcissism - and - psychopathy 10 Ḥ ijلb al - Mar’ah al - Muslimah (p. 119) 11 N ihayah al - Mu ḥ t ل j (6/ 188) 4 The Fitnah of Selfie - Amazement This along with the fact that uif “n iqabi selfie ” is oft - times accompanied by the beautification of the eyes with mascara, eye s hadow and the likes. A questioner asked Shaykh jn ى z (  ) about the permissibility of a woman applying ku ḥ l to her eyes. He answered: It is permissible for a w oman to beautify her eyes with ku ḥ l around other w omen, her husband, or her unmarriageable male relati ves. As for in front of marriageable men, it is not permissible for her to uncover h er face or her eyes , lined with ku ḥ l ; this is duf uo uif tubufnfnu of Ammى h: ﮋ ﰁ ﯫﯪ ﯩ ﯨ ﯧ ﯦﯥ ﯤ ﯣ ﯢ ﯡ ﯠ ﯟ ﮊ “And ifn zou btl [ijt jft] for tonfuijnh, btl uifn fron bfijnd b qbrujujon. ibu jt qurfr for zour ifbrut bnd uifjr ifbrut.” [ al - A ḥ zل b 33:53] T here is no ha rm in wearing the b urqaʿ , from which one or both eyes appear, but without being lined with ku ḥ l before marriageable men. 12 What ’ s more , the fitnah of selfies has not only captured the otherwise mundane daily activities of eating, dressing , and riding in cars ; nay, even going to sleep and waking ; activities that should instead be preceded by supplicatio n and dhikr . But what is even more reprehensible than that are selfies of worship. For how many are the images that can be seen on social media of people praying 13 , breaking fast at an Iftلr , presenting checks in charity, sitting in the masjid during the Jumu ʿ ah sermon , performing Ḥ ajj and ʿ Umrah , et cetera on social media ? Concerning this, Shaykh ʿ Abd al - Sbzzى q al - ʿ Abbى d ( � هظǨƷ ) stated : W hen the Prophet reached the Miqل t , if oumd tbz: “O Ammى h, make this Ḥ ajj without Riya (showing off) bnd juiouu urzjnh uo bf ifbrd of.” ijt supplication is said at the Miqل t . And after making this supplication , it is followed by action and striving against the soul. But now at the Miqلt , many of the people are taking pictures as m ementos. They take pictures on � aل f , Arafل t , and while throwing at the Jamrat . It is as though the only purpose of this trip is to take pictures and it is not worship which they desire to see on the Day of Judge ment as a great rfbrd jui Ammى i. And ifn uifz rfuurn ionf, uifz tbz: “Conf look at me. This is me on Arafل t . This is me on Muzdalifah . And we have seen some of the people when they are ready to take a picture, they raise their hands in the appearance of humility, fear, and tranquility. And then after the picture is snapped, they drop their hands. Were these ha ndt rbjtfd for Ammىi? No, bz Ammى h; these hands were raised only for the picture, and the picture was only taken to 12 http://www.binbaz.org.sa/node/2211 13 It has reached us that some even use selfie timer apps to capture such moments. Wf btl Ammى h (  ) for pardon. 5 The Fitnah of Selfie - Amazement show off to the people. And when some of them return home, they make photo albums. 14 And a s if the evils of self - amazement and showing off ( Riya ) , and loving fame are not enough, selfies also fall under the general prohibition of taking pictures of animate beings. Abū Zubayr said that he ifbrd Kى bir (  ) state: (( ِ)) “ if Nfttfnhfr of Ammى h prohibited the display of pictures in the House and prohibi ted people to make them; h e commanded ʿ Umar to go to the Kaʿ bah and oblite rate every picture in it, and [the Prophet] djd nou fnufr uif Ioutf unujm ffrz jnbhf jn ju bt fffbdfd.” 15 Our Shaykh Nurbjm b. Iىdī al - Wbdj’ tbjd dondfrnjnh uijt nbrrbujon bnd tjnjmbr ordjnht: “You fjnd jn uiftf fjdfndft uif hfnfrbm qroijbjujon of jnbhft, ifuifr uirff djnfntjonbm or one dimen sional, because he stated : ‘…f frz jnbhf jn ju bt fffbdfd.’ And effacement is not done wit h that which is three dimensional, as it is jntufbd brolfn.” 16 Also, Sa ʿī d b. Abū bm - Ḥ asan related : (( )) ل (( ُ)) “A nbn dbnf uo Ibn ʿAbbى s bnd tbjd: ‘N y livelihood comes solely from my hands, and I make these pictures. Can you give me a ruling concerning them ? ’ Ibn ʿ A bbى s told him, ‘ Come cl otfr,’ to uif nbn dbnf dmotfr. ‘Cmotfr,’ he repeated , and the man did so , until he put his hand on uif nbn’t ifbd bnd tbjd: ‘ I shall tell you what I heard from the Prophet. I h fbrd uif Nfttfnhfr of Ammى h say: ‘ Every image - maker will be in the fire, where a being will 14 See https://twitter.com/MTWSNC/status/512270499872006144 , translated and summarized by our brother Rasheed Barbee — nbz Ammىi qrftfrf ijn. 15 The Musnad of Inىn A ḥ mad (3/383) 16 Ḥ ukm Ta ṣ īr Dhaلt al - Arل ḥ (p. 15 ) 6 The Fitnah of Selfie - Amazement be set upon him to torment him in H ell for each picture he made. ’ Ibn ʿAbbىt uifn tbjd: ‘To if you must, draw tree s and things without animate life in them. ’ ” 17 And A l - Na ḍ r b. Anbt b. Nى lik stated : “ I was sitting with Ibn ʿAbbى s, and he began to give religious verdicts, and he did not say t ifz frf uif tubufnfnut of Ammىi’t Messenger until a man said to him: ‘ I am the painter of these pictures. ’ Ibn ʿAbbى s said: ‘ I ifbrd Ammىi’ s Messenger say : He who painted pictures in this life will be compelled to breathe life in to them on the D ay of Resurrection, but he w ill not be able to breathe life [in to them] .” And myriad other narrations prohibiting taking pictures of animate life , too many to cite in these few pages . 18 In conclusion, I remind myself firs t and my brothers and sisters from the Muslims that shyness is from faith , and that humility is from uif Qroqifu’t (  ) noble qualities. L et us be equally mindful of the threats of punishment found in the aforemention ed tex t s , and rfqfnu uo Ammى h (  ) from every sin and transgression. May we act upon the command of uif Nfttfnhfr of Ammى h (  ) to efface every image of ani mate life, removing them from our camera phones and social media accounts , as we see the Companions effacing i mages bu uif Qroqifu’t (  ) behest . Mbtumz, f btl Ammىi, bm - ىrj, bm - Mu ṣ awwir , to bless us with correct understanding and implementation of the Book and Sunnah . Indeed Ammىi (  ) has power over all things.    17 Collected by Muslim in his Ṣ a ḥ ī ḥ (no. 2110) 18 This, of c ourse, includes selfie av atars on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , et cetera .