An Idiot's Guide to Cyber Halal

“The god of the virtual world is the same as the god of the real world.”

According to Fars News Agency’s “cyber reporter,” adolescents and young people are using social networks — and absorbing the imported culture that goes along with them — more and more.

There is no question, the report says, that the dominant culture on social networks, and the whole idea of designing software to build this kind of human interaction, is contrary to the Islamic, Iranian and traditional culture of the country.

But is this conflict a good enough reason to simply abandon these modern tools? Many argue that the beliefs and standards applied in the real world can be applied equally well to the virtual world, and to relationships between people on social networks.

Based on this, the “Piety in Cyberspace” campaign was launched recently, reminding social network users that behavior and interactions between people in the real world can be extended to the virtual world as well. It just requires a little more care and attention.

A selection of illustrations and text from the campaign can be viewed below:

 

- @HajAliiii, Hello. Thank you. You are well? Thank you very much. You are so kind...:)

- Hello. How are you? I came across your profile. Just wanted to say hello.

The god of the virtual world is the same as the god of the real world.

 

If you saw her in the real world, you would probably look away and keep going.

But when you see her name, face and comments in the virtual world, you stare intently at the monitor, and perhaps your heart beats a little faster.

 

- “Like” this beautiful hejab...Right on, sister.

-  You hejab is an honor for us religious fellows. Bravo!

My daughter: According to the Koran, one example of immodesty is flaunting yourself in front of strangers. But it is not only those wearing bad hejab that can be guilty of flaunting. You can be a show-off even in good hejab. The only difference is who’s watching. Pay attention.

 

- Oh my! What happened to your finger?

- My god! What did you do to your finger?

So what if you don’t ask about his health?

 

How many times have you printed out photographs that show you in these kinds of poses, framed them, or taken them into the street and distributed them to passers-by?

Never? Then why are you putting your beauty up for sale in the side streets and alleyways of the virtual world, you who are a chaste woman in the real one?

• The doors of God’s mercy are open, even in cyberspace. We will gave this space the gift of God’s aura. We have been invited to God’s banquet. We must serve him with both our virtual and real selves.

• He asked: “Is it my fault that people call me by my first name?” I said that “men’s hejab” or modesty depends on his moral gravity. Whose fault is it when a man gazes at a woman wearing bad hejab? This is the same thing. How a man behaves towards women he does not know is an indicator of his modesty, and it has nothing to do with whether he is married or single.

The value of any person depends on that person’s willpower. The choice to click or not click says something about your worth.

 

Answering a greeting is a must; but saying hello first is not...

 

Dear Lady: The same way that, in the real world, your chastity, your hejab and your dignity prevents you from becoming intimate with strangers, and the same way that you tighten your hejab when a stare bothers you, in cyberspace, you must tighten your hejab using words when you come across a stranger.

 

The smile on your face, which she cannot see, is worrying.

 

Think first: Are you quite sure that nobody in your family can help solve your problem?

 

All these things that you are writing now — would you tell them to his face?

 

You can be anywhere in the world, but why does he have to know right now where you are, what you are doing, and how you are feeling? Why him?

 

It is natural to continue real world friendships in the virtual world. But perhaps even in the real world there might be a stranger around that you would not be joking and frolicking with in this way.

Remember: on social networks, hundreds of strangers are witness to your behavior.

• Are you sure an email will not do? Do you have to chat?

 

You can contribute to this campaign using the following hashtag:#تقوا_در_دنیای_مجازی

 

To read more stories like this, sign up to our weekly email.