Author: Nazir Noor

“All the people of my Ummah would get pardon for their sins except those who publicise them.” (Muslim) Imagine if we woke up every morning to find that the sins which we had perpetrated during the night were written all over our front door, advertised for the entire world to witness. Wouldn’t we be horrified? In fact, we would feel so disgraced that we wouldn’t know where to hide our faces! If we reflect over this, we will realize that it is only out of His infinite kindness that Allah Ta‘ala conceals our sins. Let us next imagine that we go out of our way, sacrificing our wealth, time and energy, to

More addictive than alcohol and cigarettes! This is the conclusion of a study conducted in Germany with regard to the effects of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and other such platforms. Describing this addiction, The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, vol. 2, no.1 states: “This generation has made social media their top priority and continues to need more usage in order to feel satisfied.” Instant Gratification The internet and social media outlets have “reprogrammed” the way millions of people think and how they conduct themselves. This is, as some researchers describe it, due to “this interactive world’s power to alter the tangible world.” Indeed it has “altered”

“Cornell Information Science published research earlier this month that looked at (among other things) the difficulty some people have in quitting Facebook and other social networks. They even have a label for the failure to quit: “social media reversion.” The study used data from a site called 99DaysofFreedom.com, which encourages people to stop using Facebook for 99 days. The site and study are interesting because they revealed the difficulty people have in quitting Facebook because of addiction. Participants intended to quit, wanted to quit and believed they could quit (for 99 days), but many couldn’t make more than a few days. The addictive aspect of social networking is associated with FOMO – fear of missing out.

Is your iPad or some other device keeping your child occupied with video games? If yes, think again. In a study conducted in Canada, Brock University academics found that playing violent video games for long periods of time can hold back the “moral maturity” of teenagers. They also warned of adolescents losing a sense of “right and wrong”. Empathy, trust and concern for others, which should develop as teenagers grow up, were found to be delayed.  (BBC News website) Another report states: “Research has long shown a cause-effect relationship between television violence and aggression among children and youth who watch it. Many social scientists expect video games to have an