A day ago, a cartoon received through WhatsApp was very amusing; four children who had come to wish their grandmother on her birthday are sitting around her, each engrossed in chatting on their mobile. The grandmother is not aware of what the kids are doing and is sitting in their midst, totally bewildered by the situation.
Situations such as these are not uncommon in our society, which boasts of major strides in digital achievements. As per Islam, during Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-Ul-Akbar - the two most important festivals for believers in the religion - people are expected to exchange pleasantries and happiness. During this time, we need to remember that Mohammed Nabi had said that those who break familial relations cannot be included into a society of believers.
While the focus is on strengthening existing relationships, Eid also gives importance to reconciling with lost relationships. Islam encourages you to go to those who do not maintain good relationships with you and wish him or her with sincere feelings in your heart. In fact, Eid is a period when you need to assimilate all these good sentiments and habits in you.
However, people in the modern society do not seem to adhere to these principles, especially those who dabble with social media, which has become a media for breaking ties between people than making them. We often see that misplaced social transactions are behind murders, robbery and arson.
A big fallout of the spread of the social media is that the boundaries between private and public dealings of a person have been breached, often without the person’s permission. Social media has become a medium to encroach into the privacy of a person and their misuse has stymied the potential of such media to do good to humanity.
According to a recent survey, the time spent by all Facebook users around the world in a day cumulatively equals 19963 years! Rather than being surprised by the finding, one needs to make an attempt to assimilate the fact that most of our kids are addicts of social media and that 70 per cent of those having problems of depression are social media addicts.
Our society has been so transformed that each person has become an island, isolated from even close friends and relatives. Wives and husbands are in different worlds, children do not have time to speak to parents, God is out of reach and all that the youngsters do are reach out for selfies even with a grandparent who is in his/her death bed or with a person who is battling for last breath following an accident. The focus on self-exaggeration has reached new levels in our society. According to Nabi, gossiping is worse than murder; social media is now the best source for gossips.
Let the festival discussions this time dwell on social responsibilities when using social media. Let the discussions pervade mosques, communities and social media and let all the ‘likes’ support change for the good.
Beyond abundance of food and opulence, the festivities of Eid should encourage social interaction and the exchange of happiness and brotherhood. According to Islamic teachings, even a smile is a great act of charity. The festivals also teach us to smile with all our heart and make others happy. This Eid-Ul-Fitr, let us strive to bring back the real essence of the festival- being there for others and sharing happiness with all.
(The author is the state president of the Sunni Management Association and the chairman of the Malappuram Ma-adin Academy.)