Boycott Facebook? Or Use It More?

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When I first received an email about the petition to demand Facebook remove the ‘draw Mohammad’ group, I have to admit I was moved to support the idea. After all, places like Facebook are fun places to chit chat with friends, and inflammatory rhetoric only makes that less fun. But then I thought more about the situation, and I began to question whether the answer was really to demand Facebook to remove the offensive group, or to get my friends to use the site more.

Facebook is open to the whole world, and you can find groups for almost anything there. Yes, there is the offensive ‘draw Mohammad’ group, but there is also a page for ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ which is an anti-Jewish propaganda.There is also a group that is anti-Christian with an obscene name. It has thousands of members. There is even a popular group called “I Hate Facebook”!

Like the world itself, Facebook has all sorts of misguided people who either truly hold twisted views, or are simply immature and like to say outrageous things just to cause some problems. Banning these people’s groups might hide them for a short moment, but surely they would pop up again somewhere else. And boycotting Facebook means punishing ourselves for the misbehaviour of others.

When I read that LHC has ordered a temporary ban on Facebook, I sighed with disappointment. Is this really the best way to react? Let me propose an alternative that might be more effective.

If Pakistanis boycott Facebook, will this really make the people who try to offend and hate Islam change their ways? Probably not. They will probably still make their childish drawings and wallow in their immature attempts to make people mad.

But what if, instead, we organized a movement on Facebook to educate people about Islam? What if we got a group of people and instead of posting hateful messages on the Facebook page (which is just what these people want), what if we posted hadiths that show how Prophet Muhammad was accepting of all people, that showed that Islam is a religion of peace and mercy, not of violence. That Pakistan is a nation of intelligent and kind people, not Hakimullah Mehsuds and other Taliban idiots.

What if we spent the time that nobody from Pakistan will be able to use Facebook to get more Pakistanis to sign up! The greater our presence on this site – which is not going away – the more people would learn about who we really are and not the hateful lies that some people are spreading.

I have said before that ‘We must define who we are. Because if we don’t, someone else will.’ This is the same whether we are talking about media, militants, or people on Facebook.

 

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29 COMMENTS

  1. Gosh! We need to put an end to this infantile behaviour. Banning facebook is never going to sort out this issue & I think that facebook must be critised! Can we Muslims Report the page or whatever is it??? Are we too helpless to create our own groups to spread the message of Islam, but the truth is that we like to & much more, are fond of behaving like Conformists!!
    Facebook should not be banned…WE WANT OUR FACEBOOK BACK!!

  2. Well, the problem is that FB management deliberately did not remove that page and let it all happen. A temp ban on FB in all Islamic countries can sure bring their traffic down to a level where they should respond to the requests of majority and not be part of these racist propaganda.

  4. We should boycott face book.Doing what is suggested in this article comes later.We cant let the Hate crime against our beloved Prophet(PBUH) happen and then see and watch and plan .We have to do things simultaneously and promptly.(e.g You can not let the murder happen but/and start to educate people to become more tolerant less aggressive and so on …..you have to do something about that murderer first,save the victim and then plan next…….

  5. we should boycott face book bcus they have insulted our beloved holy prophet hazrat muhammad ( s.a.w.) so we should take stand on it and its the matter of our religion so all muslims should come on road and demonstarte against anit islamic groups and facebook which is social networking site should appologise for such a bloody insult other wise we will die for our beloved holy prophet ( S.A.W.) repect and dignity

  6. NOTE TO ALL COMMENTERS

    You only need to comment one time. All comments are held shortly for moderation which should be pretty fast I hope. I will publish your comment whatever your opinion is but I do check for any offensive language or any threats. Obviously, there is some good discussion here so please keep going!

  7. No Sir, I totally disagree with your suggestion.

    In fact, I am going to write to the SG OIC, with the proposal to immediately direct, all 54 member countries, to plug off Fb from their usage, like Pakistan has done it.

    And Inshaallah, you will see the result of boycott of 1.5 billion Muslim population. The Fb people will come to OIC begging with apology and requesting to be excused.

    You are also requested to reconsider your proposal and play your role in uniting the Muslim Ummah, against the heinous conspiracies against our belief and faith.

    Warm regards,

    Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
    0321-9402157
    447/F-2, Phase – 1, M. A. Johar Town,
    Lahore.

  9. 1.5 billion Muslims will not leave facebook—that is ridiculous. i think being MORE active and EDUCATING people about ISLAM is the real answer. there are so many people out there who think terrible things about our faith, and instead of correcting them, instead of bringing out the beauty of islam, we act so immaturely. this needs to stop!

  10. i think the ban on facebook is not a durable solution but i appreciat this decision of LHR about ban on facebook. actually as a muslim we should write a lot of about Mohammad(S.A.W) personality. so that we conceive other people

  11. We wanted to show the world we are not impotent and can take brave actions like banning the webs. Ignoring this event would had meant we have compromised our religion & love of MUHAMMAD S.A.W.S over our fun & needs.

    Why can we not create a social web like Facebook or Orkut rather then begging for removal of FB ban? After all there are so many IT gurus that have both passion and knowledge to do any thing in IT field. All we would need would be to provide that web with more & more internet traffic & entice more & more people to join that.

  13. Dear fellow:

    We are muslims , we have our believs and ideas about our life on earth and “Here after”, in past we had ruled the world , in the heart of all kind of religion , at that time ,we are so powerful that , great RULERS OF THE WOLRD FEAR FROM MUSLIM RULERS. BUT IN THE PRESENT TIME, WE ARE NOT RULERS , BUT OTHER PEOPLES ARE RULING ON US, WHY IT SO?

    CAN SOME ONE ANSWER ME?

    IN MY VIEWS M IN PAST WE HAD STRONG BELIEFS ON OUR FAITH , NOW WE FEAR FROM KUFFAAR AND OTHER NON-MULSIM COUNTRIES.
    THE REASON IS TAHT WE ARE ON OBEYING ISLAM ,
    WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING ALLAH AS OUR MASTER, WE NOT SAY PRAYER, NOT RULE AS ALLAH HAS TOLD US. SO PLEASE ,ACCEPT THIS AS A FACT , ITS YOUR OWN WILL TO USE Facebook ,or to bycott it,

    May ALLAH GIVE YOU THE RIGHT PATH,.,…..

  14. why u people went your facebook back?
    facebook not a oxygen or water…….
    open de Quran n read wd meanings spend your time on Quran.
    author ur suggestion is not good v muslim must boycot facebook. HURMATY RASOOLMA MOOATH B KABOOL HY

  15. plz make sure wht youu suggest should atleast amke some sense ..this is something for MUHAMMAD (PBUH).This world was created fr him..achaaaaaaaaaaaa..and boycott it fr monthhhh

  16. I guess… a little loss would be okay :P… thoda maza aaye ga FB ko :D… millions of dollars jab loosenge na yeh… tab remove karenge woh page.. warna nahi :)…

  18. Wise Humans@ We don’t offense like animals… U always Trigger us
    Eating our homes Make Us Do Revenge, And eating Country oil power and resources need a reason … u had to make one I.E 9/11 .l.. Agencies/Propaganda.

    Interesting how many in the West has become so offending, insensitive and hateful. And their main accusation is that Muslims do not “RESPECT” Western culture. Is not that ridiculously
    ironic! LOL

  19. I HATE FACE BOOK AND ALL OF THEM WHO WANTS FACE BOOK BACK BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT MUSLIMS WHOM HAVE NOT LOVE OF THEIR BELOVED PROPHET S.A.W.W IN THEIR HEARTS. NO MORE FACE BOOK IN PAKISTAN.
    why u people went your facebook back? facebook not a oxygen or water……. open de Quran n read wd meanings spend your time on Quran. author ur suggestion is not good v muslim must boycot facebook. HURMATY RASOOL S.A.W.W MA MOOATH B KABOOL HY

    AND THINK ABOUT IT WHAT BROTHER ARSLAN SAID:

    YA RASOOL ALLAH S.A.W.W AAP KI NAMOOS KI KHATIR
    DIL BEH HAZIR JANN BEH HAZIR

  20. H.M. Masood youre probable one of those 19th century people who hate facebook. no offence but i didnot like ur comment. cuz theere are hundreds of people who are addicted to facebook. you hate them all? yes i agree with you that we should open our Quran and enlighten those people who are lost in darkness people who are making drawing. question arises as how? the only way is through facebook. making groups and telling the real teachins to people. boycotting facebook had no effect on Mark cuz facebook earns through the advertisement and not through the number of users. It didnt effect them at all infact facebook said it will block its website through out pakistan. isnt this a clear evidence? WE WANT FACEBOOK BACK FOR ALL THOSE ADDICTS AND TO ENLIGTHEN THE PEOPLE WITH THE TEACHING OF PROPHET SAW FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LOST IN DARKNESS.

  22. Well facebook banned, proves it can be done so why not ban all the porn and gambling sites? All the things that are actually against our religion 😛

  23. i think those who are supporting face book should recite Kalma once again. because if some one make a yours hideous picture how you would feel just ask your self. but they are making the pictures of(S .A .W) our most loved one .

  24. To those in favor of facebook back , please look within urselves and ask, do u really want facebook back to “enlighten” the “ignorant” or is it the entertainment u miss. do u think the people who are doing this dont have access to enough material on Muhammad P.b.u.H to know who and how he was…… the truth of the matter is we ourselves dont know enough about Him……. The Man who sacrified the peace of night for ignorant people like us ……. and here we are trying to come up with justifications for turning a blind eye to those who abuse Him….. i too enjoyed FB and miss it but i believe if we cant make a sacrifice this small(a sacrfice of our entertainment) how then, can we justify our Love for Him and ourselves as His followers……

  25. i agree to close face book infact it was a spare time for all of us i know the outer feelings of a person that it is right to close face book but from inside everybody must be very angry to close face book even a child of 5 years old was having face book yah i agree to close face book on that women reason but then she promised and also asked to forgive us
    oh! one thing youtube can be close
    but…………………………i want my face book back

  26. well we have our pics there and some people like me dont have a backup so at;east open facebook for a day so that we can deactivate it. whats with blocking it without any notification?
    secondly areej you access it through proxy websites those are working

  27. I live in the UK and don’t use Facebook as often, however, I only realised about this page a day before the petition and only today have found out that Pakistan has blocked Fb. Pakistan needs to block the whole of the World Wide Web in order to make a stand otherwise it’s pointless (just like the people who start to protest and burn tyres and flags). I wonder how many other people didn’t know about the protest in Pakistan. Maybe Pakistan needs to focus on issues slightly closer to home such as promoting Hijab in the right context and not having women on billboard advertisements. BTW is You Tube Banned as well? No one even raised an eyebrow a few years ago when YT released Fitna where the first drawing was carried out. One only has to visit Pakistan to see how they preach so much but do not practice. A final example is women plucking their eyebrows which was forbidden in Islam however wherever one turn’s a corner there you see another beauty parlour. I don’t see any protests about that.

    Maybe I’m wrong but I agree with the author bring back FB.

  29. I disagree with idea of this article.

    I have 3 points which If one answers in a way to convince me, I’ll start using facebook again

    1) Facebook didn’t remove that offensive page even after more than 100,000 reports against it and a huge protest in all over the world. however their rules said that they do not allow targeting a group(muslims are one fifth of the population of whole world—-a huge group) and violence.

    2)they quickly removed pages and groups against jews like “draw holocaust day” and other within an hour and permanently ban the user whcih make that group after only 40-50 reports.

    3) After this act, which clearly shows they just support in other words themselves target muslims, they said that muslims will soon forget what had happend and start using again facebook in near future.

    does anyone have answer who support use of facebook???

    try to use that medium to promote ISLAM which is itself against muslims and islam is not a good idea which is presented in this article.

    There are other sites like http://www.myfriendsbook.com
    made by pakistanis after 20 MAY and are as good as FB.
    people can use them as an alternative to facebook.

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