Another matter regarding the Internet which is associated with the preconditions of the Hour is the saying of the Prophet as in the book of Imam Ibn Hibban : “Lying will spread.” A liar will be punished in his grave by having his face ripped down to his rectum, because of how his lies spread among people. Nowadays, one can lie and publish this on the Internet, and it would spread from the east to the west in an instant.
A recent survey states that the number of users on the internet are more than billion people, and the number is increasing extremely rapidly. 77% of the Americans say that they have benefited from it, 44% say they cannot live without it, and 87% use it to call and contact their relatives. The Internet has entered the Arab and Islamic world, but there are two obstacles which obstruct it from being used freely in these countries:
1. The lack of technical knowledge on an individual level.
2. The lack of knowledge of the English language.
On the other hand, the Internet is potentially very beneficial; I am not trying to market the use of the Internet here, but I am simply displaying its benefits as well as its dangers. There are many benefits such as:
· It facilitates purchasing and brings within reach the display of any item one desires to buy or order, such as books etc.
· It facilitates running a business.
· It is inexpensive to make calls via it.
· It makes contacting international research centres an easy task.
· It enables the swift sending of mail.
· It enables people to listen to the radio, watch medical programs and participate in discussions.
· It contains many means that one can take advantage of in the propagation of Islam and calling people to Allah.
A question arises: how can we benefit from the Internet in the field of propagating Islam? Our presence on the internet is very weak, which is a shame for a Nation that is supposed to be the best nation ever sent out to mankind. I am addressing here those people who have a real concern for spreading Islam, and not just anyone.
There is no doubt that there is a spiritual vacuum in the west as well as the east, and that people lack a system which can establish justice. The world is full of injustice and oppression; it is also filled with corruption and enmity. People live the law of the jungle where the strong eat the weak; this is a world whose evil knows no limit. This world is full of people who commit suicide, have nervous breakdowns and many other disorders which reflect the vacuum we mentioned earlier, and people will never live in justice and peace except through Islam.
Islam is a religion which is a mercy to mankind; it is the only religion which Allah accepts from people as Allah Says (what means): “Whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him.” [Quran 3: 85]
If we acknowledge that Islam must become the international religion which all people should adopt, we must convey it to mankind using all available means and methods. We will not reign supreme if we fail to utilize all means to make this religion dominate, or else we will be forsaking Islam and not supporting it. We are commanded by Allah to explain Islam to the masses and we must have the sense of responsibility to spread this religion worldwide, to the best of our ability.
Spreading and propagating Islam via the Internet is something which cannot escape us. Even with simple planning and limited resources we can establish projects to propagate Islam and present them to people, which will have very beneficial results. Thus, we must have the eagerness to address the hearts of people and try to convey to them the light of Islam.
With regards to spreading Islamic knowledge:
First: We need a huge amount of resources and careful planning and entities to adopt mammoth projects and see their successful completion.
Second: We need to establish huge databases for the different Islamic sciences, in addition to advanced search engines in Arabic, because what is available on the Internet now is insufficient as well as substandard.
Third: We need to connect the masses to the lectures of scholars via the Internet.
Fourth: We need specific channels for academic lectures, where the scholar delivers them and people can instantly see him from their home - worldwide, because despite the fact that some of us are blessed to be around scholars and be able to attend their lectures, there are many others who are deprived of this bounty as they do not have either scholars or students of knowledge living in their area; this would open a way for people to seek knowledge, the reward for which is, as the Prophet said, Allah opening a way towards Paradise for the one who does so.
Fifth: we need to make the Fatawa of the scholars reach the masses people and enable them to inquire about matters directly via the Internet by setting aside certain times for them.
Sixth: Islamic universities should teach students around the world via the Internet for a small fee to cover the expenses of such a project, as is already the case with universities in the United States and Europe that teach worldly subjects … we must join the caravan.
Seventh: Another idea is to publish on the Internet Masters and PhD degree theses in Islamic studies and organise them with efficient indices, which would facilitate searching by Muslims and even non-Muslims who may thereby benefit greatly; there is a yearning to learn about Islam nowadays among the non-believers worldwide. The era that we live in has seen a revolution in the field of data and communications, and we must take advantage of this to spread Islamic information which will benefit those who search the Internet. There are many out there who compare the world's religions. There are people who would like to read the Quran, or the translation of its meaning, as well as prophetic narrations in order to know the nature of Islam, its economic, political and religious system, as well as all other things related to this religion.
The use of the Internet to propagate Islam -I
The use of the Internet to propagate Islam -III