By Kasozi Mahad, National Secretary Ta’aleem MKA-Uganda
Use the technology, but do not allow the technology to use you
Almost every person today carries a small device that never leaves their side. It wakes them up, it sits with them at the table, it follows them to bed, and it is the last thing they check before sleeping and the first thing they touch when they wake up. This device is the smartphone, and together with social media, it has become one of the biggest tests facing the Muslim believer in this digital age.
This article about Social Media in Islam argues that Islam does not condemn technology itself. The Qur’an and the Hadith of the Holy Prophet (SAW) do not tell believers to run away from phones, the internet, or social media. Rather, Islam admonishes believers to be disciplined, to remain in control of whatever they use in their live and not to let the things they own to control them.
Through a phone, a Muslim can listen to the Qur’an, attend a Dars, learn Hadith, communicate with family, study, earn a living, and spread the message of Islam. The real question, therefore, is not whether Muslims should use technology, but who is in charge, are we controlling our technology, or is our technology controlling us?
The starting point for this discussion is the Hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, in which the Holy Prophet (SAW) said:
نِعْمَتَانِ مَغْبُونٌ فِيهِمَا كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ، الصِّحَّةُ وَالْفَرَاغُ
“There are two blessings that many people are deceived into losing: health and free time.”
By calling free time a “blessing,” the Prophet (SAW) makes it clear that idle hours are not empty or meaningless they carry value, and Allah will ask about how they were used.
A person while in his or her free time may plan to check WhatsApp for five minutes, then Instagram for ten, then one video on TikTok, and before they know it, an entire evening has slipped away without benefit. Once that time is gone, it cannot be bought back. This is why time management is a matter of faith.
A second Hadith, recorded in Sahih Muslim, gives believers a practical test for daily choices:
الْمُؤْمِنُ الْقَوِيُّ خَيْرٌ وَأَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِ الضَّعِيفِ وَفِي كُلٍّ خَيْرٌ احْرِصْ عَلَى مَا يَنْفَعُكَ وَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ وَلاَ تَعْجِزْ…
“A strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer, while there is good in both. Cherish that which gives you benefit, seek help from Allah, and do not lose heart.”
The phrase “cherish that which gives you benefit” pushes the believer past a simple halal-or-haram question. Something can be permissible and still cause harm when done in excess, eating is halal, but overeating harms the body; sleeping is halal, but sleeping through Fajr is a serious lapse.
In the same way, using the internet is halal, but hours spent consuming content with no benefit can gradually rob a person of something far more valuable than the content itself.
Social media does not only take time but it can also shape the heart. Constant exposure to other people’s curated “highlights”, their travels, celebrations, and displays of success, can breed comparison and, eventually, ingratitude for the blessings Allah has already given. What is often forgotten is that a photograph shows the smile, not the struggle behind it.
The Prophet (SAW) also reminded believers that even the body has rights, as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari:
صُمْ وَأَفْطِرْ، وَقُمْ وَنَمْ، فَإِنَّ لِجَسَدِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَإِنَّ لِعَيْنِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَإِنَّ لِزَوْجِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا
“Fast and break your fast, pray and sleep, for your body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you…”
In the past, seeing something harmful required physically going somewhere. Today, a single swipe can bring the whole world into a person’s room. Therefore choosing not to click, to unfollow, to mute, or simply to put the phone down is not weakness, it is self-control in its highest form.
The same caution applies to what believers type and forward. Gheebat (backbiting) remains gheebat when typed, lying remains lying when posted, and slander remains slander when forwarded on WhatsApp. Allah commands in the Qur’an:
“O you who believe! If a wicked person brings you any news, verify it…” (Surah Al-Hujurat, 49:6)
A related principle is found in a narration recorded in Jami’ at-Tirmidhi in which the Holy Prophet (SAW) said that;
مِنْ حُسْنِ إِسْلاَمِ الْمَرْءِ تَرْكُهُ مَا لاَ يَعْنِيهِ
“Among the excellence of a person’s Islam is his leaving what does not concern him.”
Much of what fills a social media feed, other people’s arguments, relationships, or private matters simply do not concern the believer, and true discipline includes knowing when to scroll past.
Discipline is best built through small, consistent habits, protecting the first moments of the morning for Fajr and dhikr rather than notifications; keeping the phone away during Salah, switching off unnecessary alerts, keeping devices out of the bedroom; setting fixed times for social media, replacing scrolling with reading, exercise, or family time, and reflecting each night on how the days’ time was actually spent.
This reflection matters because, as recorded in Jami’ at-Tirmidhi, the Prophet(SAW) said:
لاَ تَزُولُ قَدَمَا عَبْدٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ عُمْرِهِ فِيمَا أَفْنَاهُ…
“The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about his life and how he spent it, his knowledge and what he did with it, his wealth how he earned and spent it and his body and how he used it.”
Technology is not the enemy of the believer; lack of discipline is. The same phone that can teach the Qur’an can also waste hours of a life that will be questioned before Allah. The device sits in human hands, but the question remains constant, who is truly in control?
The answer given by Islam is clear, the believer must remain the master of the tool, he or she should always be reminded that time, sight, and speech are Amanah( a Trust) to be returned, and eventually accounted for, before Allah.
This article was adopted from the Speech “Discipline in the Digital Age: Controlling Screen Time and Social Media in Islam” Delivered by Kasozi Mahad the National Secretay Ta’aleem at the 20th National Ijitmah MKA, Uganda held on 4th – 6th September, 2026
