The curious case of Sheikh Google and internet Maulvi

HYDERABAD: Much like the guru-shishya bond, the murshid (teacher) and mureed (disciple) relationship too was considered sacred. But, things in the digital age have brought about a drastic change. The e-murshids are dime a dozen and the i-mureeds have grown by the thousands with each passing day. And sitting pretty at the top of the ladder is none other than Sheikh Google.
It is pertinent to reiterate that the causal surfer has a cozy relationship with the internet. He sends emails, is usually an avid social networker, visits Wikipedia, which he thinks is the internet’s unofficial ‘repository of knowledge’, and watches a bit of porn on the sly. But with those of a religious disposition, the relationship becomes slightly complex.
The internet age applied in the cyberspace of religion — Islam in particular — is being sardonically referred to as the age of ‘Sheikh Google and the Internet Maulvi’. It is a time in which an increasingly large number of young internet users, regardless of denomination and gender, are turning to the search engine as their ‘teacher’, as the Arabic word ‘sheikh’ traditionally connotes, in the hope of finding simplistic explanations of complicated, and, at times, deliberately convoluted Islamic concepts.
The menu on Islam in cyberspace is more than vast. The content is spicy. Thousands of videos of Barelwis lampooning Deobandis and vice versa are waiting to be watched on YouTube. Scathing criticism of Shiites by the hands of Sunnis and the other way round is commonplace. The minority Ahmadiyyas, of course, are despised by all. Clickbait! Many of the users, internet moulvis, if you will, from different schools of thought are sparring with each other, even going to the extent of excommunicating one another and their ilk. Adding to the online turmoil is the flow of deplorable, unregulated and acidic comments.
And while busy schedules have given rise to short, crisp and lucid explanations, the alarming trend is that many of these young internet maulvis have already begun unsheathing their swords to fight a pitched battle against those who disagree with their point of view — the battleground is social media. Armed with their shallow e-knowledge they engage in arguments, but often fail to consult experts on Islam or look up the primary sources — the Quran and hadith (traditions of Prophet Muhammad) and their voluminous interpretations — to buttress their points. It is only a matter of time that such individuals spill out into the streets and begin pontificating.
From turning into individuals about beliefs to the more worrying possibility of self-radicalisation, the dangers are innumerable.
The tech-savvy surfer asserts that the internet gives him the freedom to choose. It is a technological innovation, he explains. It is only natural that the web keeps him abreast with the latest research on Islam and trends within the Muslim community. The surfer is free to look up videos of the Mumbai based televangelist Dr Zakir Naik or Pakistani scholar Tahir-ul-Qadri. For a fresh perspective on religion, he can Google converts to Islam Abdul Raheem Green and Yusuf Estes or the rationalist Hamza Andreas Tzortzis and subscribe to their brand of the religion. The internet maulvi is not bound by the constraints of various schools of thought. Books are a thing of the past; apps on smartphones are the future, he reasons. Lakhs of smartphone users have the free Quran app installed on their phones. People are sitting in mosques and reading it on their android devices and tablets. Traditional books will soon be gone and the e-book will gain massive popularity, the i-mureed foretells. Who has time to hunt for authorities on Islam, he questions.
The traditionalist, though not cut off from the internet, contends that it is a unidirectional medium, with little or no scope for interaction. The impersonal approach of the e-murshid and the i-mureed disturb him. He considers the internet “paradoxical”. While it does give the surfer diversity of opinions, it also tunnels his vision. The lack of a real teacher makes the surfer a passive listener as he is unable to ask questions which give insight into a subject. He presents an analogy: a person doesn’t become a lawyer by watching the courtroom sitcom ‘The Practice’ on TV; similar is the case with religion.
Both present equally valid arguments. But there is a pressing need that they find common ground soon for the gulf between them is ever expanding. While technology has proved to be a tool vital in disseminating information, the wisdom offered by experts cannot be ignored. If a reconciliation fails, the carnage between these two groups in cyberspace will soon manifest itself in the real world as well.