Tech & Ramzan: GenY's posers baffle clerics

BAREILLY: With changing lifestyles, technology and religion have often met at the crossroad. This has been never more apparent than in the questions young Muslims are asking clerics on helplines during Ramzaan.
"Should I delete the digital Quran that was forwarded to me on my mobile phone?" asks a 20-year-old. Another wants to know if he "can begin Roza by listening to the Azaan from a mosque on a radio set?" And then this gem: "Is it alright to play mobile or online games to pass the time when we observe Roza?"
Clerics say they have to move with the times and prepare themselves for such questions."Though people from all backgrounds approach us, this Ramzaan we have been flooded with queries from youngsters, mostly about use of technology," said Mufti Mohammed Saleem Noori of the influential Dargah Ala Hazrat.
"Earlier people used to ask us whether Roza will be considered broken if one drinks water by mistake or if an injection is administered into the body. Now it is more about how to use smartphones, internet and other electronic devices," said Mufti Mohammed Jamil of the dargah.
The shrine receives more than a hundred queries every day from around the world. While the elderly call the landline numbers, youngsters shoot questions by email and WhatsApp.
How do the clerics answer these questions? With great care. Here are some instances: one can delete a digital Quran once one has finished reading it. However, one cannot open Roza by hearing Azaan from a different place on a radio set as the timings vary from place to place. It is prescribed to open the fast on the basis of timings of that particular place. "Playing games to pass the time is wrong because the aim of observing Roza is to remember God, pray and help the needy," said Noori.
An Islamic message service, started by Bareilly-based Tehseeni Foundation in April this year, receives nearly 20 queries a day. "Many fake messages are being spread on WhatsApp and other apps, such as 'if one reads a kalma (Islamic sentence) 40 times on the first Juma (Friday) of Ramzaan, it will be equivalent to a Haj'? We try to clarify such misinformation," said Tauheed Ahmad Khan, general secretary of the Foundation.