SALAAM!

I JUST RECEIVED THIS EMAIL IN REGARDS TO CHAT ROOMS ON THE NET CALLED ISLAM.  I
THOUGHT YOU WOULD ALL LIKE TO SEE THE EMAIL I RECEIVED AND READ MY RESPONSE IN
REGARDS TO THIS..

>ISLAMIC CHAT ROOMS
>
>It seems as though shaytaan has found a new medium to get through to us
>Muslims. He does this so cleverly, by making us find good in our bad, and
>bad in our good. What better way, than to use an ISLAMIC internet chat room
>to get muslim boys and girls talking about their wildest fantasies! All the
>time justifying to them by saying that it is an \"Islamic\" chat room, so it
>is
>halaal?
>
>A major issue plaguing South African youth today is internet chat. There is
>one specific chat room called \'Islam\' on the MIRC network. I myself used to
>be a VERY regular visitor until recently. I justified my nightly forays
>into
>this chat room by telling myself that I was going on to have Islamic
>discussion and that it was a \'Halaal\' way to meet Muslim girls.
>
>I went for Moulana Faisal\'s (from Jamaica) lecture last night and some of
>the things he said really opened my eyes. The talk was on \'Satan\'s web\',
>and
>it really opened my eyes with regard to the evils of the Internet, and the
>effect that it has on SA  muslim youth.
>
>Sometimes I find myself sitting in this virtual chat room for hours on end
>... pausing only briefly to read my namaaz and then going back on to chat
>as
>soon as I\'m done. I spoke to many muslim girls of many ages. Some of them
>very Islamically inclined and some of them not. Many fathers are totally
>oblivious of what their daughters are doing late at night on the internet.
>
>Sometimes the conversations we have are Islamic and sometimes not. But it
>is
>clear that the majority of the talk has nothing to do with Islam. I have
>met
>quite a few people here and I have kept in contact with quite a few of
>them.
>But at the end of the day, it boils down to the same thing ... meeting a
>girl at the movies or in a virtual internet chat room is the same thing,
>because one almost always leads to the other especially if you live in the
>same city. Some people argue that this chat room is a good thing as long as
>you are going on for the right reasons. For example, I know of a few
>married
>Muslim couples that first met in this chat room. Mashallah, they were
>eventually married but ... does the end justify the means? Personally, I
>think that this chat room does more damage than good. Many good young muslim
>girls are losing their \"innocence\" every night on these internet chat lines
>... their parents probably under the impression that they are fast asleep.
>And those Muslims boys and girls that have already lost their \"innocence\"
>are slowly reaching a point of no return as they justify and keep on
>justifying their participation in this ...
>
>Besides the enlightening lecture, the main reason I am rejecting this
>activity is ... It is most of all VERY ADDICTIVE. Especially for people who
>don\'t mix with the opposite sex regularly. Many muslim girls (who have
>strict fathers) sit in this chat room almost every night, making up for not
>being able to freely talk to boys openly.
>
>It is so addictive, that your own \"friends\" will reject you if you speak
>against the chat room. Last night after Esha, I went on to look for a few of
>my friends/people I had been chatting with regularly. I asked the question
>... Is this chat room halaal or haraam? I then gave my opinion citing that
>most kids  came on here to meet people of the opposite sex and definitely
>not to talk anything Islamic. Even though 5% of the people actually came to
>talk about deen, is it right to contribute towards the popularity of
>something that is doing more haraam than halaal? (even though you yourself
>might be on for a \"good\" reason?) Every single one of them retorted very
>angrily to what I was saying. I was told things like ...  \"Allah knows best
>... not you!\" and \" Now that you\'ve had your fun and you are tired of the
>site, you are acting holier than though!\" ... some of these virtual
>\"friends\" that I had known for a few months simply told me to get lost and
>carried on chatting to newly found \"friends\". Was this chat line so
>ADDICTIVE
>that nothing else mattered ... as long as you could sit at your pc till the
>early hours of the morning chatting with your so called virtual \"friends\"?
>Friends that would ditch you at the drop of a hat, the second you spoke
>against the \"chat room\"? This, more than ANYTHING scared the living
>daylights
>out of me.
>
>I know that many parents are not aware of this, and I think that its
>existence must be publicized so that fathers know what their daughters and
>sons are up to when they disappear into the bedrooms after supper ...
>
>Besides this, the chat room has also become a major conduit for Shia
>propaganda ... yes, there are quite a few Shias, and Shia sympathizers that
>come on to taint impressionable young minds with ideologies like \"Unity\"
>between Shias and Sunnis ... The chat administrators do not ban them and
>allow this to continue ... giving the reason that \"everyone is entitled to
>their own opinion!\" This is only ONE chat room and although it is the MOST
>POPULAR South African one (there are about 500 muslims kids on at one time
>on a Friday/Saturday night!) ... I\'m sure that there are many more. I am
>sending this mail to you in the hope that something can be done to increase
>awareness about it, because shaytaan relies heavily on peoples ignorance. I
>would also like to know what the Ulemas opinion is on this? Am I just over
>reacting, or is there some truth to what I am saying?
>
>I am also copying this mail to a few friends that I know are still on this
>chat line (as well as some who share my opinion), in the hope that what I
>have said here, will open their eyes, hearts and minds Inshallah. They will
>either love me or hate me for this ... I know!
>
>I feel a bit guilty about bringing this out, because although I always knew
>that this was not right I was also VERY addicted to it myself. I am just as
>much to blame. May Allah forgive my ignorance ... inshallah.
>
>I feel though, that I am doing the right thing by publicizing this. It is
>important that muslim fathers are made AWARE of this as soon as possible. I
>think that Jamiat email or something posted on the website would make an
>impact on many fathers out there inshallah.
>
>Your reply on this matter would be greatly appreciated
>
>A concerned brother
>

HERE IS MY RESPONSE:

> salam ahkee,
>
> I am Laila Nasheeba webmaster and creator of the Al-Quran Wa Sunnah
Islamic
> Voice Chat Site.  I agree with you thoroughly in regards to how coatrooms
> hide behind the name ISLAM  as a forum for engaging in all kinds of
> haramities, including cybersex, flirting and Misrepresentations of  Islam
in
> the name of giving Dawaa by engaging in debates and fights with
non-muslims
> and other so called Muslim sects.  But what needs to first be addressed is
> where these chat rooms are being held.  Muslims must first recognize that
> these sites are held on servers  owned by Kafr or Jewish companies such as
> \"MSN\"  \"YAHOO\"  \"FIRETALK\"  and the vast others.  These companies are
about
> MONEY and the more traffic is generated on their servers by people using
> their software and making  rooms the richer these companies become.  Check
> any of these sites and you will also find many Cybersex channels  and the
> like.  These hosts do not care about Islam or anything else except the
> dollar bill.  For the Muslims who choose to use their server and join
their
> sites how can u expect anything positive to come out of an environment
such
> as those.  Muslims are just a pawn used by those website owners to
generate
> more money for them.
>
> But I do not fault Yahoo or Msn  or Firetalk.. I fault the Muslims who are
> not wise enough to understand that the Internet is big business and those
> sites are paid based on the amount of people who  use their  servers..
>
> I  host the Al Qur'an Wa Sunnah Islamic voice chat site.  This is a site
> Created, Operated and Maintained by Muslims.. not Yahoo.. Msn  Firetalk or
> anyone else.  We have NO PRIVATE MESSAGING and NO PRIVATE CHAT ROOMS.
Users
> can not join and create their own rooms... they must use the rooms
available
> and all rooms are closely monitored by a list of Monitors from all over
the
> world.  Our site is one made in the Name of Allah as a way of Uniting
> Muslims together as One Ummah from around the world to share our lives
> together as Muslim.. and what unites us IS the fact that Islam is our way
of
> life.  You wont find flirting,  arguments and fights between Shiahs or
> Christian fanatic groups at our site, For we know that fighting with
> unbelievers about Islam is against the laws of Islam.  We have no problem
> telling a person who joins our site for this reason , \"LA KUM DE NU KUM WA
> LIYA DEEN\"  (excuse Spelling)  followed by a PERMANENT ban.
>
> Our topics of discussion always related to Islam and we have brothers and
> sisters knowledgeable about Islam to help in this.  All information we
> provide is backed with Qur'an and Sunnah ( Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi,
Dauod,
> Ibn Majah)   and our users (numbered to be at 500 registered now)  do the
> same.
>
> So there are Islamic Chat sites out there  that are Operated by Muslims
that
> do not allow forums of Haramities, and that are not created for a profit
but
> it is up to the individual as to whether they choose to join  an Islamic
> environment or not and sadly most choose the Non Islamic ones.
>
> For Muslims seeking an alternative to Islamic Chatting  feel free to check
> out our Islamic voice chat site at http://laila.aresworld.net
>
>
>
> May Allah enlighten our Knowledge and strengthen us as Muslims
>
> One God.. One Life.. One Ummah
>
> Laila Nasheeba

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