Ever seen a Hijabi posting her most beautiful pictures on Facebook? I have. And it's completely beyond my understanding. Before everyone concludes I'm an extremist of some sort, I'll admit that I'm on Facebook too, and at some point, I have also posted my pictures up. But that's when I discovered that several months of Facebook usage still does not empower most of us with the ability to conquer the privacy settings on our profiles, if they were ever of any use to start with.
Sure, we all want to show our friends how drop dead gorgeous we were looking at some party we went to. We also want to prove to our non-Hijabi friends how we resemble those supermodels on TV when we dress up for the "Halal prom". We also want to amaze our non-Muslim female friends with the awesome hairstyles and colors under our Hijab. In all honesty, we just want to have some fun and share our exciting Kodak moments with our friends, right?
I once spoke to a fellow Hijabi about posting pictures of herself without Hijab on Facebook, MSN, and other online social networking services. She said, "I know that there will always be the possibility of non-mahrams seeing my pictures while my friends are looking at them, but it's their responsibility to take care of my Hijab, I trust them. I guess I'm just one of those girls who don't like thinking outside the box."
Pure intentions aside, since when has there been the Islamic exception of trusting others with our Hijab? And what does thinking outside the box have to do with anything? If others were trustworthy enough to take care of our Hijab, then I'd never have come across those online photos of posing Hijabis featuring the religious leader's wife without Hijab in the background.
Fortunately, 50 percent of Hijabis are wise enough to avoid posting non-Hijabi pictures on such public websites. But the number of Hijabis who make their profile pictures (which can usually be accessed by the entire Facebook network) a picture of themselves is simply overwhelming. Of course, it is technically "permissible" for non-mahrams to see us while we are in Hijab, but the majority of Hijabis are so dolled up in their display pictures that it seems as though someone forced a headscarf on the winner of America's Next Top Model.
Of course, sisters are not alone when it comes to the competition of who looks the hottest in their Facebook display picture. The brothers have been quick to catch on. Posing with their Versace sunglasses and slick t-shirts (if they are wearing one at all), down to the core of the matter, it has become a game of impressing anyone and everyone, as long as you're on Facebook.
But the photo album disease is also spreading far and wide with the adults too! The number of parents who are posting pictures of their children is absolutely terrifying. It's understandable that parents want to show off their beautiful children to their friends; however, it goes without saying that many of these parents are not exactly quite tech-savvy and not too proficient when it comes to privacy settings, thereby often leaving their children's pictures publicly accessible by any and all weirdos.
Furthermore, according to a report by the BBC, a team of researchers from Cambridge University analyzed sixteen social networking websites and discovered that some sites, including Facebook, stored photos of users and allowed them to be viewed by others, even after the user deleted them. They did this by uploading pictures and noting down the image URLs. "When checked 30 days later, these links continued to work for seven of the sites, even though a typical user might think the photos had been removed," the researchers found. Despite all the privacy settings and limitations we may try and implement to our Facebook and other online profiles, more likely than not there will always be a loophole in the system, a fact that many of us are quite oblivious to.
Another classic example of privacy settings gone wrong is adding an application or taking certain quizzes on Facebook, which give the creator access to our entire profile, including all our private photos and the "public link" on our albums, which gives anyone who has this link complete access to all our "hidden" pictures.
While there are multiple benefits of having pictures on Facebook, including "so my friends know it's me who is adding them" and "my relatives overseas want to see what I look like", it's quite a risky business. Accessible from Google, the entire process of having our pictures downloaded and saved on someone's computer takes only a few seconds. It is very possible that a Hijabi sister's cute profile picture of her having a good time with friends might very well end up in the hands of an overzealous matchmaker in the community and ogled over by dozens of boys around the globe, and vice versa.
The essence of Hijab is simple: to conceal as much as possible and only display our beauty when absolutely necessary. If Facebook profile pictures were an absolutely necessary place for Muslims girls, boys, and adults to post their most stunning and attractive pictures for the whole world to see, then I guess I've been slow to jump on the bandwagon.
Subscribe to this comment's feedThe essence of Hijab is simple: to conceal as much as possible and only display our beauty when absolutely necessary. If Facebook profile pictures were an absolutely necessary place for Muslims girls, boys, and adults to post their most stunning and attractive pictures for the whole world to see, then I guess I've been slow to jump on the bandwagon.
I think she means both.
Jazak'Allah for the excellent article, sister! Very well-written and to the point. May Allah (swt) reward you immensely for your efforts!
I agree.
I do believe that the author makes a point in writing about 'facebook hijab' and she does make an effort to say that she is generalizing, but I find her viewpoint a little cynical. But I am on the naive side. Yes, I've seen sisters who wear hijab display profile pictures that look like America's next Top Model, but I've also seen those who just have a 'normal' picture with friends or family. Sometimes, not every picture is about showing off one's beauty to the world, it is just a simple picture, so that friends see their friend's face. I think in our over analyzation of everything these days, nothing remains simple. A 'beautiful picture' for some people is not a means of showing off, it is just how they look, the real 'them' (I am not speaking of the modeled up make up here) and to display their profile pictures to their friends and family is the same as meeting them in public--at work, school, a masjid or wherever else.
That said, there is a problem with facebook users not being aware of how many of their pictures/albums are accessible to others. Hopefully, both sisters and brothers will become more savvy in the nature and tools of facebook use.
Well written sister. May Allah (swt) reward you for the efforts.
written by Noor M , June 30, 2009
Good Article but one should worry about themselves. If your doing the right thing, then let the others be.. I look at Facebook as "stalking made easy". If your posting your pictures on the internet (whether it be guy or girl, dressed or undressed), you better be expecting many people to view them.
Amr Bil Maroof and Nahi Anil Munkar - Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. That's what the sister is doing. We shouldn't have this kind of mentalitiy, we should point out others faults whilst looking at our own faults, at the same time.
Majooreen,
Wassallamu Alaikum,
This is a good article that needs to be circulated amongst many of our communities. Posting up inappropriate pictures on facebook and online in general is very common these days, especially amongst our Hijabi sisters (I'm leaving out the brothers because they're just a whole other story :-x). I agree, I think the sis is doing her duty of Amr Bil Maroof & Nahi Anil Munkar for the sisters. May Allah reward you for your efforts.
thanks sister! great article!
I think in our over analyzation of everything these days, nothing remains simple.
I think most Islamic laws are under analyzed these days. We always try to find the easy way out and live off what is “permissible” rather than what is more Islamically appropriate or highly recommended. It doesn’t make a difference if you’re posting pictures of Madressa awards night or the girls night out, the point is that you’re unnecessarily displaying yourself, and this is VERY different to having people see us in public because that is not voluntary but rather, a necessity. And that is why it's permissible.
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