I am strongly against any movement to ban Facebook and other social networking websites.
No doubt that all Muslims love their beloved Prophet Muhammad, to whom we even want to sacrifice our lives. However, it's a real pity that our minds are corrupted and we are subjugated by the external environment. If we really love our Prophet, we should have followed him, not gone against the things he disliked.
Islam is a perfect religion, and every answer to any problem is given in the Holy Koran and was practically done by Prophet Muhammad. Let us analyze the life of our Prophet. Everyone is aware of the story about the woman, who always put her garbage on the road whenever Prophet Muhammad was passing. Frankly, I was angry when I first listened to such a story.
But later, as a Muslim, I saw I have to do what Prophet did. I have to follow him, not what my heart says and what my Prophet did was he never said a word to the woman, just passed with a smile, and later on when she felt sick, the Prophet was the first person who went to visit her and she fell on his feet and accepted Islam. This is the character of our Prophet, and we have to follow him. Surely if we walk in the ways of the Prophet, there will be love and peace everywhere, and that is what my Prophet wanted.
Recall the event at Taif, when the Prophet was stoned. The angels appeared to crush all the people between the two mountains, but still, even in that condition, the Prophet cared only about ummat and did not let angels do so, as he believed the people might understand his teachings.
In this world, there are still millions of people who are living in darkness, and ignorance. It is our duty to pass on the message of our Prophet to them in the best way. I think we can use Facebook. With it, we do not need to travel throughout the world to preach to people about Islam.
Facebook has provided us a medium to interact with everyone throughout the world. And where the Prophet is being criticized, it is like a blessing in disguise for us, as every non-Muslim is there, putting forward their views, we just need to answer them in the best possible way with logical facts.
So, I ask every Muslim not to close his eyes and think that there are no sins out in the world, but to open his eyes and mind and enter their spheres, and answer them (non-Muslims, on Facebook and other sites). And spread the message of Muhammad to those who criticize Islam.
Mohammad Shahbaz Abdullah
Dhaka
