The Emergence of the Insta-Shaykh in Today’s Digisphere
The social media era has swung the doors of fitnah wide-open, allowing pretenders to feign knowledge in cutely curated digital shorts that tantalise with clickbait headlines. These pretenders utilise things like Instagram stories, YouTube shorts and pundit-styled live podcasts that promise to address “hot topics”. Borrowing the digital strategies of so-called digital “influencers”, these techniques are used to make inroads with the young Muslim audience. One such pretender, Abu Taymiyyah, recently apologised to his former sūfī teacher, a…
[Q]: How should we advise those who are impressed and trialed by these types of people (i.e. those who spread doubts in communities)?
[A]: They should be warned and informed that these people have speech which is in opposition to that which Ahl al-Sunnah are upon; they belittle the books of Ahl al-Sunnah and they speak ill of the dūʿāt of Ahl al-Sunnah. These are actions of the people of innovation, so if you accompany them, you would be treading the path of the people of innovation. Therefore O youth, do not accompany them, remain with the people of Sunnah who are pure.
But if you do accom…
