Remember your grandmother’s stories? The one where she’d describe walking miles to the mosque, rain or shine? Or your father’s tales of neighbourhoods where every home echoed with Qur’an recitation at dawn?
Now look around you.
The young woman who grew up memorizing Qur’an now poses on Instagram in clothing that merely hints at modesty. The young man who once couldn’t wait for Friday prayers now finds “more important things” to do. And when concerned elders speak up? “Stop judging. Religion is between me and Allah.”
Sound familiar?
What’s Really Happening to Us?
This isn’t just about kids being kids or times changing. Something far more calculated is at work.
Having failed to defeat Islam through open conflict for 1400 years, those opposed to our way of life discovered something more effective: cultural infiltration. Why attack Muslims when you can simply redefine what being Muslim means?
The Qur’an warned us about this precise vulnerability: “And there are among men those who purchase idle tales, without knowledge, to mislead others from the path of Allah and throw ridicule” (31:6). Today’s “idle tales” aren’t just stories—they’re Netflix series, TikTok trends, and music lyrics that subtly but persistently whisper: “Your traditions are outdated. Your restrictions are unnecessary. Freedom means doing whatever feels good.”
The Smartphone in Your Pocket: A Trojan Horse
Think about it. The greatest tool of cultural colonization ever created sits in your pocket right now. That 6-inch screen delivers more influence to your mind in a day than your ancestors experienced in years.
Each notification. Each video. Each “suggested for you” post. Algorithms specifically designed to keep you scrolling are simultaneously designed to reshape your values—not toward what’s beneficial, but toward what’s addictive.
Our Prophet ﷺ foresaw this vulnerability with stunning clarity: “You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, span by span and cubit by cubit, so much so that if they entered the hole of a lizard, you would follow them.” The companions asked, “Do you mean the Jews and Christians?” He replied, “Who else?” (Bukhari and Muslim)
“It’s Just Fashion” — Is It Really?
“Bro, it’s just a haircut,” says the young man mimicking styles originally meant to represent rebellion against religious authority.
“It’s just comfortable clothing,” says the young woman whose “modest” outfit would have shocked Muslims just one generation ago.
But Allah teaches us in the Qur’an: “Have you seen the one who takes as his god his own desire?” (25:43). The Prophet ﷺ didn’t mince words: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them” (Abu Dawud).
This isn’t about policing personal choices. It’s about recognizing that no choice exists in a vacuum. Every style, every trend, every “new normal” carries with it a history and a worldview—often one deliberately crafted to undermine Islamic values.
From Five Times a Day to “When I Feel Like It”
Remember when the adhan was a community alarm clock? When businesses paused for prayer? When the mosque was not just for Jumu’ah but filled daily?
Today, many Muslims treat prayer like an optional appointment they can reschedule or cancel. “I’ll pray later” becomes “I’ll pray tomorrow” becomes “I pray in my heart.”
Yet the Qur’an is crystal clear: “Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times” (4:103). Our Prophet ﷺ emphasized, “The prayer of a person in congregation is twenty-seven times more excellent than prayer offered alone” (Bukhari and Muslim).
Even more telling was his statement: “I had almost ordered for the prayer to be established, then ordered a man to lead the people in prayer, then gone with some men carrying bundles of firewood to people who do not attend the prayer, and burned their houses down around them” (Bukhari). While not to be taken literally today, this shows how seriously he viewed congregational prayer.
Each empty space in the mosque isn’t just about one missing person—it’s about a community bond breaking, strand by strand.
“Don’t Be So Strict With Your Kids”
“You’re too hard on them.” “They need to fit in.” “Everyone else is watching/doing/saying it.”
These are the phrases Muslim parents hear—often from other Muslims—when they try to raise their children according to Islamic principles. Parents who monitor screen time, encourage modest dress, or prioritize Islamic education over extracurricular activities are made to feel like they’re harming their children rather than protecting them.
Yet Allah commands us directly: “O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones” (66:6). The Prophet ﷺ didn’t consider this optional: “Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock” (Bukhari and Muslim).
In a world where 12-year-olds are exposed to content that would have shocked adults a generation ago, protection requires vigilance, not apathy disguised as progressive parenting.
The Normalization of the Forbidden
Perhaps most alarming is how behaviors explicitly prohibited in Islam—casual dating, alcohol consumption “only at business events,” interest-based finance “because everyone does it”—have been normalized even among Muslims who consider themselves practicing.
We hear justifications like “Allah is forgiving”. “We shouldn’t be judgmental”. “That interpretation is too strict…”
But the Qur’an doesn’t equivocate: “And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way” (17:32). On intoxicants: “They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, ‘In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit'” (2:219).
This isn’t happening only in Western countries. Even in Muslim-majority nations, among university-educated professionals, Islamic prohibitions are increasingly treated as cultural preferences rather than divine commands.
Digital Colonization: The New Battlefield
What makes this cultural onslaught particularly effective today is its digital delivery system. Previous generations of Muslims might have been exposed to foreign influences occasionally—through a magazine, a film, or a tourist. Today’s Muslims carry constant exposure in their pockets.
Every app, every platform, every “personalized feed” is curated not by scholars concerned with your spiritual well-being but by algorithms designed to maximize engagement—regardless of content’s effect on your faith.
The Qur’an’s warning takes on new urgency: “And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah. They follow not except assumption, and they are not but falsifying” (6:116). Today, “most of those upon the earth” have direct access to your attention through your devices.
So What Do We Do? Real Freedom Awaits
This might sound bleak, but it’s actually an invitation to something revolutionary: authentic freedom.
True freedom isn’t doing whatever passing desires suggest. True freedom is liberation from those very desires. As Allah tells us: “But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be his refuge” (79:40-41).
The solution isn’t to abandon technology or modern life. It’s to reclaim them for their proper purpose. The same digital tools that have facilitated cultural colonization can become instruments of revival. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever introduces a good practice that is followed after him will have its reward and the like of the rewards of those who follow it” (Muslim).
Imagine Muslim developers creating apps that enhance rather than distract from spiritual life. Imagine Muslim content creators who entertain while elevating, not degrading. Imagine communities where being visibly and proudly Muslim isn’t seen as extremism but as integrity.
Stand With Pride, Not Arrogance
The Prophet ﷺ said something that should give both comfort and courage to Muslims feeling out of place in today’s culture: “Islam began as something strange and will return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers” (Muslim).
Being “strange” in a world gone wrong isn’t something to hide—it’s something to embrace with humility and conviction.
Next time your colleague raises an eyebrow at your prayer break, your classmate questions your modest dress, or your social media feed tries to normalize what Allah has forbidden, remember: You’re not on the wrong side of history. You’re on the right side of eternity.
The question isn’t whether the Prophet ﷺ would recognize aspects of contemporary Muslim life—clearly, he predicted much of it. The question is whether we have the courage to be recognized by him as true followers when we meet him at the Hawd (Pool) on the Day of Judgment.
As the Qur’an promises: “And whoever submits his face to Allah while being a doer of good, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold” (31:22).
The most radical act in today’s world isn’t rebellion against tradition—it’s faithful adherence to it despite every pressure to conform. That’s the true revolution awaiting those willing to stand firm when the Prophet ﷺ looks upon his ummah today.
