When I saw an article with the headline 'Muslims don't date, we marry,' I thought to myself that it must be an Islamic scholar advancing a certain school of thought.
But I was seeing this headline on Facebook so I looked again. I realised it wasn't an original myjoyonline story but one culled from the BBC.
The photo showed a Muslim couple in the case of myjoyonline whiles the BBC used the image of the man who owned the quote used in the headline - a bearded company CEO.
To start with, the article was in a business section of the BBC, it had ZERO to do with religion. It was about a matchmaking app, yes; just that.
The quote used in the headline was lifted directly from the story. They were the words of the Muslim co-owner of the app. The writer used it as the headline for the story.
Whiles the company basks in huge monetary returns and patronage by people, Facebook users on Joy News' page were "barking" at each other - the Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Clearly, the multitude that pitched camp in the comments section were afflicted. Diagnosed with the malady of reading headlines and declaring "online jihad."
Mix that with what is an already toxic social media space and spice it with the boldening lure of the keypad, non-Muslims mocked the claim. Muslims fought, swore and bawled to "set the records" aright.
One commenter who seemed to irk most Muslims brought on the issue of Mut'ah, a type of contract marriage in pre-Islamic Arabia, expressly prohibited by the religion.
He came across as widely read given the kind of references that he kept dishing. All this while, most of the Muslims responding to him kept branding him ignorant, stupid, mischievous et. al. Instead of focusing on the substance and educating.
The sickening sickness of reading headlines but proceeding to comment on stories is perhaps next to the rampaging scourge of fake news. Call them "fake comments" if you like, they are as equally harmful if not more poisonous.
But hey, for as long as the internet remains with us, we'd have to live with shallow, not circumspect and itchy consumers of news, whose actions can consume us unless some level heads assume the responsibility of prudence.
Disclaimer: I ain't no level head though. It shall be well with the world, it sure shall be. God bless us all. Ameeen.
But I was seeing this headline on Facebook so I looked again. I realised it wasn't an original myjoyonline story but one culled from the BBC.
The photo showed a Muslim couple in the case of myjoyonline whiles the BBC used the image of the man who owned the quote used in the headline - a bearded company CEO.
To start with, the article was in a business section of the BBC, it had ZERO to do with religion. It was about a matchmaking app, yes; just that.
The quote used in the headline was lifted directly from the story. They were the words of the Muslim co-owner of the app. The writer used it as the headline for the story.
Whiles the company basks in huge monetary returns and patronage by people, Facebook users on Joy News' page were "barking" at each other - the Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Clearly, the multitude that pitched camp in the comments section were afflicted. Diagnosed with the malady of reading headlines and declaring "online jihad."
Mix that with what is an already toxic social media space and spice it with the boldening lure of the keypad, non-Muslims mocked the claim. Muslims fought, swore and bawled to "set the records" aright.
One commenter who seemed to irk most Muslims brought on the issue of Mut'ah, a type of contract marriage in pre-Islamic Arabia, expressly prohibited by the religion.
He came across as widely read given the kind of references that he kept dishing. All this while, most of the Muslims responding to him kept branding him ignorant, stupid, mischievous et. al. Instead of focusing on the substance and educating.
The sickening sickness of reading headlines but proceeding to comment on stories is perhaps next to the rampaging scourge of fake news. Call them "fake comments" if you like, they are as equally harmful if not more poisonous.
But hey, for as long as the internet remains with us, we'd have to live with shallow, not circumspect and itchy consumers of news, whose actions can consume us unless some level heads assume the responsibility of prudence.
Disclaimer: I ain't no level head though. It shall be well with the world, it sure shall be. God bless us all. Ameeen.
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