It draws the attention of our young people today, who are dazzled by the quick wealth accumulated by some trivial individuals on social media. This wealth promote moral bankruptcy and cultural and spiritual emptiness among the world's populations, paving the way for future control over them. The People's Republic of China is diligently working towards global leadership and has plans to undermine the awareness of people sitting on vast, untapped resources. These people must be numbed so that their resources can be easily seized. A platform like TikTok, created by China, serves this purpose cunningly and effectively. It is no coincidence that the United States has banned its use on American soil.
The Philosophy of Making a Living
You are not free to earn money by any means available; it is your sustenance that Allah has decreed for you and guaranteed its delivery to you. All you, as a Muslim, must do is strive and seek it gracefully, as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stated. This means to seek one's sustenance from permissible sources in a beautiful manner, with piety and optimism. This transforms the worry and effort of earning a living into an enjoyable activity akin to entertainment. This has been the practice of Muslim societies through the ages and continues to be the natural disposition in many areas that have remained pure and uncorrupted.
Today, some people exhibit a reckless defiance against Allah, not considering the consequences. They feel secure from His plans and His severe punishment. They have not given Allah His due regard and do not fear His wrath.
Earning abundant wealth through trivial talk and blatant moral degradation in public to gain fame and money from people is not limited to socially on individuals with weak conscious, who have chosen to waste their lives on fleeting pleasures without considering their permissibility. Influential entities in Algeria, who enjoy authority, have shown us that they oversee these destructive activities without feeling any sense of responsibility or guilt for the dire consequences these adventures have on the system of values prevailing within our Muslim societies, both immediately and in the long term.
Other Consequences
In this context, a couple from Kabylia region celebrated a holiday, a while ago, in a foreign style with a cake and candles. They lit the candles with a 1,000 dinar note, symbolizing their complaint about the high cost of living and the fall of the dinar value. Perhaps they intended to convey a political message through the video they posted about the celebration, but they misrepresented themselves with this disgraceful act.
What concerns us about this incident is that the authorities swiftly arrested the couple and brought them to justice for committing the crime of insulting national symbols—the currency. In contrast, the Algerian authorities did not take such strict measures against another recent incident of equal severity, which went viral on social media. This involved unknown individuals and well-known television personalities who glorify the military ruler in Algeria. They gathered one day in a district to hold a “fantasy” wedding for a well-known village fool, making him famous for being a comedian!
What struck me about this wedding is that these individuals, who entered the city from various parts of the country, were no less foolish than their friend. Their antics were widely shared on the infamous platform, saying that some representatives of “civil society” attended this party. This ridiculous spectacle, which could harm society, involved throwing handfuls of banknotes at the groom and tying 2,000 dinar notes, the largest currency issued by the Algerian bank since independence, to his henna-stained fingers. This currency bears the image of the six martyrs who initiated the glorious liberation revolution.
The incident passed as if nothing had happened, or as if the play was staged in the heart of Algeria to send a message to the new generation that immorality, recklessness, and frivolity are paths to “success”—a success measured by material wealth gathered without proper economic efforts. It is noteworthy that this young man, mocked for his ugly appearance and obscene speech, was a social outcast, an alcoholic, and was often rejected by his family. His story gained traction after repeated visits by Gendarmerie Nationale to his home for unofficial reasons. Subsequently, individuals, possibly motivated by entertainment and financial gain on TikTok, promoted him. However, these incidents took on an organized character, protected from legal pursuit despite the public violations, punishable by law.
These are not isolated incidents, but governors appointed by presidential decrees in significant administrative regions of western Algeria also show a keen interest in trivialities during their professional duties. They deliberately issue video clips showing themselves with clueless individuals, distinguished by something that raise strangeness laughter, to present them as role models or at least to occupy people's attention on social media with meaningless content.
Religious Deception
Trivialities are not limited to harming national symbols, which authorities must protect. Even religion, the holiest of holies for Algerians, is not spared. Obsessing over minor contentious issues and advocating for their implementation, even if they are disliked or forbidden, has become a hallmark of a group of people vainly trying to alter fundamental principles. They resort to raising peripheral issues that distinguish them within society, engaging some, repelling others, and making others mock what they see and hear.
There are justified suspicions about these people, as their trivialities raise objective questions. Their skepticism about the legitimacy of the legal profession and judicial officers, without pointing fingers at judges who form the backbone of the judicial system to avoid conflict with those in power, is strange. The excessive spreading of legs in prayer rows in a repugnant manner, while being lenient in inciting discord and hatred among their compatriots under the guise of correcting beliefs, is a stark contradiction in this methodology.
Their sharp tongues, stingy with goodness, revealed their true intentions when their hypocrisy, revealing their true nature, insulted the martyr Ismail Haniyeh after his assassination in Tehran, saying, “Good riddance.” By supporting the Zionists and Arab traitor rulers, they demonstrated their disdain for the nation's religious heritage. What is astonishing is that they do not urge Muslims to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque or call the nation to mobilize or denounce the Zionist occupiers!
The saying “every cloud has a silver lining” fits here. These extremist behaviors under the banner of “Salafism” opened the door for scholars and students to review the historical development of Islamic jurisprudence, especially during the period when Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab (1115-1206 AH / 1703-1792 AD) appeared. The astute among them concluded that Wahhabism, if generously judged, was merely a reform movement in its time and place, and its later offshoots are not related to it. Rather, “political Wahhabism” is a British trademark, with suspicious manifestations in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Libya to this day. These offshoots, once in power, did not hesitate to wield swords against Muslims in various regions. This is another tragic story in the nation's life that deserves a thorough examination.
Disproportionate Comparison
To compare despite the difference in scale, the CIA wanted Americans to be preoccupied with UFOs and to turn them into a source of scientific, literary, and cinematic fantasy while the space race was at its peak during the Cold War. The United States was secretly developing its missile program, and people had to see flying ghosts to let their imagination run wild. History has preserved an admirable story about the Nazi Werner von Braun (1912-1977), who was under the watchful eye of the U.S. Army after Germany's defeat in World War II. The Americans soon realized they had captured a rare war prize, valuing him for his deep knowledge of space physics, which Adolf Hitler had relied on in his war. The United States capitalized on this mind, granting him citizenship and all necessary resources to benefit from his expertise in missile production, achieving their desired results. He died, known as the father of missile technology in the greatest country in contemporary history.
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