More Than Hadith
So what is Hadith? Hadith is a collection of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) saying which consists of his daily practices and way of life , and it is the second major source of guidance apart from Quran for Muslims all over the world. In this collection is given the ideal model of lifestyle and the right way to live following all the traditions and practices of the Islamic Prophet (pbuh).
Traditionally I have seen my family members learn and read Hadith from paged books, but as I sauntered through Facebook I found a page called “ Hadith of the Day” which now has a staggering ten million likes on Facebook. The page is effective due to it maintaining its authenticity. The way it has been posting following a recurring theme helped the page gain’s people’s trust on the content they post. The audience of the page has been the same from the starting because of this recurring theme.
The page doesn’t only post Hadith, rather it posts information about upcoming Islamic events, sayings of famous Muslim preachers, shares pictures of different things happening in the Islamic society, Quran verses etc. The page has always been maintaining its authenticity by posting things related to Islam which can be beneficial for people rather than contents that may increase likes or its’ popularity. Marwick and Boyd states, “ The fact that we constantly vary self-presentation based on audience reveals authenticity as a construct”, this can be related to many users of Instagram and Facebook. However, in the page Hadith of the Day, there is no lack of authenticity or self-presentation is not altered depending on the audience rather the page is solely dedicated in educating followers.
The different types of audiences of this page is very coherent. The writer’s audience meaning those who the writer has imagined while creating the page and supplementing the page with Islamic knowledge are devoted Muslims who wants to remind themselves of Islamic sayings and Muslims who want to learn more about their religion. The broadcasted audience meaning the audience who are actually participating in the page and following it are mostly Muslims who both want to learn and ask questions about their faith. The networked audience according to Marwick and Boyd’s article “I Tweet Honestly, I Tweet Passionately” is a combination of the writer’s audience and broadcasted audience. These are the random audience who have seen the content because of their presence in the network. The networked audience of this page are those who practice Islam regularly and want to learn more about their religion easily and I believe a Facebook page is the easiest option in doing so.
So why does it have so many followers? To answer the question, it is obvious the page has so many likes because it is dedicated to a particular group of people who have the same interest. It is always true that people want to “belong” somewhere, this page allows people of the Muslim community to gather, know and learn about their religion. I believe the page has increasing likes and popularity because it shows people the real teachings of Islam and asks people to participate in humanitarian aid rather than the overly misinterpreted strictness of the religion with sayings just bluntly quoted from the Quran. This page include sayings of famous Muslim preachers like Mufti Menk and Nouman Ali Khan, who are very liberal preachers that open the doors of worship for everyone without condemning any group of people. Many preachers of Islam are known for degrading different religions or particular groups of people which Muslims themselves do not like doing, so the liberal attitude of this page with it’s understanding point of view has acquired itself many followers who tend to the page daily.
What does the page “Hadith of the Day” really post? As said before, this page is solely not contributed to post a single Hadith everyday, though the name really suggests so. Along with Hadith, this page posts inspirational video for Muslims made by one of its’ contributors, Omar Suleiman about how Hadith has made his life better. This page also consists of teachings of the Muslim Preachers and their sayings regarding the religion, Quran and Hadith itself. Marwick and Boyd writes, “However, there is no such thing has universal authenticity; rather, the authentic is a localized, temporarily situated social construct that varies widely based on community”. For this page is its authenticity is mostly determined by how much Islamic posts does it make and how correct it is. The shifting of theme to a more diverse or liberal posts would make them lose their audience.
This Facebook page also has pictures of Muslim children either seeking help for their education and shelter or showing how they are praying or performing Hajj (mandatory annual pilgrimage for capable Muslims) or Umrah ( another form of pilgrimage that is not mandatory). They also show how kids are reading the Quran, praying and educating themselves. Though this page maintains its’ authenticity, I believe through images of little children, this page is engaging in symbolic interactionism, as said by Marwick and Boyd. Picture of children is bound to get attention from people all over, so maybe to increase it’s popularity the page has dedicated a segment of it in uploading Muslim children’s picture.
It is not always easy to carry a book with oneself everywhere. Technology has always helped us to continue many traditions, it is true in the case of “Hadith of the Day” as well. Facebook and this website has helped maintain the tradition of learning Hadith and listening to Muslim preachers. The mobile app for this page has made it even more accessible for followers. The easy handy way of learning something about one’s own religion of for non-Muslims about another religion has helped it to become a developed educational page. The page also has it’s own website which teaches people it’s daily Hadith but also takes donation for poor Muslim children all over the world.
It is important the page has improved knowledge of Muslims all over the world and helped non-Muslims followers to know about Islam as well. The community feeling of the page has enhanced it’s popularity and contributed to it’s recurring theme of posts. The authenticity of this page has also helped it to develop into a massive educational website today that has also helped many Muslim children all over the world.
The habit of daily posting of this page is it’s best attribute. People can be informed daily specially during special Islamic events such as the month of Ramadan, Eid (Islamic festival) etc. So “Hadith of the Day” has brought people of different culture and race to stand on the same side of the border by expanding a feel of community and maintaining it’s theme.
