{"id":9544,"date":"2026-05-30T20:58:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=9544"},"modified":"2026-05-30T20:58:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:58:54","slug":"fiqh-of-technology-today-reclaiming-purpose-in-the-age-of-the-algorithm","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/ar\/blog\/fiqh-of-technology-today-reclaiming-purpose-in-the-age-of-the-algorithm\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiqh of Technology Today: Reclaiming Purpose in the Age of the Algorithm"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h3 class=\"kt-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading9544_6a505f-e3\">By Dr. Ildus Rafikov, MI Vice President &#8211; Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p><em>Why our tools feel helpful\u2014and why they sometimes reshape us in return.<\/em><br><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><style>.kb-image9544_cd2e25-08.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image9544_cd2e25-08 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:382px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image9544_cd2e25-08.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image9544_cd2e25-08 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image9544_cd2e25-08{max-width:382px;}.image-is-svg.kb-image9544_cd2e25-08{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;}.image-is-svg.kb-image9544_cd2e25-08 img{width:100%;}.kb-image9544_cd2e25-08 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image9544_cd2e25-08 size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"778\" height=\"565\" src=\"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fiqh-of-Technology-Picture-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-12015\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fiqh-of-Technology-Picture-1.png 778w, https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fiqh-of-Technology-Picture-1-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fiqh-of-Technology-Picture-1-768x558.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 778px) 100vw, 778px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of us have had the same small moment: you pick up your phone \u201cfor a minute,\u201d and suddenly twenty minutes are gone. You didn\u2019t choose distraction\u2014distraction chose you. The fascination with new gadgets is not new, but the <em>speed<\/em> and <em>stickiness<\/em> of today\u2019s digital tools are. Every transformative technology arrives with real benefits, and also with quieter costs that are harder to notice while we are enjoying the convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plato saw the pattern early. In the <em>Phaedrus<\/em>, Socrates tells a story in which the inventor of writing expects applause, but the king replies with a warning: writing may weaken memory, because people will stop exercising it, and it may create the <em>appearance<\/em> of wisdom rather than wisdom itself. Plato was critiquing a tool so basic that we can hardly imagine life without it. Yet his concern\u2014outsourcing memory and confusing \u201clooking informed\u201d with being wise\u2014sounds uncomfortably familiar in an age of endless feeds.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1954, Jacques Ellul named what makes modern technology feel different. In <em>The Technological Society<\/em>, he argued that we are no longer dealing only with \u201ctools,\u201d but with <em>technique<\/em>: systems designed for maximum efficiency in every area of life. Once these systems take root, they start to shape us more than we shape them. Ellul\u2019s blunt line still lands: \u201cThere can be no human autonomy in the face of technical autonomy.\u201d<sup>1<\/sup> If you have ever reached for your phone before you even decided to, you\u2019ve felt what he meant\u2014your hand moves first, and your intention catches up later.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neil Postman pushed the point further in <em>Amusing Ourselves to Death<\/em> (1985). He contrasted Orwell\u2019s fear (oppression by what we hate) with Huxley\u2019s fear (oppression by what we <em>love<\/em>). Postman argued that entertainment media could erode our capacity to think without anyone forcing us\u2014because we would welcome it. He wrote before the web and smartphones, yet his argument fits the algorithmic feed even more tightly than it fit television.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across these voices runs a shared insight: a technology can feel like a gain while quietly training us to lose something human. The losses are often subtle\u2014attention, memory, patience, depth\u2014so they remain difficult to notice while the tool seems to be \u201cworking.\u201d Convenience and pleasure are not evidence of harmlessness; they can function as the very mechanisms through which harm operates. And as design becomes more seamless and frictionless, stepping away becomes correspondingly harder.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pattern is no longer hypothetical. The more urgent question is practical and spiritual: <em>what do we do now<\/em>? And how should Muslims think about technology\u2014without fear or panic, beyond naivety, and beyond simple \u201chalal\/haram\u201d slogans?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>An Islamic Starting Point: Technology as Vocation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The critiques of Plato, Ellul, and Postman help us name what we are experiencing. But an Islamic approach cannot stop at critique. If we build a <em>fiqh<\/em> of technology from negation alone, we miss the deeper question: <em>What were human capacities and human tools for in the first place?<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first revelation itself points to a \u201ctechnology\u201d: the pen. \u201cHe taught by the pen\u2014taught the human being what he did not know\u201d (Q 96:4\u20135). Instrument\u2011mediated knowledge is named by Allah at the threshold of prophecy. That matters: technology is not alien to faith. It is part of how Allah enables learning and civilizational growth.<br>The Qur\u02be\u0101n repeatedly presents making, building, and crafting as part of prophetic life: N\u016b\u1e25 is instructed to build the ark (Q 11:37); D\u0101w\u016bd is taught the craft of armor (Q 21:80); Dhul\u2011Qarnayn raises a barrier of iron (Q 18:95\u201396); Ibr\u0101h\u012bm and Ism\u0101\u02bf\u012bl raise the foundations of the House (Q 2:127). Even iron is described as \u201csent down,\u201d with strength and many benefits (Q 57:25). These are reminders that tools can serve mercy, protection, and worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind these examples stands a vocation. Allah says He brought humankind forth from the earth and <em>made them to develop it<\/em> (Q 11:61). From this, Muslim scholars spoke of <em>\u02bfumr\u0101n<\/em>\u2014civilizational building and cultivation of the earth. Ibn Khald\u016bn even called his project <em>\u02bfilm al\u2011\u02bfumr\u0101n<\/em>, a science of civilization. Part of being human, then, is to build\u2014and technology is one of the means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the problem is not \u201ctechnology\u201d as such. The problem is an inversion: tools that should strengthen learning, attention, and service increasingly weaken them. Where the pen can teach what we did not know, the feed can train us to forget what we already know\u2014about ourselves, our priorities, and our Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A <em>fiqh<\/em> of technology, then, is less about refusal and more about <em>recovery<\/em>: returning the instrument to the vocation and returning the self to purposeful agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What We Mean by \u201cFiqh\u201d Here<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>By <em>fiqh<\/em> we do not mean issuing quick verdicts on apps (\u201cTikTok is halal \/ Instagram is haram\u201d). We mean <em>deep understanding<\/em>\u2014the Qur\u02be\u0101nic sense of <em>tafaqquh<\/em> (Q 9:122): patient, structural comprehension that asks what a thing <em>does<\/em> to us and what principles should guide our use of it. Clear rulings, where needed, come after a clear understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This deeper sense of <em>fiqh<\/em> requires us to look beneath the surface of technology\u2014to its design incentives, its effects on the soul (<em>nafs<\/em>), the intellect (<em>\u02bfaql<\/em>), and human relationships. It asks not only \u201cIs this permissible?\u201d but also \u201cWhat habits is this cultivating? What kind of person is this shaping me into?\u201d A <em>maq\u0101\u1e63id<\/em>\u2011oriented <em>fiqh<\/em> of technology, therefore, evaluates tools in light of human flourishing as defined by revelation: for the betterment of humanity and not for its destruction. In this sense, understanding precedes judgment because without understanding the nature of a technology, its purposes, and its effects, any ruling risks being shallow, reactive, or even misguided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Technology and the Hijacking of <\/strong><strong><em>Fi\u1e6drah<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Human beings are created with an inner orientation toward meaning and right action. This is part of <em>fi\u1e6drah<\/em>: the capacity to intend, to choose, and to recognize moral truth. The Qur\u02be\u0101n links God\u2011consciousness with discernment: \u201cIf you are mindful of Allah, He will grant you a <em>furq\u0101n<\/em> (a criterion)\u201d (Q 8:29). In other words, spiritual life is not only belief\u2014it is also a trained ability to see clearly and act deliberately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The attention economy works by competing directly with this inner agency. Notifications, infinite scroll, auto\u2011play, streaks, and \u201crecommended for you\u201d are not neutral features\u2014they are designs that bypass intention and train reflex. Over time, it becomes easier to drift (<em>ghaflah<\/em>) than to choose. We scroll because we feel restless, lonely, or behind; the platform offers quick relief, but often leaves the deeper hunger untouched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So a <em>maq\u0101\u1e63id<\/em>\u2011grounded approach needs language that restores agency: intentionality, purpose, wholeness, and a long horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Civilizational Question<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t abstract. It has everyday forms: YouTube Shorts, TikTok, reels, endless swipes\u2014then the phone goes face\u2011down and we can\u2019t even recall what we consumed. If we are honest, this habit forces three civilizational questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) What does this habit reveal about us?<\/strong> It suggests we are becoming people who struggle with silence and interiority\u2014who need constant novelty to feel \u201calive.\u201d When brilliant engineers are rewarded for maximizing compulsive use, the problem is not only personal weakness; it is a civilizational design choice. In a real sense, our tools begin to use us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2) Where are we headed if nothing changes?<\/strong> A likely outcome is cognitive and spiritual thinning: less patience for long arguments, weaker memory, shallower relationships, and a harder struggle for <em>khush\u016b\u02bf<\/em> (attentive stillness) in prayer. When attention is trained on five\u2011second cuts, the <em>\u0101khirah<\/em>\u2014the long horizon\u2014can start to feel distant not only spiritually but mentally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3) What skills will help us survive\u2014and thrive?<\/strong> Not survival in the biological sense, but the survival of a recognizably human life: the ability to read deeply, sit with silence, hold a <em>niyyah<\/em> across time, pray with presence, and build real relationships in physical community. These were normal human capacities until very recently. Now they require deliberate cultivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Four Principles for a <\/strong><strong><em>Fiqh<\/em><\/strong><strong> of Technology<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are four simple principles that can anchor a <em>maq\u0101\u1e63id<\/em>\u2011oriented \u201cfiqh of technology.\u201d They translate big ideas into daily practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>I<\/em><em>ntentionality (niyyah):<\/em> Don\u2019t let design bypass choice. Ask before you open an app: \u201cWhy am I here, and for how long?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Purposefulness:<\/em> Protect <em>\u02bfaql<\/em> by favoring tools that serve learning, work, family, and worship\u2014not endless stimulation. If a platform makes you foggy, treat it like an intoxicant of attention.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Holism:<\/em> Refuse the split between \u201conline\u201d and \u201cspiritual.\u201d The same heart that prays also scrolls. Build rules that fit your whole life (sleep, family time, study, dhikr), not just your screen time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Future\u2011orientation (\u0101khirah):<\/em> Measure choices by long horizons. If a habit steadily steals time, presence, and gratitude, it is not \u201csmall.\u201d The feed profits from short horizons; faith trains long ones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not a call to invent a new sub\u2011field of jurisprudence. It is a call to recover awareness in daily life\u2014personally and collectively. Practices like <em>dhikr<\/em> (remembrance) and <em>iqra\u2019<\/em> (reading both the Revealed Book and the Book of Creation) train attention toward what matters most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try this for one week<strong>:<\/strong> (1) turn off non\u2011human notifications; (2) set one screen\u2011free block daily (even 30 minutes) for silence, Qur\u02be\u0101n, or a long read; (3) keep the phone out of the room for one prayer and notice what changes; (4) choose one \u201cpen\u2011like\u201d use of tech each day (learn, write, build, serve) and end the day with a brief reflection: did my tools help my vocation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The human being is forgetful, and yet the same questions return whenever the noise quiets: what am I doing, to what end, and where am I going? <em>Fa\u2011ayna tadhhab\u016bn?<\/em>\u2014\u201cAnd where are you going?\u201d (Q 81:26). A <em>fiqh<\/em> of technology begins by refusing autopilot and by seeking protection through <em>taqw\u0101<\/em> and <em>\u012bm\u0101n<\/em> in the One who taught by the pen.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-blocks-info-box-link-wrap{max-width:unset;}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-blocks-info-box-link-wrap{border-top-left-radius:20px;border-top-right-radius:20px;border-bottom-right-radius:20px;border-bottom-left-radius:20px;background:#ffffff;padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-xs, 1rem);padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-xs, 1rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-xs, 1rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-xs, 1rem);}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89.wp-block-kadence-infobox{max-width:100%;}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kadence-info-box-image-inner-intrisic-container{max-width:80px;}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kadence-info-box-image-inner-intrisic-container .kadence-info-box-image-intrisic{padding-bottom:133.33%;width:1600px;height:0px;max-width:100%;}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kadence-info-box-icon-container .kt-info-svg-icon, .kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-info-svg-icon-flip, .kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-blocks-info-box-number{font-size:50px;}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-blocks-info-box-media{border-color:var(--global-palette7, #eeeeee);border-radius:15px;overflow:hidden;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;padding-top:20px;padding-right:20px;padding-bottom:20px;padding-left:20px;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-blocks-info-box-media .kadence-info-box-image-intrisic img{border-radius:15px;}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-infobox-textcontent h3.kt-blocks-info-box-title{padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;margin-top:5px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-infobox.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-blocks-info-box-text{font-size:var(--global-kb-font-size-sm, 0.9rem);}.kt-info-box9544_753189-89 .kt-blocks-info-box-learnmore{background:transparent;border-width:0px 0px 0px 0px;padding-top:4px;padding-right:8px;padding-bottom:4px;padding-left:8px;margin-top:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-infobox kt-info-box9544_753189-89\"><span class=\"kt-blocks-info-box-link-wrap info-box-link kt-blocks-info-box-media-align-left kt-info-halign-left\"><div class=\"kt-blocks-info-box-media-container\"><div class=\"kt-blocks-info-box-media kt-info-media-animate-none\"><div class=\"kadence-info-box-image-inner-intrisic-container\"><div class=\"kadence-info-box-image-intrisic kt-info-animate-none kb-info-box-image-ratio kb-info-box-image-ratio-port34\"><div class=\"kadence-info-box-image-inner-intrisic\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-12-at-6.11.56-PM.jpeg\" alt=\"Dr. Ildus\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1384\" class=\"kt-info-box-image wp-image-9361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-12-at-6.11.56-PM.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-12-at-6.11.56-PM-300x260.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-12-at-6.11.56-PM-1024x886.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-12-at-6.11.56-PM-768x664.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-12-at-6.11.56-PM-1536x1329.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/maqasid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-12-at-6.11.56-PM-1320x1142.jpeg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"kt-infobox-textcontent\"><h3 class=\"kt-blocks-info-box-title\"><strong>Ildus Rafikov<\/strong><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-e857e7b7-7fff-2cf2-c380-f25dc4b52699\" style=\"font-weight:normal;\"><div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;\"><\/span><\/div><\/span><\/h3><p class=\"kt-blocks-info-box-text\"><strong> MI Vice President &#8211; Research<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12017,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"show","_kad_post_layout":"normal","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"boxed","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"default","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":""},"class_list":["post-9544","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/9544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maqasid.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}