LIFESTYLE TOPIC: DISPLAYING YOUR PICTURES WRITTEN BY: SIS KHADIJAH YUSUF OLADIPO

Oh oh cheese cheese (and the picture get snapped) Whao! I look amazing- this is good, let me quickly change my dp and upload it on my social media walls. This has become the norm by all for updating our social media walls or displays.


Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh Sisters,
I am delighted to write about this topic and even though it might seem like a kind of lifestyle we are all used to I will like us to pay attention to the basics i.e.  What part of it is allowed in Islam and what is not.
Picture taking in Islam is okay but has some restrictions which we must uphold. Pictures must have a purpose before taking it and of course must be used for the purpose such as Remembrance (wedding, house warming, graduation etc.) Examination purpose (definitely not as "expo"), travelling purposes etc. The truth today is that many of us take pictures just for the fun of it and after doing so we share it on our social media pages because we look good or because we really love something about our look such as hair style, outfit, shoes, bags etc. then you feel you should snap yourself and post it on social media.

These days, one can conveniently keep up with all the happenings in a person’s life via social media, let’s take away Islam, we have forgotten that there are some people that don’t even like to see us happy, so they keep up with your life for bad reasons. My dear sister the evil eyes are real and we pray Almighty ALLAH protect us from our enemies and place us above them always. Aamen

Some Hijabis with the intention of giving thanks to ALLAH post pictures of before and after Hijab side by side, This isn't a good #myhijabmylifestyle, now that you are an Hijabi you should not share pictures of you without the hijab because if truly you know the essence of the hijab you are using, then you will even go ahead to delete previous pictures of you without the hijab from all your social media pages.

Hijab is to conceal the beauty ALLAH has given you, using Hijab correctly means you are hiding your ornaments under your hijab. My Sisters sometimes we pose unnecessarily in public while taking pictures like blowing kisses, standing akimbo with all our shapes out, standing sideways with our bums etc, All these kind of poses should be done privately when you are sure your audience are female friends and families. (I will personally strike all these poses for my husband only, part of the benefits of being my special one *winks*)

I understand that sharing picture for most ladies is like an addiction, here are some tips on how we can manage posting pictures on social media.

• Before you post that picture ask yourself what purpose is it meant to serve? Is it to get a few likes and have people pass all sort of comments, or is it to win a contest like its done on most social media platforms i.e. post your pictures here, the picture with the most likes gets this or that, then the hustle begins. You will see sisters displaying their beauty, and hustling for likes, SUBUHANALLAH! Just ask yourself is it worth it? If you are not convinced it will serve a good purpose don’t post it.
• Be the one in charge of who get to see your pictures: I personally enjoy the fact that most people that get to see my picture, request from me and I can decided to share or not. Pictures are meant to be something confidential and not something to be seen everywhere.
• You can share pictures while you have your face covered: Like I said earlier sharing picture is like an addiction for most ladies so what about before you share your picture of that great outfit or shoes, you have your face covered by using picture apps after all the purpose is for them to see the outfit or shoes and not your beauty. There are several ways you can cover your face with picture apps, you can crop out your face, or use some picture effect.This is not to say that you should post a raunchy picture i.e. exposing body parts that are meant to be covered, tight clothing etc. while you hide your face, remember that if you can hide your face from the world you can’t hide if from your creator so fear ALLAH and  be decent.
• What about setting up some social media privacy: Most of the social media platforms have a lot of privacy features, I know on Instagram you can make your account private and restrict the people that will follow you even though you can’t restrict those that get to see your pictures once you have accepted their request.However on Facebook you can set different privacies for different pictures, you can select that only you get to see the picture or friends and family only and you can even select names of the people that should see the pictures….Nice, Right?It should be mentioned that this is only a temporary solution since we know that we are in the world of hackers and even due to the fact that the owners of these platforms have different access that we may not be able to control, so many people can still access our accounts. I will suggest you post one picture at a time and delete once the picture is done serving its purpose.

In Hadith one of An-Nawawi- Umar (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ) narrated :  I heard Allah's Apostle (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended."  (Bukhari, Book 1, Volume 1)

My Dear Sister so let's get it right. The essence of our plenty gist is that you should take pictures moderately and we do not need to change our display pictures every now and then. Let it be for meaningful purposes only.
May Almighty ALLAH make it easy for us as we continue to work on our hijab and guide our modesty even against all odds…Aameen

ABOUT ME
Khadijah Yusuf- Oladipo is a mother of three( 2 sweet boys and a beautiful Aaisha) work with digital Archives Limited. CEO/Business Development Officer
Digital Archives Limited
Khadeejah@digitalarchivedltd.com
www.digitalarchivesltd.com