On the time in between

Allah says in the Qur'an,

"So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]." [94:7-8]

There are different interpretations of this verse, but one of the meanings is that, when one is finished with his or her worldly duties, he or she should turn to God. Turning to God can be turning to Him in prayer, remembrance, and supplication.

This made me think about how we spend our time 'in between' tasks and things we have to do in life. Before the advent of social media, this time in between might have been a time of remembrance of God, connection with others, reading a book, or simply, rest. If we were memorizing Qur'an, we might have spent those 15 minutes we had before having to leave for work revising what we were memorizing. We might have spent those ten minutes between to give our minds time to rest and re-calibrate. We may have been reading a book before bed, or perhaps listening to a beneficial lecture.

Because smartphones and social media apps are now so ubiquitous, so easy to access, and seemingly harmless (we only have a few minutes anyway or we are getting updated on the news), they become what we automatically revert to when we have a few precious moments. They make us feel good (we might happen upon an amusing meme, or the picture that we posted got more likes/re-posts than we thought, or a friend left a nice comment), they allow us to switch-off for a little bit, or we might even come across something that makes us think.

At its best, for those who use social media consciously and deliberately, the content we allow ourselves to be exposed to is curated. Perhaps we follow Islamic scholars, entrepreneurs, cooks, or health experts - as well some more lighthearted accounts. We follow friends and family who live far away and seeing what they post helps us to feel more connected. We actually benefit in some way from our careful engagement.

But the flip-side is that many of us become consumed by and addicted to the content; social media is leading us, and not the other way around. Our engagement gives us a hit of dopamine - the neurotransmitter responsible for motivation, and which gets released when we anticipate and encounter positive social stimuli - which helps to make us addicted. And the addiction is ever-so-subtle because our use is a mix of useful engagement and time-wasting activity.

We get sucked into so-called 'twitter wars', spend time engaging with material that has no benefit for our worldly or otherworldly life, and over time, increase our feelings of isolation. Writers such as Cal Newport have written about the benefits of "Digital Minimalism" and new documentaries, such as "The Social Dilemma", show us the very real harms of this engagement.

The most seemingly-harmless interaction is, arguably, is in that ‘in between’ time. When you are waiting at the dentist or in the grocery store line. When you want to blow off some steam before going to bed. ‘Just checking’ various apps as you do your work or sit and socialize. We train our brains that there can be no moment for stillness or reflection, but that any quiet time must be filled with that subtle thrill that dopamine gives us. Silence and stillness, with no electronic stimulants, become alien.

And this has an effect upon our spiritual health. How many of us have reached for our phones the moment we finished with our ‘tasleem’ in prayer? Or mindlessly said our remembrances while scrolling through Instragram and responding to a Whatsapp message?

Cal Newport mentions that the switching our attention impedes our cognitive function for a period of time. There is a concept called “attention residue” (coined by Sophie Leroy), whereby the effect of switching between tasks is that your attention remains with your previous tasks; hence, attention ‘residue’.

All of our acts of worship require mindfulness: presence of our minds and our hearts. But when we do not know how sit for a few minutes without checking our phone, this interrupts our attention when we are meant to be focusing on and connecting to Allah.

These reflections made me think about what our - my - engagement with social media should be. A confession, though, before I begin: With the pandemic and especially during lockdown, my time on social media had increased exponentially. Certain platforms that I had not been on for months, I was visiting daily. And this might be how many of us reacted to having to be at home, and social media became an easy way to connect to the outside world or relieve stress. But as social media time started to take over my free time, even after life showed some semblance of normalcy, I started to contemplate and scale-back. These are some thoughts and how I have sought to ensure that my ‘time in-between’ is purposeful:

Our Prophet ﷺ reminds us beautifully that “actions are by intentions. And every person shall get what they intend” (Bukhari). While many of us conceptualize this hadith as having a good intention vs having a bad intention - for example, giving charity for the sake of God alone vs in order to receive praise from people - it is more than that. This hadith teaches us to be conscious and deliberate when we act - that all our actions must be purposeful. Rest is purposeful when we are conscious of our need for it to be more mindful servants of God. Reading is purposeful when we are doing so to expand our intellect and develop our minds, and benefit ourselves and others.

The automatic reaching for our phones increases our mindlessness. We are the opposite of purposeful, thoughtful, and reflective. And so it is important to ask ourselves what our default is: is it phone time or 'God time'? Is the activity beneficial in some way or does it lead to long-term harm?

'God time' or anything that is of benefit spiritually, mentally and emotionally can include reflection, prayer, rest reading and even connecting to others. Before picking up our phones to access any one of the many social media apps, we should ensure that this isn't the 60th time in the last two hours that we have done so. One strategy to do this is not have the phone within reach. I started putting my phone on the far end of the room where it would require effort for me to go and get it. This helped significantly (similar to not keeping any junk food at home in order to avoid having access to it when the craving hits!).

This is in addition to more specifically setting aside time to be with Allah, outside our daily prayers: "So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]." [94:7-8]. This could be early in the morning before work or school, or at the end of the day, or at any time we know that we can more-or-less consistently set time aside. Time could be spent in deep reflection, expressing gratitude, and supplication. This is something that will, inshAllah, result in blessings now and for the Hereafter.

Investing in actual, genuine connection with people, through seeing our loved ones, picking up the phone and calling them, and doing things together. It is no accident that we are constantly reminded that God is with the congregation, of cultivating amicable ties with our wider family and society, and the blessing of working on our bonds with those close to us.

Many of us benefit at least somewhat from social media engagement, so the idea is to increase the time that is beneficial without increasing the time overall. Our social media time should be deliberate and conscious. We can set aside some time in the day or in the week for it if we are able, but we should avoid making it what we revert to automatically. Some phones allow the disabling of certain apps, and still we can take further measures by deleting the apps and downloading them back once a week, or only accessing them on our computers. We can ensure that when we do engage, the material we engage with is beneficial and does not cause spiritual harm. Being able to do this is truly a test of will and who is 'in control'.

Being deliberate with our time and the content we allow ourselves to view helps us to ensure that the time we do spend on social media is positive. And, even more importantly, it ensures that we prioritize our time with God, our spiritual, emotional, mental, and even physical (walking does wonders!) health, while still being able to benefit from some of the advantages of social media.

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