Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — Sheikh Saleh Bin Humaid, imam and khateeb of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, warned believers against wasting their time and neglecting their priorities by giving undue importance and making excessive use of social networking sites. In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Bin Humaid, who is also advisor at the Royal Court and former president of the Shoura Council, called on the faithful to take advantage of the positive features of the social media and stay away from its negativities, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

He noted that the social networking sites are one of the best inventions made by the mankind. “These sites help us to bring closer those staying in distant places, enable us to have time management, bolster contacts with anyone living anywhere, and enrich ourselves with more knowledge and experiences. We have to benefit from all these merits in doing good deeds in beneficial and fruitful ways,” he said while noting that the social networking accounts are a great blessing and the best way of thanksgiving for this shall be through using it in the path of obeying God, benefitting for ourselves and our fellow beings, and optimum utilization of time for benefitting from its positive aspects.

Sheikh Bin Humaid also cautioned that the social media, in another perspective, are a big test for the public and personal life of people at present. “The believers are accountable for spending their time and their involvement in various acts. They will be answerable to God for what their eyes saw, what their ears heard and what their hands did,” he said while urging the faithful to introspect themselves and spend their time for what are beneficial for them.

The scholar noted that the most personal details of individuals and families in various walks of their life are exposed to the public because of social media and close association with these sites would have adverse effects on the social relations and individuals’ relations with their families and relatives and even lead to the disintegration of these relations apart from wasting of a lot of precious time.

“The close attachment to the social media would lead to negligence of those things that should not be neglected besides offending the feelings of those whose feelings must be respected,” he added.