According to the Ejtehad correspondent, Ayatollah Ahmad Moballeghi, a member of the Assembly of Experts and professor of advanced jurisprudence at Qom Islamic Seminary, presented his views on “Cyberspace, Its Necessity, and Requirements” during a gathering with media and cyberspace scholars at Khorasan Islamic Seminary. A report of this presentation follows:
Today’s Human Is a Media Human
First Premise: Today’s human is defined by media, and without media, they are nothing. Today’s human is a media human; thus, cyberspace has its own unique importance and is considered part of human power—the human created as one of God’s creatures and within His divine order. Fundamentally, God created humans as media beings, meaning the media dimension is an inseparable and integral part of humanity. If we aim for a theological anthropology, we must recognize that one of the dimensions of humanity is media. The holy verse states: “It is He who created you and made for you hearing, sight, and hearts” (Quran, 67:23).
The social human has always had a communicative and media aspect. That same human today has a media dimension transformed into cyberspace, which is not something created by jinn or devils but is the product of contemporary humanity. Therefore, we should not view cyberspace as something impure or superfluous, as if it would be better if it did not exist. Such views go against the rapid course of history, and swimming against it will either drown you or take you to places you should not go.
The Benefits of Cyberspace Outweigh Its Harms
Second Premise: The discussion of cyberspace in the context of religiosity and religious practice emerged when some did not take it seriously, considered it marginal, or even viewed its harms as greater than its benefits, deeming its impurities outweigh its usefulness and advising against engaging with it or, at best, treating it as a last resort (like eating carrion).
When cyberspace came into motion, it proved two things: it is not a marginal or deniable matter. Cyberspace has a dominance that, when it takes hold of life, envelops the real world. Second, it was assumed that cyberspace had more impurities than benefits, but it has been proven otherwise—its benefits are authentic and deep-rooted, and it is not something entirely separable, nor is it wholly impure or wholly beneficial.
The benefits of cyberspace far outweigh its harms. We focus on harms that are minimal compared to its benefits, yet we do not emphasize what benefits it offers. Today, the best call of religion is being echoed in cyberspace. Two hundred years ago, there was no such call for religion. The true call of religion—revelation, awareness, movement, consciousness, assurance, and “Indeed, with the remembrance of Allah, hearts find tranquility”—is being defined and reflected in cyberspace better than ever before.
Why do we not account for the benefits of cyberspace and instead fixate on the harms and damages that occur in corners? If you ignore the benefits and start fighting cyberspace, its harms will work against us more. The harm grows stronger the more you try to negate it, increasing its power to marginalize you. This is a perspective we must reach, but we arrive at it late, often after being struck.
Cyberspace Is a Definitive and Apocalyptic Space
Third Premise: Those who think cyberspace can be bypassed, set aside, or eliminated have a simplistic view. Cyberspace is the definitive apocalyptic space. Some narrations describe end-time events that align with cyberspace. End-time narrations do not portray the Imam of the Time (Mahdi, may his return be hastened) as disconnected from cyberspace. The Imam introduced in narrations speaks to the world, is seen in the palms of hands, and his call rises from one place and instantly resonates worldwide. Such an Imam is described.
Today’s human finds meaning in cyberspace, and we ourselves find meaning in it. If we try to eliminate cyberspace, the people who find meaning there will become our adversaries and stand against us.
As this space progresses, it becomes more powerful and dominant, effectively rolling up many physical activities and shaping opportunities in its favor, dominating the real world. Thus, cyberspace is us, our life, our courtyard, our everything. The human shaped in cyberspace—how can it be eliminated? It cannot be diminished either, but certain standards and criteria can be established, provided they do not harm the core essence of cyberspace, lest we, who set the standards, unintentionally eliminate ourselves.
Key Religious Perspectives on Cyberspace
First Axis: The certainty and definitiveness of cyberspace are the truest virtual reality. This space has taken hold of the realities of human life, to the extent that it gives meaning to human identity through cyberspace, and even religious identity is shaped and defined by it. Religion finds meaning through humans, and humans find meaning through cyberspace; they cannot be separated. Separating them is an illusion, a fantasy, and complete ignorance.
Second Axis: Fundamentally, parts of cyberspace are amenable to standards, and we must identify how to establish and control these standards while remaining committed to the core essence of cyberspace. This is a historical outcome that has progressed according to divine traditions, not something we should wish humanity had never discovered. The human created by God was destined to reach this point, and this is the nature of the end times, where good and evil are intertwined, and opportunities for both arise simultaneously.
Third Axis: Religious policy-making must fundamentally change in virtual jurisprudence; it is not about unleashing jurisprudence on cyberspace. If we want to engage, we must define media jurisprudence, which is a specific type of jurisprudence. However, imposing strict, classical jurisprudence on cyberspace is too overpowering to be controlled by such approaches, and it will work against us, no longer adhering to its existential philosophy.
Media jurisprudence is not the simplistic notion some propose, such as stating that lying and slander are forbidden. What some call media jurisprudence is not true media jurisprudence. In media jurisprudence, we must discover reality, identify connections and relationships, and examine its scope and characteristics. Thus, it is appropriate to first define what cannot be eliminated—what gives meaning to humans and where life is created—and then address media jurisprudence.
If we want religion, we must focus on media. If we want the seminary, we must focus on media. If we want religious, human, and ethical identity, it is all about media. Media must not be overlooked. For the sake of religion, we must preserve cyberspace. Religion has a stronger and louder voice in cyberspace, provided certain conditions are met.
Religious policy-making must create a precise media jurisprudence and, secondly, foster theological and faith-based training. We must strengthen people’s faith infrastructure. This space is not something we control by saying “go” or “don’t go.”
Fourth Axis: We must establish standards appropriate to cyberspace, which requires specific knowledge, perspective, and intelligence to determine how to acquire that knowledge and set standards. Yes, there are standards compatible with the fabric of cyberspace for its control. We must prepare ourselves for cyberspace because a day will come when cyberspace exhibits an even more distinctive nature, where even these standards may not suffice to regulate its paths.
Standards and Requirements for Presence in Cyberspace
Cyberspace must be understood; its name is virtual, but many real interactions occur there. Cyberspace has taken hold of the physical space, directing, shaping, giving meaning, and fostering movement and development. As time progresses, the physical space increasingly falls under the control of cyberspace.
Cyberspace, based on connectivity, is itself a reality, and people no longer always want physical interactions; they prefer transactions in cyberspace due to speed, ease, security, facilities, and market scope. Cyberspace is taking over domains of physical space, expanding its own domain, where events, realities, and interactions take shape. The evils and corruptions of cyberspace are evident, but to be present in it, we must know certain standards:
- Cyberspace has taught us not to impose anything by force, as it draws people through appeal. Thus, we should not assume cyberspace is a space for exerting force. Cyberspace is built on choice, so we must respect its etiquette and traditions, part of which involves presentation.
- We should avoid a missionary approach. (Although Christians initiated this term historically.) Some of us only enter cyberspace with a missionary mindset, wanting to invite others to Islam. A missionary approach is a specific template, and speaking about religion and its beauty in the virtual language should be done, but it should not take the form of missionary preaching, insults, or admonishments, as this puts us in the shadows of cyberspace. Cyberspace is sufficiently resonant; you see the innate nature of people from all walks and thoughts. When they hear beauty, they become so captivated by you that it surprises you. The Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) said to convey our beautiful words. We live under one roof in an Islamic society and should not start a war between two claimants of truth in cyberspace. We should adopt the behavior Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) described as “coexistence.” Even Islamic missionary work is not appropriate; yes, we can and must prove the truth of Islam.
- We must have cyberspace ethics. The ethics of this space are harder than those of a small physical group. Cyberspace ethics must be elevated; we must respect thinkers and ideas, as suppressing ideas only makes them scream louder.
- Media and cyberspace literacy must become widespread. We must establish a cyberspace literacy movement, hold courses and workshops, as some people in cyberspace are not even at a first-grade level, and this literacy is necessary.
- We must break the taboo of cyberspace, the fear, and this strange apprehension. This is an inevitable matter conquering strongholds, and even if all humanity gathered, they could not eliminate cyberspace. We must understand its certainty, definitiveness, dominance, and scope and remove fear. What is this misconception that we isolate life from all human manifestations and focus on a few things, raising a fuss?
- We must prove and establish the inevitability and dominance of cyberspace. We must gain this understanding, or we will become passive. We are still ignorant about cyberspace, yet we treat it as an enemy! We neither create cyberspace ourselves nor let others engage with it, then we complain! Someone may never have used email in their life but insults cyberspace, which is wrong. Again, emphasizing cyberspace does not mean it is free of corruption—corruption does occur, but it is beyond anyone’s control. It cannot be sanctioned because, whether we like it or not, we and our generation are there, and current interactions occur in cyberspace. As mentioned, we must move toward theological and faith-based training.
- Finally, cyberspace is moving toward artificial intelligence, which gathers the most information from everyone and defines a new way of life based on it. We must be prepared, as the cyberspace we are currently debating—its existence and basics—has already been surpassed by artificial intelligence, which is creating more fundamental paths.
Source: Ejtehad