ڈیجیٹل عہد میں تربیت و تزکیہ کے مسائل اور ان کا تدارک: شریعت اسلامیہ کی روشنی میں جائزہ

Challenges of Spiritual Training and Purification in the Digital Age and Their Remedial Measures: An Analysis in the Light of Islamic Shariah

Abstract

This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the challenges facing spiritual training and self-purification (tarbiyah wa tazkiyah) in the contemporary digital era, examining both the psycho-social harms identified in modern media psychology literature and the remedial frameworks derived from classical Islamic scholarship. The study investigates how digital technologies—particularly social media platforms, short-form content applications, and algorithm-driven engagement systems—have transformed patterns of human behavior, attention, and moral development. Drawing upon Qur’anic principles, Prophetic traditions, and classical works of Islamic spirituality (particularly those of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, al-Ghazālī, and the Naqshbandī tradition), the paper argues that the spiritual crisis induced by digital immersion is not merely behavioral but ontological, affecting the very structure of the human soul. The research identifies five primary categories of digital-age spiritual maladies: attention fragmentation (ḍaʿf al-turkiyz), FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and its antithesis of qanāʿah, digital narcissism (ʿujb and riyāʾ), brain rot and cognitive erosion, and internet addiction (iʿtimād dijitālī). The study then proposes a comprehensive framework for digital tazkiyah, integrating the concepts of digital uzlah (selective withdrawal), adaptive zuhd (balanced detachment), muhāsabah (self-accounting), maqāṣid-based digital ethics, and the psychospiritual integration of Islamic practices for addiction recovery. The research concludes that the Islamic spiritual tradition offers a robust, empirically grounded, and theologically coherent response to the anxieties of the digital age, provided it is adapted through contemporary ijtihād and implemented through structured educational and counseling interventions.