Digital Deceptions: 4-Week Workshop with the Authors

Dr. Amir Abdelzaher
Ustadh Arfan Qureshi
Dr. Ahmed Howeedy

Digital devices have become so fundamental to our daily lives and we’ve come to rely on them for almost everything, from entertainment and gaming to work and shopping. This has had adverse effects on our health, relationships, and spirituality.

Digital Deceptions explains the harms caused by our devices and what better choices we can make for ourselves and our children in the face of the digital age. The work is based on timeless principles of Islam and provides readers with practical advice for decreasing their screen time.

This 4-Week Workshop serves as a personal development opportunity for everyone who engages with the digital world. The authors, experts in their respective fields, will offer practical tips and guidance on the important topics outlined below.

Registrants can opt for the “With the Book” option and receive the Digital Deceptions book delivered to their door as part of the course fee.

Week 1: Reality Check – The Harms of Digital Technologies

a) Overview

• Understanding the world we live in: Age of Abundance and the Age of Misery
• Root causes of the ailments of the modern age: Unchecked exposure to the digital world
• Cause of physical, mental, and spiritual ailments

b) Setting our bearings: Foundational principles

• Purpose in life
• Rational and spiritual analysis: Usuli Principles that must guide our decisions
• Masalih vs Mafasid

c) Perceived Benefits, Real Harms

• Addictive by design
• Fragment attention
• Direct effects on the Brain
• Cause of mental illness
• Source of Impermissible
• Subtle Spiritual Harms

d) Breaking Free

• Practical Recommendations and Assignments

e) Q&A

Week 2: Hidden Agendas – Privacy, Surveillance and Manipulation

a) “But I have nothing to hide” – Why Privacy?

b) The Data Brokers

c) What is my data used for

• Targeted Marketing
• Unlawful activities
• Influence emotions and beliefs
• Mass Manipulation and Surveillance

d) Artificial Intelligence

e) Reclaim your privacy

• Practical Recommendations and Assignments

f) Q&A

Week 3: Raising Children in the Digital Age

a) Sacred Trust

• Goal as parents

b) The Four Parenting Styles

c) Achieving an Authoritarian Parenting Style

• The Parenting Pyramid: Correction, Teaching, Relationship, Tazkiya
• Learning to be a teacher

d) Managing Digital Devices

• Avoid introducing
• Manage current use
• Educate about the harms
• Build on other interests and strengths
• Choose their suhba
• Manage e-learning
• Prefer tools that prioritize focus
• When to get professional help

e) Foundational principles

• Spiritual means
• Modeling the way
• Building the relationship
• Instilling Iman and Mahabba

f) Practical Recommendations and Assignments

g) Q&A

Week 4: Back to Basics – Healthy Living in the Digital Age

a) Physical and Spiritual Balance in the Digital Age

b) Physical Balance

• Foods and activities that promote brain health
• Activities that strengthen the brain

c) Spiritual Means in the Digital Age

• Taqwa, Zuhd, Dua, Salat, Dhikr, Suhba

d) Looking forward: Islamic Eschatology

• The greatest fitna to befall mankind
• Preparing your family to thrive

e) Bringing it All Together

• Guiding Principles
• Summary of Recommendations
• Detox Plan for you and your family

f) Q&A