In the name of Allah the most Beneficent and Merciful
In Surah Al-Baqara (Verse 102), the Quran recounts the story of the two angels, Haroot and Maroot, sent to Babylon not to guide, but as a divine trial for humanity. They possessed a knowledge of magic capable of sowing fasad (corruption, discord, and societal ruin)—tearing apart families and fracturing communities. Before imparting this dangerous knowledge, they issued a strict warning: "We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." Yet, driven by desire and curiosity, people willingly learned it anyway.
Today, humanity faces a parallel trial on an unprecedented, planetary scale. We no longer look to ancient Babylon for the instruments of fasad; we carry them in our pockets, governed by unseen codes and digital algorithms.
This reality has been laid bare all over the world, especially in the recent upheaval sweeping across Europe and the Western world, where the fault lines of modern society are being aggressively exploited. Platforms once hailed as tools for global connection have been weaponized by a new class of techno-feudal lords—billionaires like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel —whose algorithmic architectures actively prioritize outrage, division, and sensationalism over social cohesion.
Just as the magic taught in Babylon induced moral corruption, modern social media algorithms are engineered to hack human psychology, fueling hyper-individualism, paranoia, and tribalism. They amplify disinformation and monetize social friction, eroding the fabric of civic trust. By optimizing for engagement, these systems act as modern catalysts of fasad, destabilizing democracies and poisoning public discourse for profit.
The tragic irony is that, much like the people of Babylon who ignored the warnings of Haroot and Maroot, contemporary society has rushed headlong into this digital temptation. We embraced these technologies under the banner of connectivity, without realizing that the people running the show do not want us to really connect. Take the words of Peter Thiel "I don’t think that we can change people’s minds through debate. I think we have to change the world through technology. ... we have to build the things that we believe in.“ For those who don’t know him, he is a venture capitalist who was the first outside investor in Facebook and has about 10% stake in it. His other famous investments include LinkedIn, Palantir, Reddit. Who do you think are the “we” in the above quote?
As
Muslims witnessing this global moral and social decay, we must recognize
techno-feudal algorithmic manipulation for what it is—a systemic engine of fasad. True resistance requires intellectual awakening,
moral clarity, and a rejection of digital architectures that profit from the
corruption of human bonds.
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