Why Endless Scrolling and Sufism Point in Opposite Directions
We are becoming a civilization of snippets.
A quote here.
A reel there.
A 30 second explanation of a profound truth.
A 10-slide carousel summarizing an entire book.
There are deeper reasons why I have been called to write a blog instead of remaining purely on Instagram.
Most of what I write on here takes less than 10 minutes to read. By accepting the invitation to step outside of social media for that brief moment, you enter a hidden spiritual agreement of presence and depth which signal a deeper commitment to your spiritual path.
Our communities are being eroded by endless scrolling and short-form content; my role is simply to communicate these observations. The choice of how to act on this information rests entirely with you.
The Sufi path requires qualities in a person that short-form content can gradually weaken—patience, presence, sustained attention, companionship, and contemplation.
I deleted all my personal social media in 2018. I often try my best to fight against anything that controls me, consciously or subconsciously—whether that is the urge to be online or the habit of scrolling aimlessly. It is not easy. However, it gets easier the moment we truly understand what is at stake.
Never before in human history have we consumed so much information while spending so little time with it.
And while short-form content can inspire, educate, and even awaken curiosity, I believe there is a growing spiritual cost when it becomes our primary way of learning.
Not because short-form content is evil in and of itself, but because the soul was not designed to live on fragments alone.
Information Is Not Transformation
Many people today know more than ever.
They can explain concepts from psychology, spirituality, self-development, and religion.
They can quote scholars.
They can summarize books they have never read.
They can discuss ideas they have only encountered through clips.
Yet despite all this information, many still feel spiritually hungry.
Why?
Because information and transformation are not the same thing.
Transformation requires lingering.
It requires remaining in the company of an idea long enough for it to penetrate beyond the mind and into the heart.
A 30-second video can inform you. A book can change you.
The Heart Moves at a Different Speed
Modern technology is optimized for speed.
The heart is not. The heart unfolds slowly.
Love develops slowly.
Trust develops slowly.
Wisdom develops slowly.
Spiritual openings develop slowly.
Everything sacred seems to require patience.
This is why the great spiritual traditions of the world have always emphasized practices that cannot be rushed: prayer, contemplation, remembrance, study, companionship, service, and silence.
The soul is not transformed through constant stimulation.
It is transformed through sustained presence.
What Research Is Beginning to Show
Research has increasingly found associations between heavy consumption of short-form video content and reduced attention performance, increased distractibility, and difficulty sustaining focus over longer periods.
This should concern us for reasons that go beyond productivity. Attention is not merely a cognitive resource.
Attention is a spiritual resource.
You cannot contemplate what you cannot attend to.
You cannot listen deeply if your mind requires novelty every few seconds.
You cannot absorb wisdom if every moment is interrupted by the desire for something new.
Many people believe they have lost their spiritual connection when in reality they may have lost the capacity for sustained attention.
And attention is one of the doorways through which spiritual connection enters.
The Difference Between Receiving Information and Receiving Presence
There is another dimension to this discussion that research cannot easily measure.
Spiritual transmission.
Throughout history, seekers did not merely seek knowledge. They sought companionship. They sat with prophets, saints, sages, and teachers.
Not only to hear their words, but to be influenced by their presence. Something was transmitted beyond information.
Many readers (including myself) have experienced a version of this through books.
Many of you keep asking me how did I heal, and you have the evidence all throughout my Instagram quotes.
I never just posted quotes for the sake of it. I spent time and presence reading the blessed words of the Friends of Allah, pick a quote that touched my heart the most and shared it.
By sharing it, I was making a public commitment to practicing it as well, and just like that, Allah would test me through each post to see if I was sincere in my commitment.
If you read what someone writes whose heart was alive with sincerity, devotion, and wisdom, you gradually begin to feel their perspective shaping your own.
Their way of seeing begins to influence your way of seeing.
Their state begins to affect your state.
You are no longer consuming content. You are keeping company.
This is something short-form content rarely allows.
The interaction ends before the connection can deepen. The soul barely has time to sit down before it is rushed to the next thing.
My Experience Reading Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani
Years ago, I committed myself to reading the works of Abdul Qadir al-Jilani.
Not excerpts.
Not quote cards.
Not summarized reels.
The books themselves. In English because I am not fluent in Arabic or Persian.
Page after page.
Hour after hour.
Something happened that I struggle to explain purely through intellectual terms.
The books healed me as I remained present and thirsty to be healed.
I admit that if we read books like his purely from the mind, they are not easy to read in terms of language or understanding metaphors or applicability in reality, but Allah rewards with understanding when our hearts are present and committed.
Over time, I felt as though I was sitting with a teacher rather than consuming information.
The healing came not only from what was being said, but from remaining in the company of a heart that had spent its life turned toward Allah.
Depth Cannot Be Downloaded
One of the great illusions of the digital age is the belief that depth can be acquired quickly.
But depth has always demanded investment.
You cannot summarize a friendship into a reel.
You cannot compress a spiritual journey into a carousel.
I try my best to cater to the current attention span of most people but not everything precious can be reduced without losing something essential. Perhaps part of the path is learning to give certain truths the time and attention they require.
A Balanced Approach
This is not a call to abandon short-form content.
Short-form content can inspire people to begin.
It can introduce ideas.
It can spark curiosity.
It can point toward truth.
But it should be a doorway, not a destination.
If all we ever consume are spiritual highlights, we risk becoming spiritually entertained rather than spiritually transformed.
If you feel spiritually scattered, exhausted, or unable to focus deeply, consider a simple experiment.
Choose one book.
One teacher whose words nourish your heart.
Spend 10 days with that work at minimum.
Read slowly, no rushing. If you don't understand something, slow it down even more.
Read as though you are sitting in the company of the person who wrote it.
You may discover that the healing you seek is not hidden in the next piece of content. It may be waiting on page 47, or page 160.
Or somewhere beyond the point where most people stop reading.
The deepest gifts often reveal themselves only to those willing to stay.
Thank you if you made it this far 📿
