But let’s not forget the principle that, in Islam, when justice and gentleness clash, justice takes priority. In fact, showing kindness to an oppressor can itself become an act of oppression.

Let us remember that Ramadan had just come in when our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) chose to raid the loaded Quraysh caravan returning to Mecca from Syria, and some of his relatives were in that caravan.

Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) knew that, in some circumstances, the rights of the community could take precedence over the interests of the individual.

When I was in the process of suing our school district, it was Ramadan. I asked the imam of our masjid that it took me a very long time to write my briefs, motions, and replies against the defendants.

I had to fight my case pro se against a rich and powerful county, and I was very busy during the day. The imam told me that the nights I spent writing would be rewarded, insha Allah.

So, let us also not forget about justice in Ramadan.

😃🕌جمعة مبارك

Yeah, Darius pulled a fast one on Chen.

So Tawfiq, you don’t want nine kids? But children are a barakah. 😂

Jazak Allah khayr for your comments.

For those who are making excuses on their behalf, I really hope you do not have any children. Im speaking to you Gulam. Why wouldn’t you speak up against an Islamic institute that is acting anything but Islamic? They have committed horrible and haraam actions that needs to be addressed and reported. You mentioning people cheating on their wives is on an individual level, this is not comparable to what happened for decades that perpetrated all forms of abuse to children.

Yes, I really think our positions are much in agreement. AI did not create the gullibility; it simply makes it easier to exploit our “willingness to lower evidentiary standards.”

I brought my Adam’s height example to show our readers how American Islamic schools are setting up our precious children to become like sheep in front of AI deepfake wolves.

And this is not just one “teacher’s response.” You only have to read or listen to the preposterous ways our academics and scholars, both modern and traditional, have tried to justify that this statement came from the tongue of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

Here is just one example:

“…And if this matter seems difficult for you to understand, consider the dwarfs whom we see, men who are the size of children. If that is something that actually occurs, then what prevents the opposite: that a man could be sixty cubits tall? There have also been giants in human history, as archaeologists and specialists in excavations supposedly say.”

Please understand that I am an Anthropology major trained in the scientific method and, thankfully, have enough Imaan not to become a Murtad. 😂

Now, if the statement said:

فَلَمْ يَزَلِ الْخَلْقُ نَاقِصًا حَتَّى الآنَ

Translated: “Creation has continued to be diminished until now,”

I would believe this was a hadeeth and not a fairy tale: Allah created Adam 60 cubits, and when Adam came down to earth, he diminished in size, and humanity has continued to stay diminished. Great!

But the statement says:

فَلَمْ يَزَلِ الْخَلْقُ يَنْقُصُ حَتَّى الآنَ

Translated: “Creation has continued to decrease until now.”

This is NOT true! Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) does not say unscientific things!

But the point I was trying to make was that when a Science teacher in a CISNA (Council of Islamic Schools in North America) Islamic school, in the richest county in the United States of America, advertising itself on its website with a 99.95% college acceptance rate 😜, and having twice changed its accreditation logo from being accredited by the MSA (Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools) to being just their member after I complained about them to the authorities, is teaching our beloved children that the fossil record shows that the height of human beings decreased from about 100 feet to their present height, I am not going to remain silent.

And when students in my class at this Islamic school wanted to have a debate, in the 21st century, in the most technologically advanced country on earth, about whether dinosaurs actually existed, we have to ask ourselves what kind of critical-thinking skills we are giving our children.

Don’t be surprised if they will one day run after the Dajjal, let alone fall for deepfakes, when he comes. May Allah protect us 🤲🏼

Thank you for such a thoughtful response. I think we are actually closer in our conclusions than your comment may initially suggest.

One of the central arguments of my article is precisely that AI did not create human gullibility, our attraction to rumor, our tendency to accept claims that confirm what we already believe, or our willingness to lower evidentiary standards when judging people with whom we disagree. Those vulnerabilities are much older than generative AI. As I wrote in the article, “Artificial intelligence does not create this human tendency. What it changes is the quality of the imitation.”

Where I think AI introduces something genuinely important is in its ability to exploit those existing weaknesses through increasingly persuasive forms of fabricated evidence. A false quotation is one problem. A recognizable scholar appearing before us, speaking in his familiar voice and mannerisms, seemingly making that same statement, presents a different epistemic challenge. The underlying human vulnerability may be old, but the technological conditions surrounding it are changing.

I also agree that critical thinking is indispensable, although I would frame the issue somewhat more broadly as an ethics of knowing. Critical thinking certainly belongs within that, but so do provenance, verification, intellectual humility, standards of evidence, awareness of our own biases, and the willingness to say “I do not know” when the evidence does not justify certainty. That is why I spent considerable time in the article discussing tabayyun and isnād. I think the Islamic intellectual tradition contains resources for precisely the kind of disciplined questioning you are calling for.

Your example concerning the hadith about Adam raises a different and much larger discussion involving hadith criticism, interpretation, scientific evidence, and the relationship between transmitted knowledge and empirical inquiry. I would be hesitant to resolve that question through one teacher’s response, particularly because an inadequate defense of a proposition does not by itself establish that the proposition is false. That discussion deserves its own careful treatment.

But on the larger point, I agree with you: better deepfake detection will never be enough. Technology can help us authenticate media, but it cannot decide how intellectually responsible we are going to be when encountering claims we want to believe. That responsibility remains ours.

~Bekim

Ahmed’s scene with Darius was tender. Ahmed understood that Darius did not need explanations, but comfort.

And I agree with my son. If he ever has nine children, don’t count on me to babysit. 🙂
As for Shireen and Cotan, I am reserving judgment. The image you created for Shireen is extraordinary, though. She looks beautiful, competent and proud but not arrogant.

Jazak Allah khayr. Looking forward to next week.

Also Ahmed has NINE KIDS???, that’s wack. I mean, nothing wrong with it, masharAllah and all that, but if it was me, I wouldn’t want to go home 😭

WHO ARE THESE KURDS??? 😭 In the title you called them killers, makes me think that something evil this way cooooommmmeeeees.

😂😂😂

I guess we find out next week.