2. Most people consult smartphones to
lookup Qur'anic verses or take notes.
The occasional video now augments
speeches and video clips bring
greetings from far-off imams. Tafsir
tapes have given way to MP3s and
videos posted on mosque websites.
But do these new media technologies
simply carry the same milk in newer
milk skins?
3. In Islam, worship also reflects the
traditions and context in which people
live. The aesthetics of worship, the
language spoken, and mosque
architecture have all been shaped, to
one extent or another, by the
surrounding culture. Technology, as
part of culture, has also shaped the
mosque in significant ways.
4. Technology is a culture-making activity in which human
beings exercise freedom and responsibility. Besides
their intended usage, technological artifacts have a bias
and shape the world in economic, social, aesthetic, and
cultural ways, to name just a few.
The media theorist Marshall McLuhan summarized this
in his famous aphorism “The medium is the message.”
This phrase suggests that media carry more than just
content, they bring with them new ways of thinking,
working, and communicating. John Culkin summarized
McLuhan's saying with the phrase “we shape our tools,
and thereafter our tools shape us.” As it turns out, our
tools not only shape us, they also shape worship and
places of worship such as the mosque.
5. More recently, the data projector has enabled
images, videos and text to be prominently
displayed within the worship setting. The use of
projectors to display Qur'anic verses and hadiths
does bring advantages. Instead of attending the
imam's speeches in person and looking down
into their Qur'an, people can look up at a screen.
Once again, the projector is not only a means of
displaying content, but it brings other changes.
Displaying scripture on screens leads people to
be less inclined to take their own Qur'an and
follow along. However, when images and videos
are used extensively, the importance of the
written word begins to decline and prayers can
become passive spectators not unlike a movie
theater.
6. The virtual communities and “spaces” which are
possible in cyberspace are now bringing new
possibilities to worship communities. But once again,
such a medium comes with a message of its own,
namely the notion that a body of believers does not
need physical bodies. Brad Kallenberg argues in his
book God and Gadgets that human communication
requires three conditions: time, place and bodies, things
that technology “bewitches us into thinking we can
ignore.” Taken to an extreme, such thinking can lead to
a new form of gnosticism which diminishes the
significance of physical bodies in physical community.
7. The mosque ought to reflect its cultural
context, including appropriate use of the
best cultural and technological gifts
available. McLuhan once warned that
“the ‘content’ of a medium is like the juicy
piece of meat carried by the burglar to
distract the watchdog of the mind.” As we
employ various media we need to guard
against being distracted and ignoring the
messages embedded in various
technologies.
8. Considerations surrounding the use of
various technologies in mosque and
worship should lead us back to
fundamental questions about the
purpose of worship and the mosque.
Marva Dawn suggests that “Worship
centers on recognizing that ‘great is the
Lord, and greatly to be praised’ and on
responding to that worthiness by
gathering with others to praise God as is
His due.” The media and technology of
worship may change, but the message
and purpose should remain the same.
9. The fact is that worship extends to all of
life, including all our technological
activities. As we shape our tools, we
should be mindful to shape them in ways
that glorify God. I suspect that
technology will be among the “glory and
honor of the nations” that will be brought
into the new heavens and earth. Until
then, may our technology be used
responsibly, and together with the
mosque and the rest of creation, may it
“declare the glory of God”.
