Ahlulbayt (AS) News Agency - ABNA: In the midst of the media chaos of today's world, there exists a quiet and less observed place where the destiny of the Ummah is shaped: the family.
The media developments of recent decades have shown that all soft wars ultimately penetrate the psychological fabric of homes; they reach children, weary fathers, and mothers who have been unwittingly caught in a flood of images and messages. If in the arena of cognitive warfare, the human mind is the main battlefield, then the family is the primary trench for preserving faithful perception and tranquility.
Today, global platforms not only manage our consumption but also construct the emotions we are supposed to experience. Through algorithms, anger, fear, and anxiety are designed as fuel for user interaction. This is precisely what the Holy Quran describes as the continuous intimidation by Satan: «إِنَّمَا ذَٰلِکُمُ الشَّیْطَانُ یُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِیَاءَهُ» (Indeed, that is Satan who frightens his allies). In such an environment, preserving the psychological security of the family is not merely a simple personal or educational duty; rather, it is a form of cognitive jihad within the home, an effort to maintain tranquility and trust in the face of the digital age's mental terrorism.
Contemporary media, with their high volume of emotional messages, have shifted the audience's mind from a state of reflection and depth to a state of rapid reaction. The result of such a situation is the formation of societies whose decisions are based on instant emotion rather than faithful wisdom. The Islamic family, if it acts based on the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), can break this cycle; by transforming family dialogues into gatherings of tranquility and thought, and by teaching children to manage emotions and images, the home can become the headquarters for reconstructing faithful cognition. In the prophetic and Alavid traditions, sakina (divine serenity) has been repeatedly mentioned as the main element of the believer's tranquility; sakina is not merely emotional calm, but the cessation of external anxiety's influence on the heart of the believer. In the Islamic family, this meaning equates to creating a psychological shield against media-induced anxiety. Such a family lives not in isolation, but in insightful interaction with the world; it understands but is not deceived.
Every time an image of a luxurious lifestyle is published in the virtual space, if the viewer lacks a foundational knowledge, their mind turns comparison into self-deprecation, and anxiety replaces inner contentment. This mechanism is the same extensive yet invisible psychological war against simple faith. In these circumstances, the resilient family must replace the consumption model with an ethical and epistemological one; through dialogue about meaning, not comparison of appearances. The mission of religious media and news agencies like AhlulBayt (AS) News Agency - ABNA is to explain this very quiet and vital front line; a place where news should not only be informative but also create tranquility and build trust. Conveying messages of hope, narratives of faithful families, and republishing educational experiences from within the Islamic society are part of this media's duty in engineering the psychological security of the Ummah.
Religious teachings about patience, contentment, trust in God, and dialogue today have a function beyond mere morality; these are the calming cognitive weapons in the media war. If the family, with the culture of Quranic dialogue, regulates its media consumption based on purpose and meaning, a new front of soft resistance is formed; a silent resistance against the chaos of images and the deception of emotion. In the age of cognitive warfare, the home of the believers is the very silent trench that must be kept illuminated, and psychological security is our first victory in this arena.
Al-Naz Mousavi Yekta
Media and Cyberspace Researcher
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