Trolled for Their Past, Denied Their Future?
Who Is Trolling These Girls? Don’t They Have the Right to Turn to Allah — the Road to Paradise?
Change Your Lens: Does a Sinner Not Have the Right to Repent?
Dr. Fiaz Maqbool Fazili
A Reminder to Stop Trolling and Exposing the Past
There are stories one would rather not tell. Not because they are unimportant, but because telling them exposes us to the very culture we are questioning — misunderstanding, ridicule, accusations, personal attacks, and the inevitable question: “Whose side are you on?” But perhaps that is precisely where we need to begin. Not with her. Not with him. Not with the celebrity, actress, model, singer, public figure, or ordinary person whose past has suddenly become social-media entertainment. Begin with yourself. Look inward.
Before asking, “Who is this woman to speak about religion?”, ask: “Who am I to decide that Allah cannot change her?” Before writing, “We know what you used to do,” ask: “Why am I so determined that she must remain the person she used to be?” Before dragging an old photograph into a new conversation, ask: “What exactly am I trying to prove — and to whom?” And before pressing Post, ask the most frightening question of all: “If Allah swt placed my own past before the world today, would I still be so eager to expose hers?” That is the lens I want you to change.
The Troll Cycle
Social media has created a strange kind of courtroom. Someone says something today, and instead of answering what they said, we investigate what they were twenty years ago. A former actress speaks about modesty. Someone posts her old photographs. A former show-biz model speaks about faith. Someone produces an old video. A woman adopts hijab. Someone writes: “Look at her past!” Someone performs Hajj or Umrah. Another person comments: “Sau chuhe kha kar billi Hajj ko chali.” And suddenly the discussion is no longer about what she is saying. It becomes a public trial of who she once was.
This is the troll cycle.
And then everyone congratulates themselves for having “exposed” hypocrisy. But have we actually exposed hypocrisy? Or have we simply exposed our own inability to accept that human beings can change? Are we saying repentance is impossible? Are we saying a sinner has no right to pray? No right to wear hijab? No right to live with modesty, as her faith expects of her? No right to read the Qur’an? No right to perform Hajj or Umrah? No right to speak about what they have learned? No right to encourage others toward good? If the answer is yes, then for whom is repentance meant?
Islam did not come only for people who have never sinned. It came to guide sinners back to Allah.
Who Does Not Make Mistakes? Who Does Not Sin — Perhaps More Concealed Than Others.
The Prophet (saw) said: “Every son of Adam is a sinner, and the best of sinners are those who repent.” Notice the wisdom — he did not say that the best people are those who have never made mistakes. He spoke about those who return (rujoo). Look what Allah swt declares: “Do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.” And He calls people toward repentance and submission: “And turn to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you.” It is an invitation to return to the “siraat-e-mustaqeem” — the straight path.
So when someone leaves a sinful lifestyle, why are we standing at the door shouting, “We remember who you were!”? Perhaps the more important question is: Why don’t we want them to become someone else?
Most important — and the core of this piece and its takeaway message — is: who are we to judge the sincerity of someone’s repentance? Suppose a woman once lived a very different life — worked in entertainment, dressed differently, acted, danced, or made choices she now regrets. Today she has changed: she performs Umrah or Hajj, observes hijab, prays, reads the Qur’an, and speaks about faith. Do we say, “May Allah keep you steadfast,” or do we keep reminding her, “We know what you used to do”?
We know her tauba (repentance). Allah knows her heart and intentions. We know her public past; Allah knows her private tears. We know her mistakes; Allah knows her repentance. Perhaps Allah has forgiven what she sincerely repented from. So who are we to declare her repentance fake — or to keep exposing a past that Allah may have already forgiven?
Stop trolling. Stop mocking. Stop weaponizing people’s pasts. Speak good or remain silent. Before judging another soul, hold your own soul accountable. Perhaps Allah has forgiven them. Do not risk His displeasure by refusing to let them move forward.
Perhaps the troller needs to change his or her lens. This is where the real introspection begins. Perhaps the problem is not always the person who changed. Perhaps the problem is the observer who refuses to allow change.
Why do we turn yesterday’s mistakes into walls blocking today’s repentance? Why does someone’s repentance irritate us? Why, when a former actress, model, or public figure turns toward Allah, do we rush to resurrect their past? Have we appointed ourselves archivists of other people’s sins — preserving old photographs, replaying old mistakes, and refusing to let repentance have a future?
The Qur’an reminds us: “Let not one group ridicule another; perhaps they are better than them.” Read that again: perhaps they are better than you. We know their past; Allah knows their repentance and updated state. We see their mistakes; Allah swt knows their hearts. We do not know their final standing before Allah, the Merciful. The person you mock may be closer to Allah swt than you are.
So stop exposing, mocking, and weaponizing people’s pasts. Let repentance have a future. And hold your own soul accountable.
The Prophet (saw) taught us: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent.” And consider the remarkable hadith of the woman who gave water to a thirsty dog and was forgiven by Allah. It is a powerful reminder that Allah’s mercy can reach a person in ways we cannot see or comprehend.
So be careful what you utter. Be careful whom you mock. Be careful whose past you expose. Be careful whose repentance you belittle. You may be laughing at or mocking someone’s past while Allah has accepted their repentance. And you may be exposing a person’s old sins today, only to discover tomorrow that it is your own words, intentions, and actions for which you will be held accountable.
Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) said: “Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable.” Before pointing fingers at another person’s past, ask yourself: What about my own past? What about my own hidden sins? What will happen when everything is brought before Allah? “Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and the heart — about all those, one will be questioned.” And: “No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.”
Perhaps the person you are trolling today has already made “tawbatan nasuha” (a sincere repentance). Perhaps Allah swt has forgiven what they did. Perhaps they have become closer to Allah because of their repentance. So do not make yourself an instrument of humiliation for someone whom Allah may have chosen to honour through repentance.
Fear the day when the tables are turned — not because we wish punishment upon anyone, but because every one of us needs Allah’s mercy. Let us stop the trolling. Let us stop the mudslinging. Let us stop weaponizing people’s pasts. Let us stop mocking someone who may have sincerely returned to Allah. Instead, let us practise satr, mercy, repentance, restraint, and sincere advice.
Du’a:Allahumma arinal-haqqa haqqan warzuqnat-tibaa’ah, wa arinal-baatila baatilan warzuqnajtinaabah. — “O Allah, show us the truth as truth and grant us the ability to follow it; and show us falsehood as falsehood and grant us the ability to avoid it.” Aameen.
