Conscience Over Convenience: A Digital Hijrah

In this short but urgent episode, I share why I’ve chosen to leave Big Tech services like Google (among others) in light of their complicity in human rights violations and global injustices. As Muslims - and as human beings - we have a moral obligation to act. I’ve moved to Proton Mail and begun supporting ethical, open-source alternatives. I invite you to begin your own journey toward digital ethics.

Updated contact information:
- A Way Beyond the Rainbow email address: awaybeyondtherainbow(AT)proton.me
- Voices from Beyond the Rainbow email address: voicesfrombeyondtherainbow(AT)proton.me
- Waheed Jensen email address: waheedjensen(AT)proton.me

Helpful resources:
- Switching Software
- DeGoogled
- Privacy Guides
- Techlore
- Prism Break

Background music: "Perfection" by MaxKoMusic (Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0)

Transcript

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah - peace be upon you all.

This short episode may feel a little different from our usual content. It might even seem somewhat out of place. But I ask for your attention and trust as I share something that feels urgent and deeply personal.

While this episode is not part of our regular theme, it absolutely connects to everything we stand for here: helping one another grow, standing up against injustice, and working toward healing - both individually and collectively.

I’m sharing this because I believe silence in the face of harm is a form of complicity. And sometimes, the most unexpected topics are the ones that demand our moral attention.

After months of reflection, research, and deep concern for the state of our world, I’ve made a decision that I believe is both a moral and spiritual necessity - to begin stepping away from Big Tech platforms that have been directly or indirectly complicit in human rights abuses and ongoing genocides around the world.

As many of us already know, companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple - among others - have been involved in surveillance partnerships, data exploitation, enabling oppressive regimes, and profiting from military contracts. For example, Google and Amazon have supported Israel’s military through Project Nimbus, providing cloud infrastructure despite its role in the brutal occupation and genocide of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Microsoft has sold technology to ICE, and Amazon’s facial recognition tools have been used in racially biased policing. These are not isolated incidents - they are systemic. And the list goes on and on.

Most recently, the wonderful Francesca Albanese, who is the The United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, has issued a report naming several companies aiding Israel’s occupation and displacement of Palestinians and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, in breach of international law. This includes Microsoft, Alphabet Inc. - Google’s parent company -, Amazon, IBM, and many others. And a database of more than 1000 corporate entities was also put together as part of the investigation.

As Muslims - and simply as human beings with conscience - we cannot afford to ignore this any longer. Ethics must extend beyond what we consume to the tools we use in our daily lives. That includes our browsers, email providers, messaging apps, and beyond.

As part of this shift, I’ve personally moved away from Gmail and am now using Proton Mail, an open-source, privacy-focused email service. That means my contact information and the contact information for both A Way Beyond the Rainbow and Voices from Beyond the Rainbow have changed. You’ll find the new email addresses listed in the show notes below.

In addition, I have deactivated the sign-up sheet that relied on Google Forms and have shifted instead to Cryptpad. All the links have been updated accordingly, so when you roll over the sign-up form for Voices from Beyond the Rainbow, you will be directed to the new form. And if you have already signed up with the old form, no need to worry, the info you filled out has already been received, and you do not need to sign up again.

I strongly encourage you, my dear brothers and sisters, to start exploring alternatives as well and doing your research, if you have not done so already. Look into services like Brave instead of Google, Signal instead of WhatsApp or Messenger, and Proton Mail instead of Gmail or Outlook, as well as Linux and F-Droid instead of Microsoft or Apple.

This isn’t about perfection - it’s about intentionality. About aligning our tools with our values. It may take time, but change begins with awareness and action. 

Please check the episode description for links to resources and guides to help you through the process. Of course, there are lots of resources out there, but this is just to help give you an idea if you have not thought about this or are still on the fence, so to speak.

And the truth is, there are plenty of alternatives. Ethical, open-source, privacy-respecting tools already exist for almost every digital need. So let’s be honest - at this point, it’s not about the lack of options, it’s about the struggle between comfort and conscience. Between what is easy, and what is haqq - what is morally right.

This is a test of our values. Will we continue to support, even passively, the systems enabling oppression? Or will we take even small steps to stand for justice? Indifference is not neutral - it has a cost. It’s time to stop being complicit by convenience. Let’s not wait for corporations to change. Let us change ourselves, for the sake of justice, dignity, and our accountability before Allah. 

Barak Allah feekom. Thank you for listening, and may peace and truth guide us all. Ameen.

Wassalamu alaikom warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.