When Your Favourite Influencer Makes Wrong Look Right

Imagine a creator you enjoy watching. In a polished video, they joke about misleading a customer to close a sale. The delivery is funny. The comments applaud their confidence. For a moment, dishonesty looks like knowing how the world works.

Then ask yourself: if someone without the charm, followers or beautiful setting described the same behaviour, would I still approve? That small question can reveal how much the packaging has changed your judgement.

The voice does not have to sound frightening

An-Nas teaches us to seek refuge in Allah, the Lord, King and God of humankind, from the evil of the whisperer. The closing verses describe the whispering and where it can come from:

The surah is wider than social media. Its warning also invites us to notice harmful influence in ordinary human speech. Ibn Kathir’s tafsir discusses whispering from both humans and jinn. Applying that lesson to a feed is a contemporary reflection, not a claim that the surah was revealed specifically about influencers.

A creator can teach something useful, make us laugh or introduce a good habit. Being popular is not itself a moral failure. The question is what a particular message is encouraging us to accept.

When the label changes, the act can disappear

In the imagined video, a lie becomes “being smart.” Breaking a promise becomes “putting yourself first.” Someone else’s trust disappears from the story. We are invited to admire the speaker before we examine the act.

Al-An‘am : 112 describes enemies of the prophets exchanging deceptive, embellished speech. That context is not a licence to call a creator an enemy of a prophet. It reminds us that attractive wording can carry deception. A persuasive presentation is not evidence that its message is true or good.

Try describing the behaviour without the creator’s favourite label: “They told a customer something untrue to get money.” Once the act is visible again, you can judge it more honestly.

Give your judgement a little space

You do not need to diagnose another person’s heart. You can decide that one message is harmful and stop rehearsing its excuse. Pause before copying it. If you are unsure about an Islamic ruling, check with a qualified teacher rather than letting a comment section settle it.

Read An-Nas with its meaning and seek Allah’s protection. Alongside that act of worship, make a practical choice about what you watch. Muting a feed that repeatedly weakens your judgement is one available choice; it is not a special ritual prescribed by this surah.

With ThinkQuran, build your understanding of familiar surahs through Surah Quest, then use Reflection to pause with a verse and connect it to everyday choices. Understanding what you recite can give you a clearer question to carry into your next scroll.