I'm collaborating with a Bosnian brother on this. We have a rough outline so far for a presentation:
Making Digital Hijra
1. Why we're here
mention Microsoft’s reported support for Israel and the ethical duty to boycott entities that aid genocide.
Big tech companies benefit from the status quo, israel is the status quo, they are a huge market.
But boycotts aren’t enough if we just jump from one tech overlord to another. We need independence + sovereignty !!!
True support for Palestine starts with removing our dependency on oppressive systems, including digital ones.
2. The Problem: Digital Slavery in a Surveillance Empire
Explain how proprietary software (Microsoft, Apple, Google) locks us in and surveils us
Microsoft Windows has
Introduce the concept of “Digital Occupation”, we don’t own the tools we use; we rent access from corporations.
mention how our data, movements, even our prayers (Muslim apps!) are monetized and analyzed.
If the Product is free, you are the product.
Companies make money by collecting your data, categorizing it and selling it to anyone willing to buy (Advertisers, NSA prism, political campaigns, AI trainers, Foreign actors)
They own your devices. They own your data. They own your future. Is that how a Muslim should live?
3. The Philosophy: Digital vicegerency
Introduce cypherpunk mindset without label yet
Ownership over dependency
Transparency over black boxes
Decentralization over gatekeeping
Don't trust, verify
What does it mean to be vicegerent in a digital world? It means running code you can read, control, and share, without requiring permission”
4. Linux & Free Software
Live demo: install Linux on an old laptop
Show how easy it is: walk through interface, installing apps, customization.
Introduce essential FOSS replacements for Microsoft products:
LibreOffice (MS Office)
GIMP (Photoshop)
Firefox or Brave (Edge/Chrome)
Thunderbird (Outlook)
Signal or simpleX (WhatsApp/Teams)
Nextcloud (OneDrive/Google Drive)
Maybe show them how to run a VPN like Mullvad
5. The Vision: Muslim Digital Sovereignty
Talk about long-term goals like:
Owning your data.
Running your own servers.
Muslim Community NAS storage, store community and personal files on Muslim owned cloud
Building open source apps by Muslims, for Muslims, that don’t spy on us.
Forming open-source guilds to empower our ummah digitally.
Reintroduce the concept of “Digital Hijra”: leaving behind corrupted systems for something dignified, transparent, and sovereign.
The bare minimum we could do is use FOSS in support of our brothers and sisters in Palestine!
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