Nota Bene: This one is written with 2 versions. First one being the RAW-unfiltered version of mine, and second written by CGPT's LLM-IQ after it had analyzed my core messages. If you have a mindset of TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read), then read the next version given after mine arranged in a more concise and smooth way.
The Rise of Virtual Falsehood
Since the the very beginning of time, there had been a Great war between the Truth and the Falsehood. Where the Truth always had very few soldiers in comparison with the enormously huge armies of the Falsehood. Because, that Falsehood came at first into existence before the truth. Truth translates to honesty, modesty, decency, morality, patience, tolerance, empathy and other good qualities connected with the Reality. Whereas the Falsehood contains deception, immodesty, indecency, immorality, angriness, perversion, corruption, etc.
In the recent generation, this war faced a very great radical change. The modern form of Falsehood across the present world is, VIRTUAL contents.
Today, the Falsehood made another distinct universe for their convenience to extinguish the Truth out of the global humanity; which is known as the VIRTUAL WORLD. And the most successful virtual world is, as we all know, VIDEO GAMES.
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Allah has defined the overall condition of an average Gamer already in the Quran nearly 1450 years ago. The verse is given in the following
فويل يومئذ لّلمكذّبين
ٱلّذين هم فى خوض يلعبون
Then woe to the accusers (of denoting Allah's divine Messages as false)!
The people who amuse themselves with the falsehood.
[Surah Tur, 52:11-12]
And also mentioned regarding one of the traits of Faithful people like this-
And those who avoid vain, idle talk (laghw)
[Surah Al-Mu’minun, 23:3]
Psycho-spiritual Impacts of Gaming
Most youths in this generation are directly/indirectly have deep relations with diverse genres of video games. But the matter of worry is, those interactive virtual worlds are successfully distracting our silly brains from the reality of this world. The gamers begin to lose their touches with reality, ultimately struggling to conduct even their basic responsibilities.
As a consequence, they become lazy and irresponsible towards their personal lives. Although such result is dependent on each individual player's mindset, it can still conduct its mission and cultivate a firmly rooted victory upon the minds of those victims.
The game-developer teams, who are an elite army of the Falsehood-side, had made another master-plan to manipulate the minds of common youths via playing with their brains. Much of mainstream gaming in the 21st century has evolved into a system that subtly contributes to the dehumanization and passive conditioning of the youth, particularly when it promotes escapism over engagement with reality.
To illustrate the psychological manipulation, they are not only playing with the mindsets of common people but also are trapping them into a newly created virtual world, thus making them completely distracted & disconnected from the reality of this world. Many fall into a zombie-like state—not in body, but in mind. They stop questioning, stop dreaming, and simply follow the controller’s path, dictated not by conscience but by code.
Additionally, turning the gaming activity into a stable coping mechanism against stress, sadness, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Most gamers don’t realize the hard truth: their daily gaming habits may be silently transforming them into passive, desensitized addicts.
Such boy cannot socialize with any stranger other than few classmates who are victimized in the same obsessive activity as him. Ultimately, an apocalypse takes place where the innocent victims (like these boys) become completely unable to see the light of reality within their lifetimes.
Generational Perspective
If we talk from the perspective of Generations; during the 1960s~1990s, the Baby-boomers (who were Parents then) tend to bring the Gen-X (children of that time) inside home. Because, they were addicted in playing various outdoor sports restlessly from morning to evening.
But in this time, the Gen-X & Millennial parents are trying their bests to send their Gen-Z and/or Gen-α children to somewhere outside for playing sports, thus gain Vitamin-D for real from the pure morning sunlight.
Furthermore, these Gen-X & Millennial people is already bounded by the preference of playing physically rather than digitally.
It can be observed that once upon a time, the parents considered outdoor games as something negative; but today, oppositely, the parents are considering the Video Games & other so-called indoor activities as negative for the mental health of children, which is the actual true fact.
Beside Gaming, other common examples of indoor activities are; watching Pornographic contents, consuming valueless Garbage media contents, listening to Music Videos, binge watching Movies & Web-Series and so on.
Some of the parents still consider Video Games as an alternative to all of these mentioned toxic digital activities. But, they don't know about this fact: The Gaming contents are the complex combinations of Nudity, Music, Slanging, Movie-storyline and other similar entertainment contents.
Speaking about Productivity, the toddlers, kids, adolescents and youths cannot concentrate on their daily tasks because of being distracted with the thoughts of video games. They continuously visualize and plan only about what to do next in that particular Video Game, thus stay detached from the present moment.
Worst case scenario; the victim may be chronically addicted with multiple Video Games. So, he would remain stuck within the matrix of imagining/visualizing diverse scenarios from different Gaming realms.
Moreover, the statistics state that the Annual Revenue of Gaming Industry is equivalent to the sum of the total collected Revenues of Music & Social Media Industries! Although the Game Developers & Game Publishers are earning much, they are not positively contributing to the overall Social development.
We as a Muslim community, must need to resist the urge to play them. Or, at least control it within some specific limitations. Because, our primary attention is Akhirah. Just like many wise men say, "Don't do this! There is a future awaiting for you. Make it bright";
similarly, we as a Muslim community, also have a potential brighter future (i.e. the life after death) awaiting for us if we renounce the obsession of Video Games.
In order to gain Jannah, we need not to waste our precious time only behind Gaming. However, as I talked about before, we can easily play and enjoy as much Video Games as we want in Jannah.
Another concern arises for the fact, the financial investment in Gaming is merely a loss. The reason is backed by this affirmation; firstly, you have to set all of the prerequisite elements e.g. CPU, RAM, Processor, Graphics card, Desktop Monitor, up to Gaming Chair & Table. And to do this, you cannot but purchase them from various stalls throughout the markets.
After all these, you still have to buy the Game you desired at the first place. Some video games even promote in-game-currency in order to gain access to further advanced features, thus improve the gaming experience.
Therefore, you have to invest some extra money for increasing those in-game-currencies from your real hard-earned money or simply from your father's credit card.
Why Games more often Hook us?
The major reasons of such super-influential attraction of Video Games are given in the following points along with elaborated descriptions and explanations.
Ultra-realistic Graphics: Recently, massive amount of Video Games are yielded with such HD/4K/8K Graphics that are either Realistic or Ultra-Realistic. The fascinating immersive visuals introduced in such Games automatically convince the minds of its consumers i.e. gamers while playing that they are inside an alternate reality that is alternative to their own world.
Furthermore, the final output from the Ray-traced visuals which are seen after installing some additional NVidia RTX or AMD Ryzen Graphics cards for playing any older nostalgic Video Game also modifies, thus enhances the graphics of the Game itself. This enhancement is also liable for becoming addicted with playing the game for hours.
Extensive Interactivity: Every Game lets the player to interact in numerous interesting, intriguing, intuitive & attracting ways that could easily stimulate the brain of that player. Such resultant ecstasy keeps the person hooked into the game for a long duration.
Immersive Storylines: In case of Open-World games, the cutscenes give us a feeling as if we are inside a story. These storylines are written in a way that make us feel like we are a part of it.
Although they might contain moral values somewhere, but this virtual-world migrates and detaches the brain from reality as well as from real-life adversities. It could play a major role as a medium of escapism, ultimately resisting the gamer from improving his overall mental health. Otherwise, he would have probably been very resilient to those current adversities via directly confronting the circumstances.
Unlocking Achievements: One of the primal Human desire is to earn extraordinary achievements. Attaining achievements bring a great form of happiness yielded with satisfaction.
If those achievements are gained from playing video games, this feeling of pleasure attract the players even more to elongate the duration of gameplay. It is actually a cognitive strategy to firmly keep the players hooked into the game for a long continuous time.
The reality is, instead of earning virtual achievements, you could rather utilize the potential time in improving, growing, forging or building your skills, character, mind and social status.
The system just persuades you into believing that you're worthy enough to complete the rarer achievements. Meanwhile, you still remain a victimized boy, procrastinating all day and sitting there to continuously play video games without having a single break.
Therefore, do not let the pixels define your worth, prove it through accomplishing your personal challenges.
Multiplayer Arrogance: Another thing to mention in case of multiplayer genre, the gamer creates a high ranking status among other fellow players. This might create a narcissistic feeling (of being a Pro/LEGEND) inside that gaming environment. Meanwhile in reality, many gamers fall into this trap, becoming increasingly detached from their respective real-life responsibilities.
It also generates some sort of imaginary pride within his mindset. So he ultimately becomes an ignorant person, not paying any heed to some serious behavioral feedbacks upon him from others around.
False Benefits of Gaming DebunkedA Video Game Company called EPIC Games is conducting FREE strategy in their store which is an unmatched strategy in Gaming Industry. This strategic initiative is dramatically increasing the amount of potential users on the platform over time.
In this way, they can easily earn money from those consumers.
Apart from this, many Android Video Games publishers earn money from Ad-revenue by showing random Advertisements to their users. This common (over-saturated) strategy is applied by taking the help of Google's AdMob; you can certify it out by asking CGPT regarding this, to be sure.
I had observed that many gamers were preaching some benefits from playing virtual games. But, I can guarantee you, absolutely all of the benefits could be earned from better alternatives.
Video games can improve your vision: Compulsively playing games for more than 3 hours on a daily basis results in Myopia or Shortsightedness. And it is really a problematic eye disorder which further creates difficulty in giving visual focus on many real-life activities.
This vision improvement can be done by playing some specific sports like Cricket, Baseball, Badminton, Archery, Dart throwing, Gun-shooting, etc.
Video games can develop your social skills: It is undoubtedly true that Multiplayer games increase the skill of communication on a social level. But this fact also cannot be disregarded that such skill is only limited within the boundary of virtual environment.
Meanwhile, that gamer is not even aware about the current condition of his family-members or his neighbors. Whenever he attends any type of social event/ceremony, he mostly tends to be eager to return home as soon as possible so that he could start his gaming session by sitting inside his favorite room again. Therefore, no socialization is present inside the gamer's mindset. Rather, he is actually getting detached from the reality.
Speaking about reality detachment, the game developers are applying their personal ideologies inside the Multiplayer game. And it is programmed in such a way that it convinces the players; they are becoming socialized people via inserting those ideologies inside their innocent brains. Thus in real-life, the same ideology can easily be promoted among the respective societies and communities of those players by their initiatives. In other words, those masterminds are brainwashing the players to work as the agents of their ideology.
Video games can enhance your focus and concentration: When you observe in any Multiplayer game that your level is decreasing due to some inactivity, you try to upgrade it up even further, thus your competitive mindset will become advanced.
In case of genres like Action & Strategy, you have to think critically in order to earn victory and upgrade your level. Some objectives require the player to give high amount of concentration for successfully completing that objective. However, alike that socialization issue, your concentration is also limited within this simulated virtual world.
If any adolescent play a particular competitive video game, and he sees that he lost the match, inside his brain, the (immaturely developed) pre-fontal-cortex will get negatively affected by this. As a result, his patience, tolerance, acceptance and emotional-balance would become reduced. He will more likely tend to increase his vandalistic attitude. Ultimately speaking, let alone turning mature, those boys still remain more irrationally immature than their current ages. The supposed qualities & ideals as per the age are lacking inside their brainwashed mental characteristics. Moreover, concentration in real life productive tasks is not prevalent in a Gamer's mind.
Video games can teach your something new and positive: Some storylines from Open-world video games truly teaches us some sort of morality, unless the cutscenes are not skipped and watched fully, similar to watching a movie. For example, expressing hatred toward evil opponents, resisting the crimes, revenging against traitors, never accepting defeat, etc. Moreover, Battlefield genre might teach the soldiers about warfare tactics, doing assigned missions, completing potential objectives, applying strategies and getting new experiences.
But here is the fact, books on various genre can easily teach you those crucial lessons in a more comprehensive way.
Video games can develop your hearing sense: In reality, when a gamer plays any destructive type game by wearing headphones, his sense of hearing gradually gets weaker over time. Because, those games contain several noisy gun-shooting and explosive sounds, gradually desensitizing the power of hearing.
By reading some of the above points, you may be thinking that you should start playing video games in order that you could also improve such skills via playing them on PC/Console.
If so, then let me tell you an important fact. Everything in this material world contains both merits & demerits, but the amount of merit-demerit varies from one another. As Allah said in the Quran-
لونك عنِ ٱلخمر وٱلميسر ۖ قل فيهمآ إثم كبير ومنـفع للنّاس
وإثمهمآ أكبر من نّفعهما ۗ كذَلك يبيّن ٱللّه لكم ٱلـٔايـت لعلّكم تتفكّرون
They ask you about intoxicants and gambling. Say, “There is good & evil in both, as well as some benefit for people, but the evil outweighs the benefit.” This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so perhaps you may reflect
[Surah Baqarah, 2:219]
Even Allah Himself is announcing that there exist some benefits in drinking wine and gambling. But, it is forbidden due to the fact that the harms are more in quantity than the benefits. The rule is, you need to consider which one is more persistent in the activity, the amount of merits or the amount of demerits.
Video Games explained by Genres
Open World: Have you ever played GTA Vice City? If you belong to the Gen-Z, you're most likely to say, "Yeah! I did, it was a great childhood Open-World game which still gives me Nostalgic feelings whenever I play them once again." Most guys of this generation had played this super popular game at least once; many others, in fact, played other games from this GTA-franchise. As a result, several nostalgic memories are linked with that/those Game(s) inside their minds.
But, are you aware about the fact; the world of Sexual distortion is introduced to us, starting from that Open-World Game? The promiscuous female characters like Candy Suxxx have served us some lustful temptations (which were once seemed to be latently harmless during childhood), consequently creating a toxic desire to lustfully watch the bikini-nudes of Sexy ladies.
Actually, that's the start of the Sexual fantasy which we had been unconsciously taming for years. It dramatically flow-charted towards item-songs, YouTube Music Videos (not all of them but, mostly), and finally; guess what? Yeah! The Mighty source of all the existing Sex-fantasies, PORNOGRAPHY. The main themes of those games are; Crimes, Vices, Violence, Aggression, Gunfights, Explicit Sexuality, Nudity, Betrayals, etc.
Open-World Video Games are developed & designed in such a way that the Games make us imagine, "I'm the part of that Game. In fact, I am a Protagonist here!" through freely having the full access of controlling that particular character, which further portrays the overall Cognitive state of that Gamer, when it is observed from the bird's-eye view.
Platformer: This type of Games can be enjoyed from both on the online & offline platforms. Platformers are one of the oldest and most enduring genres in video games. It can be either Pixelated or Artistic in graphical perspective. Although I cannot say that indecent materials are present within them, I can certainly say that this type of video games are very addictive in nature. It forces your mind to complete every level after completing the ones before.
First Person Shooter: Commonly known as FPS Games which attract most of the Adult Gamers of this generation. According to Google's definition, "A first-person shooter is a video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through the eyes of the main character."
Games like Call of Duty and Counter Strike portrayed Islam in a very humiliating way. Firstly, the game is a first-person shooter game, where the objective is to eliminate the other team by planting a bomb or killing the enemies.
The game involves features such as gambling (from which it generates most of its revenue), music, deployment of the awrah of 3D Female characters and maps which are based on the Arab/Muslim world, where the terrorists fight, or even defeat the counter terrorists. This game has also resulted in people regularly raging, losing their temper and swearing and cursing, and even showing aggression
Battle Royale: Three of the main popular Games of such Genre are Fortnite, PUBG & FreeFire. It keeps the adolescent gamers addicted for most of their days. Due to being multiplayer, they remain hooked with communicating with other players. Sometimes in particular game like PUBG, some drops come from the sky containing rare resources to gain advantage in protecting, defending, healing or attacking other players. Due to this reason, they literally start fighting or get aggressive toward one another.
Several materials inside many games are created by Islamophobic game developers. No material, object, thing or effect is mistakenly created. Only game developers know that it requires a lot of effort to create each of such assets separately and integrate them all together into a single video game.
Therefore, all those Islamophobic materials are created to initiate hatred towards Islam upon the minds of its players, thus brainwashing them against the religion of Allah. Since many gamers are under 18 years, these concepts will automatically be inserted into their subconscious minds.
Harsh Reality of a Gamer's Lifestyle
'Video Game' is the name of a Culprit who's destroying the masculinity of the Guys from current generation. If we observe in the earlier former generations, it could be seen that rarely few men were obese. Except some of them, most of those men were free from laziness and always followed a particular disciplined Routine, starting from every morning and every day.
They neither expressed any sign of Anxiety nor any symptom of Depression. Whereas, this generation is mostly suffering from chronic anxiety, depression, anti-social, indecisive, uncertain, etc. Instead of conducting self-development, they are limitedly proud to express themselves as mere Gamers who is not valuable in the Society because of their detachment from the Harsh environments of Reality.
In case of their physical appearance, some of them are obese and many of them are underweight, indicating the irresponsibility to take care of their personal health.
Most Gamers are unable to do Household chores properly because of laziness as well as procrastinating mindset. If they cannot even do these simple chores, how on earth they can be capable of taking the pressure of numerous works?
Their communication skill is too weak to mention. That is why, they are incapable to speak loudly with firm confidence. And many who are consumed by gaming—who live by it and feel lost without it—often lose the emotional energy to cry over a martyr or the courage to march for truth. Lastly, it is basically a rare case that a chronic addict of Video Games becomes a real man at some point of his life.
The mentionable symptoms to identify an addicted Gamer is given on the following:
1. Completely tends to be Alone, self-isolating from every other person, no matter a relative or a friend. Besides, he does not even communicate with his own Family at home.
2. Never participates in any form of social event, ceremony, party and other social affairs. Only goes outside for a Sudden Reason.
4. Eats & Drinks while playing Video Games. He remains so lazy that always keeps on procrastinating the important tasks.
5. Cannot kick out the Addiction even after becoming Aware about it. Maybe, because of any mental weakness
6. Unable to manage his personal tasks. He is too surrounded by his fantasies to receive something normally. In fact, he is somewhat handicapped.
7. Lacks social skills at a severe level. Cannot even simply talk about trifling matters with stranger people, let alone having a longer discussion. Rather considers this conversation meaningless.
8. Almost every form of weird & fantasizing things attract him along with a sense of irresistible fascination inside his mind.
9. Considers every activity as a competition and every friend as a competitor. In fact, he enjoys to imagine so. Challenging even about healing from such Gaming Addiction provides him ecstasy.
10. Hesitates to change/upgrade the state of his lifestyle. He don't care about those people who try the same upon others.
11. Ignores the importance of analyzing something in the lenses of Knowledges, Logics, Reasonings and Social-values.
12. Spends almost all of his wealth only behind Video Games. His economic profile is only a mere slave of Gaming Industry.
13. Even after trying several times, he fails to kick the Game-Addiction completely out of his life.
Instead of initiating any Strict trial, if he is connected with a Community Program of removing Addictions earlier, he tends to either silently leave or openly cancel it.
14. Sometimes spends null time at the Beach. Or, sometimes recklessly drives the car with an indiscriminate danger. Perhaps, such behavior is the portrayal of overall Failures of his entire life.
Final Words
In a conclusion, if you really want to enjoy playing games then take your real lifestyle as the only one. Consider the lifetime as your storyline of this game where once you die, the game is simply over. And you will never get even a single chance to revive ever again in this world.
So, you should be using this very limited time on doing productive, profitable, important and meaningful tasks rather than wasting it for the sake of temporary self-pleasures.
In this storyline, you're the one and only protagonist (i.e. the main character) here; who is supposed to take a complete control over his own life. Your assigned mission/objective is to do anything that ultimately improves you; either your personality, character, strength, mentality, or any other personal aspect of life.
Therefore, I wish the best of luck to complete this game successfully.
The real place of limitless happiness if in the Paradise, the destination of spiritually successful people after their death. There, you can spectate the full walkthrough of YOUR Game of Life as much as you want, either with other members of Paradise or only yourself. It is ultimately dependent on your wish.
And another last thing, Quran is the ONLY rational manual/wiki which trains you how to play this Game by getting maximum benefits. This book of Allah, Quran can also be regarded as the passport of Jannah or Paradise.
Allah said,
This worldly life is no more than play and amusement,
but far better is the eternal home of the Hereafter for those mindful of Allah.
Will you not then understand?
[Surah An'aam 6:32]
This worldly life is no more than play and amusement.
But the Hereafter is indeed the real life, if only they knew.
[Surah 'Ankabut 29:64]
________
Refined, polished and summarized version of CGPT (TL;DR friendly)
________
The Great War
Since the dawn of time, a great war had raged between Truth and Falsehood. Truth has always had fewer soldiers compared to the massive armies of Falsehood. This imbalance is no surprise—Falsehood appears first, quickly and attractively, while Truth arrives later, often requiring patience, reflection, and sacrifice.
Truth stands for honesty, modesty, morality, empathy, patience, and decency—qualities rooted in divine reality. Falsehood, on the other hand, breeds deception, immodesty, immorality, arrogance, and perversion.
Today, that battlefield has evolved—but the conflict remains. In our generation, this ancient battle has entered a new phase; the most dangerous form of falsehood is not just found in lies or politics, but in the seductive, immersive world of virtual entertainment—especially video games. Falsehood has built a new empire—a virtual world.
Its most potent & influential weapon? Video games.
This virtual world is designed to distract, deceive, and ultimately disconnect us from the real world—pulling hearts and minds away from Allah, truth, and personal responsibility.
This essay is both a personal reflection and a spiritual alarm for all those willing to hear: Don’t let pixels steal your purpose.
Qur'anic Warning
Over 1400 years ago, the Qur'an warned us of this behavior:
So woe that Day to the deniers, those who are engrossed in falsehood, amusing themselves!
(Surah At-Tur, 52:11–12)
This verse paints a clear image: people who indulge in entertainment rooted in falsehood, oblivious to the truth of existence and heedless of divine guidance.
In our time, millions—especially youth—are deeply immersed in diverse genres of video games. Many of these virtual worlds are designed to disconnect our minds from the reality of life, distracting us from real responsibilities and making us numb to our purpose.
Gamers often become lazy, demotivated, and addicted—though the effects vary from person to person. The developers of Video Games—knowingly or not—condition millions to escape reality. They aren’t just providing fun—they’re shaping minds.
A Generational Shift
In the past, from the 1960s to 1990s, parents often tried to bring their children (Gen X) indoors—to resist them from excessive outdoor play. Today, the opposite is true. Parents from Gen X and Millennials are desperate to send their Gen Z and Gen Alpha children outside, away from screens, for some sunlight and socialization.
In the past, outdoor sports were considered “distractions.” Today, they’re viewed as healthy alternatives to the overwhelming flood of digital entertainment.
Why? Because their children are addicted—not to dirt and trees—but to screens and pixels.
Parents once viewed outdoor play as a distraction. Now, video games, binge-watching, pornography, and passive scrolling are the modern distractions harming mental and spiritual health. Ironically, some parents see video games as a lesser evil compared to other digital temptations—but what they don't realize is that video games contain a dangerous blend of all those things: violent plots, addictive music, indecent visuals, violence, hyper-stimulating storylines, and addictive loops.
The Trap of Gaming
Most young people today are deeply entangled in gaming—often without realizing it. Games provide an alternate universe. A gamer may begin to:
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Lose touch with reality.
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Avoid responsibilities.
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Struggle with basic focus and self-discipline.
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Feel restless without daily gameplay.
As players get hooked, they begin to lose touch with real-world duties, relationships, and even their own sense of self. Some players begin to resemble zombies—not in body, but in spirit. They stop dreaming. They stop growing. They simply… just keep playing.
They no longer question, reflect, or dream beyond what the game permits. Their imagination have been shackled to the digital universe. Gaming often becomes a coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, sadness, or loneliness. And the trap deepens.
This is no accident. It is a strategic manipulation by developers and publishers—an elite force of modern Falsehood—who have designed games to hijack your brain, emotions, and time. The more time you give, the more profit they make. And the more you lose.
Even worse, games often become a coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, or loneliness. What was once play turns into psychological dependence. Day by day, the gamer becomes less alive in the real world.
A regular gamer might not realize it, but he may already be addicted. Sitting on the same comfortable chair every day, escaping into pixelated worlds, he starts living more inside the screen than outside it.
Such a person often fails to build meaningful relationships, pursue personal goals, or fulfill obligations. Over time, a kind of spiritual apocalypse unfolds—a life lived far from reality, far from purpose, and far from Allah.
Financial and Moral Drain
The cost of gaming goes far beyond money, but let’s address it first.
To play most modern games, you must invest in:
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High-performance CPU, RAM, GPU, monitors
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Comfortable chairs, controllers, desks
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Paid games and in-game currencies
Even after this, many games use predatory in-app purchases or loot boxes to manipulate you into spending more. Some even push for gambling-like behavior.
And morally? Most games blend inappropriate content—language, violence, suggestive themes—with music, ideologies, and subtle behavior conditioning. They reshape the moral compass of young players without them realizing it.
Most gamers don’t realize how much time they waste. Thoughts about games constantly intrude: “How do I beat the next level?” “What upgrade should I buy?” This mental clutter ruins focus and drains productivity. Some become so immersed they end up juggling multiple gaming identities, switching between different virtual lives while ignoring their real one.
The industry thrives off this addiction. In fact, the annual revenue of the gaming industry is larger than both the global music and movie industries combined. Yet despite the money, it contributes little to meaningful human development.
From addiction and escapism to financial waste and moral corruption, gaming offers a cocktail of harms disguised as fun. What appears as a harmless pastime often becomes a silent thief of time, focus, and faith.
As Muslims, our focus is the Akhirah, not endless virtual achievements. We have a real future waiting for us—not in fantasy worlds, but in Paradise. Games can wait. Heaven cannot.
Gaming vs. Reality: A Comparison
1. Ultra-Realistic Graphics
Modern games offer visuals so lifelike that the brain begins to treat them as reality. This false immersion hooks the player into hours of gameplay. Enhanced by ray-tracing and high-resolution GPUs, even old games now offer a dangerously attractive illusion.
2. Extensive Interactivity
Games are designed to trigger the brain’s dopamine system through constant feedback and rewards. This keeps players glued to the screen, seeking more excitement and “progress.”
3. Immersive Storylines
Some games tell rich, emotional stories. But these stories replace real-life experience and challenge. They offer escapism, not growth. They teach players to flee hardship rather than face it.
4. Virtual Achievements
Humans naturally seek achievement. Games hijack this desire with fake trophies and rankings. These pixels of “success” waste time that could’ve been used to build real skills, character, and contribution.
Don’t let pixels define your worth. Prove it by mastering your life’s real missions.
5. Multiplayer Pride
Gamers often develop narcissism through ranks and titles in multiplayer worlds. But this pride is isolated from reality. Many become blind to personal flaws and ignore sincere advice. They trade humility for imaginary superiority.
6. Trap of Nostalgia
Many of us feel nostalgia for games like GTA: Vice City, or other classics. But nostalgia doesn’t justify indulgence. Just because something felt good in childhood doesn’t mean it belongs in adulthood.
We were meant to outgrow digital fantasies—not surrender to them.
Gaming’s Subtle Mind Control
Epic Games and few others offer free games as bait. Mobile games show constant ads to monetize your time and attention.
The system isn't built for your growth—it's built for your addiction.
Yes, some claim gaming has benefits. But every one of those can be gained more meaningfully elsewhere:
Vision improvement? Try archery, cricket, or baseball.
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Social skills? Try joining a real club or volunteering.
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Focus and strategy? Try solving jigsaw puzzles, studying relevant books, or playing brain-active games like Chess.
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Moral lessons? Read any non-fiction book. Talk to elders. Reflect on stories from the Qur’an or Seerah (Life of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam).
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Hearing enhancement? Certainly not through gunshots blasting into your ears.
All these supposed “benefits” are better earned in the real world—through sports, reading, nature, and community.
What the Qur'an Teaches Us
Allah acknowledges that some things may have benefits, yet He forbids them when the harms are greater:
They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, "There is good & evil in both, as well as some benefit for people, but the evil outweighs the benefit." That is how Allah makes His revelations clear.
(Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:219)
The same applies to video games. The occasional benefit does not outweigh the addiction, time loss, financial waste, and spiritual distraction they bring.
In the End: A Reminder to the Believers
The world is moving fast. Time is short. Souls are at stake. Your time is a gift. Your mind is a tool. Your soul is a trust.
Your real purpose is not inside a screen, but towards Allah and the Akhirah.
"So race toward goodness." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:148)
We’re not saying never play video games. But we are saying this: don’t let games play you. Don’t let virtual achievements replace real ones. Don’t let storylines written by strangers replace the story you were meant to live. Every moment wasted on unproductive gaming is a moment lost from building your real character, faith, and legacy.
Yes—video games may feel rewarding now. But as Muslims, we are promised something far better:
“You will have whatever your soul desires and delights your eyes—in Jannah.”
(Surah Az-Zukhruf, 43:71)
I say all this not from a pedestal—but as someone who has felt these traps too.
You were made for something greater.
Let the controllers go. Take control of your life.
So strive now. Sacrifice now. Resist now.
Most modern games trap the soul within artificial loops of achievement, simulating growth while distracting from the real, eternal expansion that the Qur'an invites us to pursue. The creativity and fulfillment we seek are not pixels or trophies, they await in the vast, multidimensionally expandable ecosystem of Jannah, where every action and curiosity finds true, divine expression.
As Muslims, our eyes must always be on the Akhirah. Life is not a simulation—it is a test. Time is our currency, and we must invest it wisely.
If you’ve been trapped in gaming addiction, know that change is possible. Real strength comes not from winning virtual battles, but from conquering our own nafs (ego).
There is a Jannah awaiting us—not on a screen, but beyond this life. Let’s not trade eternity for entertainment. And when you finally enter Jannah, you’ll have all the time in the world to play—without guilt, without regret, and without distraction from the Truth.
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