🩶 MashaAllah or BarakAllahu Feek?

1️⃣ Your own blessing: MashaAllah.
2️⃣ Someone else's blessing: BarakAllahu Feek (or BarakAllahu Lak, as appropriate).

🧡 May Allah bless us with beneficial knowledge and proper etiquette. Āmīn.

🧕 Fitna of Female Da'ees Online

The first stage usually starts very simple. The account is used for posting Islamic or beneficial content, and there is no music or entertainment focus. At this stage, the face is not shown at all. Sometimes only the hands are visible, either with gloves or without gloves. Everything appears modest, private, and purely for reminder-based content.

After some time, the account begins to grow in views and engagement. Because of this, the style of posting slowly changes. Mirror selfies start appearing, but the face is either blurred or removed. OOTD videos also begin, showing abayas, khimars, and even niqabs. The focus is still claimed to be modesty, but the attention is now shifting toward appearance and aesthetics.

As engagement increases, niqab content becomes more frequent. The comments also increase, with people saying things like "you're so aesthetic," "Allāhumma bārik," and similar praise. This attention affects the content, and the niqab becomes more focused on presentation. Videos begin to highlight the eyes more, often with angles designed to attract attention, especially through eye contact and visual expression.

After this stage, a change happens where the niqab is reduced into a "half niqab." At this point, makeup such as mascara and natural eyeshadow begins to appear, while the person still claims to be modest and covered. The same style of aesthetic videos continues, including nasheeds and edited visuals, but now with more emphasis on beauty and appearance rather than just covering.

Eventually, even the niqab is removed completely. However, the face is still hidden in other ways, such as using aesthetic objects, camera angles, or creative editing in TikTok videos and slideshows. Over time, even this becomes less important, and the content continues to grow in followers and engagement. At this point, the person begins to believe that the khimar and abaya are enough, thinking "it is still halal because I am covered."

As engagement continues, the khimar and abaya become part of regular TikTok content. However, over time, even this level of covering starts to feel like too much because the dopamine reward from likes and views decreases when engagement slows down. Because of this, the person begins to think that a simple hijab is enough, while still receiving growing attention and compliments from followers and viewers.

As the account continues to grow, full-body content becomes more common. The person begins showing full outfits while still fully covered. These videos are usually edited in an aesthetic way, sometimes with twirling movements of the abaya or slow-motion effects, often combined with nasheeds in the background. At this stage, modest clothing is still worn, but it is now clearly being used for content and engagement.

At certain points, videos go viral, causing likes, comments, and followers to increase massively. The attention becomes focused not only on clothing but also on beauty and body shape. Comments such as "body tea," "your body ate," and similar phrases become common. At this stage, abayas may start to disappear, and outfits become more fitted or revealing in shape. Over time, even showing areas like the neck begins to feel normal because the attention and praise are very strong.

This process continues because of a dopamine feedback loop. When a post that is slightly less modest receives more engagement than previous posts, the brain interprets it as a successful strategy. Because of this, boundaries slowly change over time. The person starts comparing themselves to other hijabi influencers who wear full makeup, jewelry, and beautified outfits while still presenting themselves as modest. This comparison influences further changes in behavior and content.

Eventually, the account grows very large, but at the same time, the sense of modesty weakens. The hijab may eventually be abandoned completely. When advice is given, the response often becomes defensive, with statements such as "only Allah can judge me," "mind your own business," or "I only post for myself and girls." However, if something is posted publicly, it is not limited to girls, and if privacy is intended, it should be kept private. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "We judge by what is apparent and we leave the inner secrets to Allah."

The Prophet ﷺ also warned against rejecting sincere advice, saying that it is disliked when someone is told to fear Allah and responds by saying "mind your own business," and that this is the most hated speech. The Prophet ﷺ also said that all of his Ummah will be forgiven except those who openly commit sins. He ﷺ also said that if a person loses haya', then they may do as they wish, meaning that when shame is removed, a person can fall into anything without restraint.

GazeGuard is not coming to the Play Store right now. Here is the honest reason.

Google has two kinds of developer accounts. A personal one, which is what I have, and an
organization one, which means a registered business with paperwork, a licence, and a verified
company record.

Last year Google made a rule. Any app that uses a VPN can only be published by an organization,
never by a person. GazeGuard uses a VPN on your phone to block harmful sites, so my personal
account is not allowed to publish it. That is the whole story. Nothing is wrong with the app, and
it was not rejected for anything it does.

I found out after everything was finished.

📥 YOU CAN STILL USE IT

The app is complete and it works. Install it directly:
https://t.me/GazeGuardCommunity/23

WE CHANGED A LOT FOR YOU

If you tried GazeGuard before, it asked you to sign in with Google or Telegram before you could
use anything. That is gone. We removed it.

Now you do not need an account at all. Open the app and use it. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to
connect, no email. You can stay completely anonymous and everything still works, because your
progress lives on your phone.

We also cut down what it asks for at the start. Turn on the shield and harmful sites are blocked
across your whole phone. That is it. You do not have to allow accessibility or any of the heavier
permissions on the first run.

Those are only needed if you want the extra features, pausing Reels and Shorts, keeping chosen apps
closed, or resting the whole phone. If you never use those, never grant it. The app will not
pester you.

We built it this way on purpose. You should not have to hand over your identity to protect your
eyes.

🛡 WHAT IT DOES

Blocks more than fifteen million harmful sites across the whole phone. Pauses Reels, Shorts and
TikTok before they take the evening. Rests the entire phone to calls only for a time you choose.
Shows you the hours you got back.

It is free. There is no subscription and there never was going to be.

I am sad about this. Months went into it. The app, the backend, the website, the domain, the Google Play Console account, all of it. I built it because I needed it myself, and because I
believed it could help us guard our gaze for the sake of Allah, and help our families and our
children with the scrolling that eats our days.

But Allah plans, and His plan is better than mine. There is a reason in this that I cannot see yet,
and I accept it.

Inshallah, when we become a proper organization, GazeGuard goes on the Play Store, and after that
the App Store too. Until then it lives here, and it works exactly the same.


I AM HERE

Questions, problems, bugs, or something you wish the app did. Send it. There is also a Report a bug
button inside the app that reaches me directly. I read everything.

Thank you for being here. May Allah make it easy for all of us.