Trolls' Hajiacking of Shia-Leaning posts on ShiaChat

Irfani313 · January 28

Dear All - I'm sure Mods have been seeing it more than the rest of us -

But there are a few ShiaChat posters here, who tend to post in tandem on certain topics, while most of their posts are either covertly anti-Islamic or overtly against the causes or personalities we Shia, or any freedom loving, decent person would hold dear. It would be beyond Islamic Akhlaq to name them without a clear evidence; although if I ever have clear evidence, then it is Islamic obligation to expose them.

As an example, there are two recent posts which were 'induced locked' due to the dust that was raised by these trolls by their diversion techniques, such as one troll posting a hateful comment, another supporting it, then another posting another one till someone responds, and then it's the downhill where the message gets either buried down under, or the thread gets locked because our dear Mods have (rightfully so) other things in life besides cleaning these threads from these trolls' musings.

Recent examples would be: one thread was about Marzieh Hashemi started by our dear brother @IbnSina and another one by our dear sister @Laayla both callously hijacked by some loud mouth trolls pretending to be sincere Shia Chatters.

I would like all of us to be vigilant, to be mindful, and to be aware of their doings. These are real humans, and are not Bots as Brother AbuHadi had pointed out a few weeks ago. But be aware of them nonetheless, these are more likely people with agendas other than the reasons for which most of us login to ShiaChat.

If you have hard time pointing them out, go to their profiles and within 20-30 of their recent posts, you could spot these Trolls. Now match them with this 'Troll Spotter' laundry list for sports: https://alltop.com/viral/top-12-signs-youre-dealing-with-trolls

My humble request to Mods would be to somehow stop them from bullying many of the sincere Shia posters on this internet forum. Kindly don't let them chase the remainder of us out of ShiaChat.

With lots of Loves and Duas (even for our marked trolls who are humans like us after all)

Sisterfatima1 · January 28

Stop being a paid troll

**Bakir** · January 28

From a brother to a brother, Irfani, I'm disappointed in you. And I say this with great sadness.

AStruggler · January 28

@Irfani313 brother you're comments are just hilarious.Your humour and style of commentary is one of a kind LOL!

Irfani313 · January 28

4 minutes ago, Bakir said:

From a brother to a brother, Irfani, I'm disappointed in you. And I say this with great sadness.

Dear brother- I’m not here for Likes. I just called how I saw it. My sincere respects for you.

Kind Regards-

Sumerian · January 28

Since trolling is bad, is the cult-like behaviour of not challenging preconcieved perceptions regarding "causes" and "personalities" also bad or ...?

Both of them seem inherently anti-Islamic to any sane person.

**starlight** · January 28

1 minute ago, Sumerian said:

is the cult-like behaviour of not challenging preconcieved perceptions regarding "causes" and "personalities" also bad or ...

It certainly isn't.Rather it's welcome. This is a discussion forum after all. Come up with solid arguments backed by facts, state your opinions respectfully, don't bring personal hatred in the posts and then challenge and disagree all you want.

Sumerian · January 28

6 minutes ago, starlight said:

It certainly isn't.Rather it's welcome.

Sorry I don't understand that part sister.

**Bakir** · January 28

15 minutes ago, Irfani313 said:

Dear brother- I’m not here for Likes. I just called how I saw it. My sincere respects for you.

Kind Regards-

Then the rights that you acknowledge for yourself, acknowledge them for others.

Rights are universal.

**King** · January 28

You should be put on moderator watch for spamming an entire thread and making false accusations against members here.

**starlight** · January 28

5 minutes ago, Sumerian said:

Sorry I don't understand that part sister.

I meant one is welcome to challenge opinions and preconceived notions.

Sumerian · January 28

1 minute ago, starlight said:

I meant one is welcome to challenge opinions and preconceived notions.

Then the O.P's problem should be against personal hatred - only, as you said, but the O.P says;

39 minutes ago, Irfani313 said:

But there are a few ShiaChat posters here, who tend to post in tandem on certain topics, while most of their posts are either covertly anti-Islamic or overtly against the causes or personalities we Shia, or any freedom loving, decent person would hold dear.

So?

**Bakir** · January 28

23 minutes ago, starlight said:

It certainly isn't.Rather it's welcome. This is a discussion forum after all. Come up with solid arguments backed by facts, state your opinions respectfully, don't bring personal hatred in the posts and then challenge and disagree all you want.

This happens a lot in this forum star, you know it. Thing is how many people it affects? I get angry at times, but I also admit that people can just throw their opinions and no need to back it up with anything serious or even respectful. It happened to me countless times, I felt offended countless times, but never reported unless it was directly and personally disrespectful.

What people may have seen in that thread is actually visceral. And as a friend, I don't think sayyed Nasrallah is more important right now than to fix the things wrongly said and wrongly done.

And I have to be honest with you, I didn't really understand why you didn't take action against the bashing. I can guess that you didn't agree with the discourse, but you are a mod after all... I feel sad for saying this, but from the outside, I saw it as an abuse of power. And if I think about it, I know it wasn't, it was just your opinion and you have full right to have your very own opinion. But I'm just being honest, because I believe you deserve honesty, this is how it felt...

**starlight** · January 28

16 minutes ago, Sumerian said:

Then the O.P's problem should be against personal hatred -

I didn't understand what you mean here.

If one wants start a thread against say Ayatullahs Sistani or Khamenei or Hassan Nasrallah one should do so stating his opinion in an objective and civil manner and deal the same way with any criticism that will come his/her way. There is nothing wrong with having personal opinions but that doesn't mean one has to present them in a rude manner.

This is shiachat, most of the members here are twelver Shias and against Israel and other Zionist regimes and have common figures which they hold in high esteem so when making such a post or starting a thread one should have in mind that they will probably be a lot of members opposing them.

Edited January 28 by starlight
Spelling

Sumerian · January 28

4 minutes ago, starlight said:

I didn't understand what you mean here.

If one wants start a thread against say Ayatullahs Sistani or Khamenei or Hassan Nasrallah one should do so my stating his opinion in an objective and civil manner and deal the same way with any criticism that will come his/her way. There is nothing wrong with having personal opinions but that doesn't mean one has to present them in a rude manner.

This is shiachat, most of the members here are twelve Shias and against Israel and other Zionist regimes have common figures which they hold in high esteem so when making such a post or starting a thread one should have in mind that they will probably be a lot of members opposing them.

The O.P is simply against people challenging the personalities and causes whom he supports, from his opening post. It doesn't matter if this is challenged in a rude way or constructive way.

**starlight** · January 28

3 minutes ago, Sumerian said:

The O.P is simply against people challenging the personalities and causes whom he supports, from his opening post.

I will let him respond to this.

ali_fatheroforphans · January 28

I am very disappointed at this post, what a way to put people off! By calling them trolls and bots. It's the mindset a lot of parents hold when dealing with their children.

I do agree with @starlight that when opposing figures which majority hold in high esteem you have to state your opinion in a logical and constructive way. Simply stating "I don't like him" is not going to do anyone a favour.

Someone could even say this about Sayed Sistani "I don't like him", and this will offend many people who do taqleed to him. I still disagree with sister fatimas comment.

But still, the OP acted in a very immature way by calling the sister a 'bot'. It's offensive to be called that, I hope you do realize

Irfani313 · January 28

52 minutes ago, Sumerian said:

The O.P is simply against people challenging the personalities and causes whom he supports, from his opening post. It doesn't matter if this is challenged in a rude way or constructive way.

Dear brother - I'm responding to you only because I keep you in higher esteem. I habitually don't respond to noise.

I've a co-worker of past decade who happens to be a strictly veg. with a little statue in the corner of his office at all times. You know by this what religion he adheres to. We have been to work related lunches and dinners many times. In those past tens of years, never once I've ordered anything non-veg while he was accompanying me. Few years ago, when this Danish cartoon blasphemy thing flared up, he started this discussion poking me on the stupidity of sentimental reaction of the Muslims worldwide. I think I was building this moral rapport for that day. My simple response was, "S (his name) I've never agreed with anything about your lifestyle or your religion but I've been respectful just because another human, even though hugely misinformed in my opinion, believes in it with all his fervor. All I, we Muslims want from the world is that the same respect be reciprocated. And it's not like you (meaning S) or the world doesn't know our sensitivities, yet after every few months a name appears on the shoes, a word is thumped on the toilet papers, a phrase is printed on the doormats."

Here on Shia Chat (capitalized intentionally), one honorable brother posts about a Shia political activist imprisoned, and the responses you get to read are such that no one would want to read about a controversial president of an yxz country. Another honorable sister posts something else about a leader of a Shi'a political movement, and all you get to read is classical troll rambling encased in less than twenty letter sentences. And like I've said before, there is a pattern to it. The same four users, the same copy-paste responses, the same playing victim tantrums afterwards, the same cyber bullying in response, the same gang-up, the same drowning of the OP (Original Post), ending in repeated instances of Mods locking the threads. If it is not Cyber anarchist behavior, what else could it be characterized?

It's easy to close the eyes and block the ears, but for any human of conscience, it's impossible to play dumb. The same people who would call you and I thankless, or negative thinkers, or worst - traitors, for living in a country X and pointing out gaps in it's legal or law-enforcement methods, would cry rivers if you point out their venom against Shia beliefs, Shia scholars, Shia values, Shia way of life, Shia legacy, Shia practices, and Shia laws.

Peace-

Sumerian · January 28

@Irfani313 so I have a question brother. If someone was to proceed in constructive criticism of personalities and causes, would you consider them worthy of ban and silencing on this website?

Irfani313 · January 28

1 minute ago, King said:

I hope this was not directed at sister Fatima, if it is then it is one of the most despicable and heartless post I have ever read.

If she is not naming names, why are you?

My humble request, although it's a public (privately owned) forum, kindly do not derail my thread. I want something related to my Original Post.

Many thanks in advance for your understanding.

Irfani313 · January 28