بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful
Sisters in Islam,
It's 2025, and apparently, blogging is dead. Especially blogging on BlogSpot — who even does that? Especially in 2025??????
This is the age of AI.
Blogging is logging (writing) on the web.
Right now, if anyone is writing on the web, we're writing for AI and not for humans.
Google, ChatGPT, and the rest of them are crawling whatever we're writing to feed their AI models.
And that's where people are getting their answers nowadays.
So blogging doesn't make any sense anymore; therefore, I have decided to blog.
Yes, the fact that blogging is dead is exactly why it's perfect for me (for now), and I'll tell you why.
You see...
Many, many, mannny years ago, when I was 10 years old, one of my father's employees told me that I was “solitary in nature.”
Interesting words.
We were at an Islamic vacation course when this was said. Those words perfectly describe me so well.
I've seen those words keep becoming truer and truer.
I also remember when I was a university student. The head of mechanisation said to me, “Why are you always searching for corners?”
I didn't even realise I was doing it. 😂 I guess I just don't have the need to socialise that most people have.
I spent a lot of time at the mechanisation unit because I had access to the university’s land. It wasn't a classroom; it was an entire department. I didn't have any age mates or colleagues there. I had older employees. Yet, apparently, I was always secluding myself.
By ALLAH, I didn't notice until he mentioned it.
I was personally producing liquid organic fertiliser and pesticides. It wasn't a school project, and it didn't count toward my grades. I was simply doing it because I wanted to. I handled all of the research and production by myself.
Yet, I was still hiding.
😂😂😂
So back to social media.
Something about the “social” that comes before the media just doesn't work for me at all.
I tried social media. I really tried. However, it's not just my thing. It isn't my home at all. So respect to the people of social media.
Anyway, the fact that blogging is dead is exactly why it's perfect for me. People are most probably not going to find me — wow. What a perfection. I'm totally sold. BismiLLAH, let's get started.
I also feel like social media forces you to speak even when you have nothing to say.
So today, after all this talk, I'm here to tell you that the purpose of this post is to share/archive a picture that I saw on J.O's thread. It says: “For those of us who never take any pictures but would much rather write” That quote in that picture describes me so well, so I've decided to share and archive it here.
All I'm trying to say is that: some people carry cameras, I carry pen and paper.
Yes, seriously, ever since I can remember, I've always had “Thoughts books”. You can't necessarily call them journals. Neither can you call them diaries.
They are more like commonplace books. I made up “thought books” to define how I naturally exist in the world.
I am an artist. And I practice the art of deep thinking.
A method of practicing the art of thinking that I enjoy more than pen and paper is voice journaling. I try to share one or two of those voice recordings via the The Muslimah Podcast.
Before I go, I would like to remind you of how I look. I just want to make sure that you never forget.
Sisters in Islam, this might seem silly. However, we need representation in the media. It happens that I'm not a video person. Video would've been perfect. So full respect to the people of video. Anyway, I'll make sure to always paste this silhouette niqab picture whenever I can.
So how did I discover this silhouette image?
Well… I asked my younger sister—who started wearing the niqab before me and is obsessed with it—to send me some niqab pictures on WhatsApp. I knew she would have plenty. She sent loads of pictures, and this is the one I chose, with the help of my mum.
May Almighty ALLAH bless my mum, my sister, and the originator/designer.
In fact, maybe I should ask ChatGPT where this silhouette originated from and who designed it.
YEAH, I'M PART OF THE PROBLEM — I ALSO USE CHATGPT. 😉🤣
Actually, for me, GPT is not a problem; it's a blessing. In fact, I contract it to edit for me sometimes.
Before GPT, I had a colleague from the university who used to edit for me. Ha! May Almighty ALLAH forgive me for how much I troubled the life of Cr****m. May Almighty ALLAH reward him—and everyone who has ever co-worked with me in life.
You see, I wasn't the best writer. Even today, I’m still not the best writer. I am simply an intense seeker of answers—one who makes duʿāʾ, researches, and reflects until she finds clarity.
So I am a seeker. A seeker of answers. I have to write. I need to write. Writing is part of how I organise my thoughts. It is how I work things out.
Writing gives words to thoughts that lives in my mind. AlḥamduliLLĀH.
So back to processing my thoughts about ChatGPT.
I started using the em (—) dash in 2017, after I saw it on Jeff Goins’ blog. However, nowadays, when people see an em dash anywhere, they say it’s from GPT. Well—AlḥamduliLLĀH for GPT. Without it, I would still be bothering people with: “Should I leave it like that or make it clearer? What do you think?”
So all praises belong to ALLAH—who created great writers, and who also bestowed the gift of GPT on the world.
Anyway, for those writers who never use GPT, respect — I respect the principle. However, for me, it's actually helpful, and it doesn't replace any part of my writing process. Rather, it's one of the best search and editing tools ever.
AI is a tool. As a thought artist, don't let anyone tell you not to use it.
Use it, but use your senses more. Write normally and see if it could help you with searching and editing.
You have a soul. ChatGPT doesn't.
Like Bryan Johnson said, it shouldn't be AI vs humans. It should be AI and humans in what he calls Human Intelligence — HI.
AI is a tool.
It's a tool
It's a tool
Don't let anyone tell not to use it.
So who made my Niqab silhouette?
I asked ChatGPT, and it said it didn't know because I didn't provide the metadata of the image, and it also said there are too many similar images.
It suggested using Google Image.
So I used Google Image, and AlhamduliLLAH, I found Artist Maram Moghazhi on Pinterest. I could be wrong, but I don't think I'm wrong because I actually scrolled to the very bottom of her Instagram, and I found out that she posted this image in 2020.
Artist Maram, if by some miracle you're reading this, I pay my respect to you, and may Almighty ALLAH reward you for this niqab image that now represent me online.
So back to blogging in 2025
Sisters in Islam, according to Google Trends, blogging is actually going down.
AI is also disrupting the industry.
And more and more people are spending more time on social media.
However, I have decided to put up a few blog posts for now. Apart from my thoughts book and The Muslimah Podcast, the only place I share my thoughts consistently is Hamidah Abbas Letters | Hall of Light. Perhaps, I'll find a way of being on social media. However, what's most likely is that I have retired from social media.
“And we plan, and ALLAH plans, and ALLAH is the best of Planners.” — Qur'an 3:54.
Traffic is tricky for me. Because my addiction to anonymity is so severe to the point that when people followed me on Instagram, I would personally remove them one by one.
In fact, I've already used about 10 anonymous names on Instagram before I started using my real name.
The problem remains that I want my work to be known —
However, I want to remain unknown. Anyway, guidance is with ALLAH.
And if I stop posting on blogger then I am here @ Hamidah Abbas Letters | Hall of Light.
I've figured out that instead of being completely absent on the internet, this strategy is quite a great alternative for now. After all, I'm an artist — a thought artist. A knowledge worker.
Distinguished Sisters in Islam, that is all for now.
Sincerely,
Hamidah Sẹ̀gílọlá Abbas
Founder, Hall of Light
https://about.me/hamidahabbas
