A Message About Caring for Others in Online Communities and My Journey

A few years ago, when I was young, I joined an online Islamic discussion group. I was dealing with personal struggles and searching for guidance. I'm a woman from a Gulf Arab country, and back then, I was very innocent and trusting. The group's leader would often comment in a strange, envious way about women from my country, suggesting they lived like princesses with cars and drivers-even though I explained my family faced financial hardships. He accused me of lying and called me wealthy. He started private conversations with me, which I initially thought were from a protective older brother figure. But after I declined his advances, he asked for my help in approaching other Arab women, pretending to know Arabic to impress them. Feeling pressured as a young person, I went along with it. He was in his late twenties, not a kid. Things turned worse when he and other men in the group began unjustly accusing me of terrible things (قذف) and hinting that I wasn't a respectable woman. I'm too ashamed to repeat their words. I was nothing like that; they were the first foreign men I'd regularly interacted with, and they knew I was sheltered and inexperienced when I joined. It took years for me to fully grasp what happened. My mental health deteriorated so badly that I developed psychosis-it was that severe. Adding to the pain, some of these same men privately messaged me, flirting inappropriately and crossing boundaries. One particularly exploited my vulnerability to initiate se*ual conversations, which deeply traumatized me, harming my studies and health. Their actions distanced me from Islam for a time, but over the years, I've come to understand that what they did was haram and contrary to Islamic teachings. If anyone from that group reads this, know that I do not forgive you, and I pray you face accountability for the harm you caused-not just to me, but to my family, who spent heavily on therapy and endured great worry. To everyone in online spaces: remember your responsibility in what you say. If you see someone being mistreated, it's your duty to speak up or support the vulnerable person. Always keep in mind that there are real people, with real feelings, behind the screens. Assalamu alaikum.