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Islamic Solutions to Gen Z's Cognitive Challenges… M. Agha Mohammadi (75
time. Organizing monthly gatherings for them to doubt their perceptions. Cases
parents to discuss challenges, share where influencers accuse others of
experiences, and provide mutual support gaslighting in conflicts without
can help strengthen family ties and healthy providing valid evidence can also create
communications. confusion among their audiences
(Dodgson & Colomb, 2021).
2. Susceptibility to Gaslighting The first step to take towards being
Gaslighting is a form of psychological free from gaslighting is to recognize
manipulation in which one person tries exactly what gaslighting is. It is often
to make another person doubt their very hard to recognize the signs of
perceptions, memory, or sanity. The gaslighting because they affect the
term comes from the 1938 play "Gas mind so much that, after a long period,
Light" and its subsequent film the victim does not trust their thoughts
adaptations, in which a husband (Mind, 2020, p. 14). According to
manipulates his wife into believing she Mind, when we glorify the deceiver-
is losing her sanity by making subtle when we need to consider him to be the
changes to their environment and love of our life, a commendable boss, or
insisting she is mistaken or imagining a brilliant parent-then, we make it more
things when she notices them difficult to adhere to our sense of reality
(Psychology Today, 2023). When (Ibid, p. 17). Thus, one of the effective
gaslighters take to the big stage of elements making people likely to be
politics, traditional media, or social gaslighted is their wishes, likes,
media. The potential to destabilize, skew ambitions and loves that make them
reality, abuse, and control behavior and blind and not capable of seeing the truth.
choices soar (Sarkis, 2018: 100). Imam Ali said, “Control your desires and
Media can also engage in gaslighting. passions, and your wisdom will reach its
This can occur in several ways like full potential” (Āmidi, 1989, p. 132).
misinformation, disinformation, bias, The power to control one’s self against
framing, downplaying or dismissing temptations will free man from the
issues, and diverging narratives. Social servitude of desires. Imam al-Kaẓim said,
media platforms serve as major arenas “Distant dreams darken the intellect”
where gaslighting can occur. In these (Kulaynī, 1986, Vol. 1, p. 17).
spaces, misinformation can spread Thus, it is essential to first regulate
rapidly, leading youth to question their one’s system of likes and desires based
understanding of events or realities. For on rationality. More so, developing skills
example, influencers may distort facts to analyze the data one receives can be
for entertainment, and followers might very useful.
internalize this misinformation, leading
