By Ziyad Benhaddad
Tackling a subject like the religion of Islam can be deemed serious but Saleem Ghadban shows that comedy can be added to it. One would think that social media influencers do it for fame and money, but Ghadban is above it. He thinks, he serves a higher purpose than that.
Ghadban started TikTok two years ago after being inspired by his brother, who started to gain a following for his informative videos on the religion of Islam. Ghadban decided to follow suit by creating his page but adding his comedic twist as well. “When you think about Muslims, they think about an old man with a giant beard who’s grumpy, I try to make it more relatable to the youth.” He’s stayed consistent in posting videos and in the process has earned a major following all across the world.
Over time, he’s gained close to two-hundred thousand followers through TikTok and close to eleven million likes. There are no limits to his progress as his demographic got huge potential with the Islamic religion having over 1.9 billion people practicing the faith.
Through the most important month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan, Ghadban has used this opportunity to spread important information to practice the faith to its purest form. Giving out information, quizzes through Instagram and producing skits to spread the best way to practice the religion.
He’s organized fundraisers in the past worth around 16 thousand dollars each. One was for survival kits for poor families in multiple third world countries like Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Palestine and Bangladesh. Those survival kits consisted of food, tents, mattresses, blankets and pillows. The second charity sale was food boxes for families in Lebanon.
Recently, he’s raised close to 40 thousand dollars to build houses in Syria in the wake of the ten-year civil war. Things have been harder than ever in Syria and the TikTok sensation has decided to lend a hand. Ghadban was able to raise that amount in 15 days! “ We’ve taken care of a lot of families, giving them permanent homes for the winter and in the future.”
Saleem started TikTok before his brother but didn’t take it seriously at first as he didn’t see a way to gain a following from it. His older brother acquired a big following, to the point of having 600 thousand followers today. That inspired Saleem as he saw an opportunity to pursue his original idea by doing it his way.
He’s been able to bring awareness to multiple issues including hate crimes, and racist incidents and has been devoted to using his page to follow the base values of Islam. Those values revolve around spreading peace and love all around the world. He’s helped multiple newly converted people by giving them the necessary knowledge to follow the religion appropriately. Although he’s strictly about the religion of Islam, he shows no discrimination towards any religion he welcomes those people to potentially guide them if needed.
From rating Ramadan meals and memes to “guess the Muslim”, Saleem has found creative ways to touch the Islamic community. A lot of creators on social media today are doing it for fame or monetary reasons, not him. He only relishes the positive feedback he gets from it.
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