A Good Friend Features in Islam And its Application in Cyberspace

Recent scholarship suggests that immersive virtual worlds may be especially well suited for friendship formation on the Internet. Friendships are among the most Important relationships in an individual s life. Beginning in adolescence, as children s reliance on parents wanes, peers begin to occupy an increasing amount of an individual s time and attention (Brown, 2004). Throughout adolescence and into adulthood, friends take on ever-increasing importance, becoming the locus of significant social, emotional, and functional support (Connidis and Davies, 1990, Savin-Williams and Berndt, 1990). As social media, including immersive virtual worlds, grow in popularity, the Internet is becoming increasingly involved in the formation and maintenance of friendships. Through this paper, the need of a good friend has been discussed by taking evidence from Islamic sources. This evidence then is further reinforced through the discussion of sociological, cognitive and psychological research findings. The introduction of this paper briefly sheds light on how Islam is a complete code of life and how friends have played an important role in expanding and sustaining this code.