Your smartwatch knows when you’re stressed.
Your ring knows when you’re ovulating.
Your phone knows your pulse, your sleep, your steps, your sins.
And yet, we still whisper Al-Fatihah when someone falls sick.
Still throw salt over the shoulder.
Still check horoscopes while wearing Fitbits.
Still ask bomohs to undo hexes, even while posting “#blessed” with a mental health infographic.
We’re straddling two realms — the sacred and the silicon.
The question is: which one’s driving the bus now?
The Firmware Priesthood
Let’s be honest — today’s true high priests wear hoodies, not robes.
They’re at Apple, Google, Huawei.
They design the firmware that tracks your breath while you sleep.
They decide which version of your body is “normal.”
They push updates that change what your device considers healthy.
And we just… accept it. No questions. No prayers. Just consent and click.
We used to kneel and ask for healing.
Now we check if our firmware is out of date.
Bodies as Data, Souls as Glitch
Every heartbeat you upload becomes a number.
Every step, a trend line.
Every period cycle, a dot on a chart.
Your body is no longer a temple.
It’s a dataset. 🧬
The soul?
Not measurable. Not marketable.
Not in the app store.
Faith, with its messiness — the unseen, the irrational, the mystical — doesn’t compute.
Try entering “divine intervention” into a chatbot and see what happens.
It’ll give you TED Talk optimism or flat-out dismiss the supernatural.
But Malaysians don’t fully buy it. Not yet.
We still believe in niat, in doa, in tulah.
We carry amulets beside AirPods.
We recite surahs before opening Waze.
We mix the firmware with faith like it’s rojak — sweet, spicy, confusing, perfect.
Bomoh 2.0: Cloud Edition
Used to be, you went to a bomoh in a kampung hut.
Now?
You go to TikTok.
Bomohs have upgraded. QR codes. WhatsApp healing. Live sessions.
Remote rukyah via Zoom.
One scroll and you’ll find:
- Aura cleansing via candle and DSLR.
- Chakra rebalancing with a 5G discount code.
- Islamic energy healing, with bank transfer info in bio.
What’s changed isn’t the faith — it’s the firmware.
The medium has gone digital.
The magic is streamed.
But the hunger is the same.
We want answers.
We want control.
We want healing that isn’t cold and clinical.
When Firmware Fails, Faith Fills The Gap
Your watch tells you your heart rate is fine.
But you feel wrong.
Empty. Anxious. Disconnected.
You light a candle.
You pray.
You walk into a temple.
You fast.
You cry into the sajadah.
Because deep down, you know this truth:
Firmware doesn’t know your heartbreak.
It can’t read grief.
It can’t detect blessings.
It doesn’t understand guilt, karma, or grace.
That’s where faith still wins.
Don’t Update It Away
If your soul doesn’t sync with your sensor, don’t assume your soul is broken.
Maybe it’s your settings.
Maybe firmware isn’t equipped to detect the divine.
Maybe peace isn’t measured in beats per minute or blood oxygen levels.
Maybe iman isn’t a signal.
Maybe it’s the silence behind the signal.
References
- The Erosion of Spiritual Thinking in the Modern Technological Era: Causes, Consequences, and Prospects – ResearchGate
- On The Emergence of Techno -Spiritual: The Concept and Current Issues – ResearchGate
- Dr Google knows best: how technology is disrupting our relationships with GPs – The Guardian
- BBC Future: Why rituals still matter in a digital world – BBC Future
Your heart might be beating just fine.
But is your soul online?
Check your signal. XAXAXA