- Cenat attracts millions of Muslim teens, offering entertainment that normalises certain behaviours while subtly shaping language, values, and aspirations.
- This article explores the question: What if young Orthodox Muslim voices were as culturally significant as mainstream streamers?
Meet Kai Cenat. Cenat is an online juggernaut who is raising an entire generation with his monster energy levels and chaotic streaming marathons. He has amassed a substantial 18.6 million followers on Twitch and can hold the attention of a crowd at Wembley Stadium — for hours on end might I add. His followers tuned into his livestreams for over 184.5 million hours in 2024.
But here’s the point: the 24 year old, millionaire didn’t just scream at his webcam as if volume were a personality trait. He built a digital empire; turning streamers into mainstream figures, influencing language globally (more on that later), compelling comedians such as Kevin Hart to work alongside him in order to stay relevant, skyrocketing his followers and viewership to unprecedented numbers in just four years.
Where am I going with this? And what does this have to do with our ummah?
Cenat holds sway over Muslim minds: kids, teenagers, Gen Z, they all watch him in their droves.
Is Kai Cenat a good role Model for Muslim kids?
The short answer is no. But you already saw that coming. So let’s take a moment to see what possible positives he brings to the table and what garners his popularity.
A peer-reviewed University of Windsor study found that 75% of Gen Alpha and Gen Z either strongly desire or are considering becoming social media influencers. Many are already content creators whilst synonymously studying at school. Consequently, streaming and influencing has also become a respected and aspirational career among young Muslims. However, amid rampant materialism and individualism, many Muslim teens prioritise superficial online personas and vanity metrics over meaningful substance.
Anyway, I’m digressing furiously.
Many young Muslims are inspired by Cenat given his Pursuit of Happiness backstory; he spent his formative years in a homeless shelter. He also grew up fatherless. Furthermore, it must be said: his generosity and kindness is evident in the way he engages with his fans.
Cenat also gives back to communities in need. From funding education initiatives in Nigeria to supporting various causes. He is always respectful to his Muslim followers, even warning them not to watch a particular stream of his during Ramadan due to possible temptations: a gesture well‑intentioned, though arguably troubling for the little ones in our ummah.
And here in lies the problem: many twelve year old Muslim boys are immersed in streams where dating, zina and getting drunk on lives are all normalised.
Moreover, the metrics for success of such streamers do not align with ours. Such personalities are not on the same mission as us; in fact, they exacerbate the very degeneracy we strive against. If we allow such personalities to become the de facto mentors of young Muslim boys, we forfeit the hope of nurturing our own visionaries, leaving them to be devoured by the emptiness of modernity and their potential squandered.
This obliges me to ask: what real value do mainstream streamers bring to society? What lasting skills, knowledge, or growth do they truly impart to young minds during their five‑hour marathon streams? Strip away the animated reactions, the barking, the celebrity cameos, the dancing, the bants, the pranks and what remains of actual value?
Let it be known: I have numbed my brain and incurred brain rot for a ridiculous amount of hours, forcing myself to watch such nonsensical content; all in the name of research. There were moments of sheer vulgarity. But intriguingly, there were moments when I laughed out loud; more than I thought I would. And I walked away with a buoyant heart, all because I started wondering…..
What if we could create the same digital empire/(s) in the dawah scene?
If Gaza has taught us anything, it’s this: contrary to the prevailing narrative, our strength does not lie in numbers. Alhumdulillah, Islam is the fastest-growing religion on the planet. However, our strength has always lied in the quality of Muslims that we are. Moreover, the calibre of Muslim leadership that we have. After all, it only took 313 to change the course of history.
……He (s.aw) replied, “No, you will be numerous (كثُرتم), but you will be like scum carried by a torrent, and Allah will remove fear of you from the hearts of your enemies and will cast Wahn into your hearts.”
Sunan Abi Dawud (Hadith 4297)
Although chasing numbers doesn’t equate to success, it still pains me that many of our du‘āt have yet to become household names despite carrying a message that bears the weight of both this world and the Hereafter. While a few stand on the periphery of the mainstream, we need more Orthodox Muslim voices in this domain, emulating the time when we were the vanguards of global thought.
Food Reviewers providing Political Influence
Meet William John Sonbuchner (11.6M subs) — aka Sonny Side — the man behind Best Ever Food Review Show. This guy is a fugazi, as my American cousins would say. Behind the guise of reviewing food all over the world; with an excellent production team, engaging with Muslims, performative open‑mindedness, and, at 40‑something, still rocking a bandana like it’s 2003 — he is dishing out something far worse: tired stereotypes about Muslims and historical amnesia, particularly pertaining to the plight of our Afghan brothers and sisters. It is hardly coincidental that influencers with such vast audiences are suddenly leveraging their platforms for political influence.
This is why our presence matters. If voices such as Sonny Side’s can subtly shape narratives about Muslims under the harmless guise of entertainment then it is all the more urgent for our du‘āt to claim their place as authoritative voices.
The power, prestige, and persuasive power of language
The online streaming world has its own lexicon which is used far and wide and now overlaps with UK slang.
Let’s consider the word Rizz which was coined by Cenat in 2023. By December 2023, ‘Rizz’ was crowned word of the year by Oxford University press. Similarly, glazing also became popularised far and wide among Gen Z when it first emerged on discord in 2021.
Why does this matter? They’re just stupid words, I hear you say. Wrong. Terms such as Islamist, coined and propagated by mainstream journalists, have profoundly damaged us as an ummah, subtly but powerfully linking our faith with extremism. Consider this: there is no equivalent label for a Christian extremist. Therefore, Muslim content creators with large platforms should be introducing neologisms that are beneficial to us; coining terms with the intention of them entering the wider lexicon.
Can lost Muslim teenagers relate to our Youtubian prominent Du’at of today?
Our dear and respected du’at have done much for our ummah and continue to hold an integral purpose. They are busy on the frontlines engaging in intellectual resistance, fighting the genocide on the intellectual battlefield, debating academics and challenging modernity, writing books and spreading the kalam of Allah by being a crucial part of knowledge production.
It must also be noted: when speaking about lost Muslim teenagers, this of course, naturally excludes the 15 year old Muslim boy whose heart has already been illumniated by eman. That kid is already searching up “Ali Dawah Speakers corner” videos on YouTube. I’ve met him many a time in the classroom. And there is something to be said about that: the UK dawah scene has penetrated the youth immensely. The prayer room is packed in every school I’ve ever worked in, every Hifdh camp I’ve ever attended. But we need to have a lofty vision and reach that lost boy who’s sat in Bahrain, who thinks Speed is hilarious and loves wasting hours upon hours watching him. The youth of today are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they are the torchbearers of the Ummah of the greatest man to ever have lived, Rasool Allah (s.a.w). To neglect them is not wise.
Here’s what I deduced from my research:
- There are a hideous amount of Muslims in such chat forums.
- Lost Muslim teens want to feel a part of an online community, many sadly don’t have friends in the real world. These users frequent streams and regularly talk to one another in the chat. This is a real pseudo community.
- Gen Alpha are craving authenticity more than ever. Live reactions provide this (unless this a crazy form of method acting which I am unaware of)
- The audience of such streamers want to interact with who they’re watching. It makes them feel heard.
- Teenagers today often struggle with trust, perhaps due in part to spending key cognitive development years in lockdown. As a result, they are drawn to people who come across as sincere and eccentric, with raw, unfiltered personalities. This ties back to the earlier point about authenticity.
- Many teenagers are less risk driven more than ever and are consequently lost. Spending hours upon hours watching a live stream is completely the norm.
Wait. Hold on, aren’t Muslims already live streaming/being active streamers?
Since the onset of COVID, the debate arena has seen a surge in live streaming, with the comment section igniting like a heated football match. But, as previously mentioned, this format may still fail to capture the attention of the lost Muslim teenager.
Our brother Akhi Ayman was right to invest in meaningfully engaging our brother N3on.
Then there’s our newly reverted brother Sneako who has consistently been streaming on Kick and Rumble, and Alhumdulillah, he’s inspired countless young Muslims to engage with life’s profound existential questions. Similarly, our brother Sonny Faz, also a recent revert to Islam, has more recently been engaging in live streaming as a means to connect and inspire, Alhumdulillah.
But we are fighting a giant.
What I propose
If you are a practising Muslim who sits at the feet of ulema with sincerity…
If you are between 15–25 years old…
If you are swimming against the tide, as worldly-wise as your capacity allows, and are passionate about working for Allah…
Then we need you — and there is room for you in the dawah scene. Allah will hire you when the time is right but you need to apply. Become a streaming personality and create your own online formidable community of strong believers who follow Rasool Allah (s.aw).
But beyond this, we also need strategy; reaching the individuals who shape youth culture today. That’s why our brothers in New York ought to be delivering the message of Islam to Kai Cenat. Moreover, we must remember that Allah (swt’s) capabilities are limitless, just as Musa (AS) knew, when he stood with an entire army behind him and the sea before him.
