Islam and the Media
digg_title = "Islam and the Media"; var sburl6099 = window.location.href; var sbtitle6099 = document.title; There is one of three motives behind use of the media by Islamic groups: to offer an alternative to those who have already dominated the international or national media, to propagate the Islamic discourse and to defend against the prejudices, assaults a...

The Dynamic Face of Islamic Media
  Journals and magazines are among the most obvious forms of the media. In the world of media, no other organ is richer in subjects or cheaper in costs than the magazine. It is for this reason that we can see hundreds of magazines on the shelves, magazines aimed at young people, magazines about politics, literature, science, the economy, astronomy, design, fashion, music, and so much more. Magazi...

A Perfect Example of the Influence of the Media: The Cartoon Cri
It was September, 30th in 2005 when Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, published the cartoons which were to create a huge wave of indignation among Muslims all over the world. The assaults against Islam and Prophet Muhammad in the media were probably not a new phenomenon, but the twelve cartoons depicting and denigrating Prophet Muhammad can be accepted as the turning point in the confrontatio...

Mawlid in the Middle East
The Mawlid celebrations in the Middle East have a lot in common. As much of the Muslim population in Europe consists of immigrants from the Middle East, the origins of the celebrations in Europe originally come from the Middle East, where the Mawlid is celebrated with great enthusiasm. For instance in Egypt, the Mawlid is like a festival and a ceremony combined, and is the center of Egyptian a...

Mawlid in Africa
The Mawlid celebrations in Africa are quite different from those celebrated in the Middle East or Asia. Even the name of the celebrations differs according to the country or region of the continent. For instance, in Sudan the Mawlid celebrations are called Havliye, in Mali it is Donba (as "The Big Day"), in Nigeria it is Gani-gani-rite de passages, in Togo fête des couteaux. (1) In many African co...

Mawlid in Europe
Every year the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is celebrated with a variety of different activities in parts of Europe. In nearly every country of Europe, Muslim populations come together to meet on this blessed night, to pray and celebrate together. For instance, in recent years, women organizations in the UK have marked the occasion of the Mawlid. Commonly held in community centers, these pr...

Mawlid in Asia
Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the largest nations with a majority-Muslim population in Asia. Religion is very important in Indonesia, and this can be understood from the first principle of the state: "Pancasila", which means "belief in the one and only God." Although there are many religions that are practiced in the country, Islam has the highest percentage, with 86% of the population.1 For this ...

Mawlid all over the World
The twelfth night of the month of Rabi al-Awwal is a night of the blessed memory of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) throughout the Islamic world. In every corner of the world countless Muslims wait for this night, praying, re-reading his biography and celebrating his auspicious birth with different rituals, customs and ceremonies, unique to every culture and society. These celebrations, no matter what...

Religion in the Virtual World
The internet has become an indispensable and necessary part of our lives. Whereas communication without the internet has become nearly impossible, encyclopedias are now almost nostalgic items in the library, with search engines have been declared king, crowned by their ability to achieve "search results" in seconds. As the internet has dominated almost every dimension of our lives, it is not poss...

A New Form of Activism: Message Bombardment in Web Forums
The integration of the Islamic way of thinking and living with modern communication and the Internet has created a new aspect to the socialization process for Muslims and a new form of communication for people from different religions and cultures. Mail groups and online forums established by the participation of hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of people, Muslim and non-Muslim, find an opport...

I Bet I Can Find
Facebook is one of those spheres where feelings towards Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), positive or negative, can be expressed in the most exaggerated way. Far from reflecting academic currents, Facebook groups establish an important trend to follow, allowing us to discover what the actual disputes about the Prophet are. For instance, while the group "I bet I can find more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,00...

The Question of Online Fatwas
Together with the increasing use of the Internet by Muslim community, the online fatwas, or religious decrees have also become popular. In fact, they have become the new, easily accessible alternative for the Muslim community in the place of mosques and other such conventional religious centers. Muslims log on to the internet to present their problems and receive immediate detailed responses. No ...