Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Bradley Manning verdict

Bradley Manning verdict brings anger, disappointment – and relief | World news | The Guardian "Transparency campaigners condemned the harsh sentence in prospect for Bradley Manning, but journalists and lawyers closely associated with the trial were relieved with the acquittal for the most serious charge – that he "aided the enemy" by transmitting state secrets to WikiLeaks."


Syria's weapon makers

Fascinating article by Matthieu Aikins on Syria's 'rebel' weapon makers, who use Google Maps to select their targets, and compare one weapon with a catapult from 'Angry Birds'. Matthieu Aikins, How War in Syria Turned These Ordinary Engineers Into Deadly Weapons Inventors | Threat Level | Wired.com:

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Productive Muslim - Towards a Productive Ummah!

Productive Muslim - Towards a Productive Ummah! contains a variety of resources and information, and is updated regularly... there's some good content on Ramadan being posted at present.

New apps help Muslims observe holy month

New apps help Muslims observe holy month | The Augusta Chronicle: "Aminah Hussain has lots of apps on her phone, but there’s one she turns to time and time again during Ramadan, Islam’s holy month." See my discussion on this in CyberOrient. I have some work in-progress on apps, which discusses their implications in various religious contexts. Watch this space for publication information (due out 2014)


Converts In Mexico Online

Muslim Converts In Mexico Make Up A Diverse, Fast-Growing Community | Fox News Latino: "Although still a small community in comparison to other Latin American countries, the Muslim community in Mexico is extremely diverse. In Mexico City alone, there exists a Shi’ite Muslim women’s organization, a Sufi organization headed by two women, and a fundamentalist Salafi organization run by Muhammed Ruiz al-Mekisi, a Mexican convert to Islam." Interesting article, which highlights the role of the net in conversion processes.


Monday, July 29, 2013

Forthcoming book: Studying Islam in Practice

Forthcoming book: Studying Islam in Practice (Paperback) - Edited by Gabriele Marranci. To Be Published 16th December 2013 by Routledge – 256 pages. Series: Studying Religions in Practice "This book presents Islam as a lived religion through observation and discussion of how Muslims from a variety of countries, traditions and views practice their religion. The range of fascinating case studies will also help students understand how research into religious practice is carried out, and what issues and challenges arise." I have a chapter coming out in this book.


'Jihad Comics'

MEMRI: Jihad Comics on Western Muslim Joining Nusra Coalition to Wage Jihad in Syria – Part 1


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Safe Surfing: New Search Engine Launched For Muslims

RFE/RL, Safe Surfing: New Search Engine Launched For Muslims "Halalgoogling, a new alternative search engine designed to filter "haram" content (content forbidden under Islam) has been launched just in time for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan." Test it yourself halalgoogling.com

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Channel 4 - The Adhan: The Muslim Call to Prayer



Channel 4 have done a great job with this and their related programming.  Their series will run through Ramadan.

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Minbar Ansar Deen and Boko Haram

BBC News, Two extremist groups face UK ban "Support for two extremist groups - Minbar Ansar Deen and Boko Haram - is to be made a criminal offence in the UK."

Leaked report shows Bin Laden's 'hidden life'

aljazeera.com, Leaked report shows Bin Laden's 'hidden life'

Egyptian teen pushed off roof 'by Salafi'

Egyptian teen pushed off roof 'by Salafi' France24, The Observers "Of the many harrowing amateur videos to have come out of Egypt these past few days, one from Alexandria has particularly shocked Egyptians. The video, which was filmed on Friday but surfaced online on Saturday, shows several teenagers being chased by a mob of angry men onto a water tower on a rooftop. Two were thrown off the water tower and severely injured; a third was killed. FRANCE 24 spoke to the victim's father."

Thursday, July 04, 2013

Egypt and social media - summary (so far)

I have been tracking developments on Twitter and Facebook regarding the situation in Egypt.  It's been a case of following, rather than archiving everything (clearly impossible).  Already, there are articles relating to social media impact on Egypt over the past few days.  Here are a few that caught me attention:


mashable, Morsi Ousted While Sparring With Egyptian Army on Social Media which makes the useful point that " ... there's a new circumstance that has been occurring alongside all that: The crucial players in the conflict — Morsi and the military — are using social media to post statements not simultaneously seen on other media." 

In relation to this, also see Amira Al Hussaini, Global Voices Online, Former Egyptian President Morsi Rants on Twitter , "President Mohamed Morsi is no longer the president of Egypt. Instead, he is ranting on Twitter on his verified Twitter account @EgyPresidency." (also see Amira Al Hussaini, Global Voices Online, The Story Behind Morsi's [Fake] Arrest Video)

The Lede: Latest Updates on Egypt’s Political Crisis is one of several useful summaries.

Also see aljazeera.com, The Stream: Morsi's overthrow sets Egypt's Twitter alight

BBC Arabic: الجيش المصري يكلف رئيس المحكمة الدستورية برئاسة البلاد covers the army speech and initial reaction.

New channel madamasr.com is already proving its worth, with some useful articles, including this one on the broadcasting silence post-Morsi. madamasr.com, Religious channels go off air and employees arrested 

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

New wave of mass protests in Egypt stirs fears, hopes

New wave of mass protests in Egypt stirs fears, hopes - St. Louis Beacon (some reference to media coverage/issues)

Egypt's revolution hones its skills

Adel Iskandar, opinion piece, aljazeera.com, Egypt's revolution hones its skills "With all the attention afforded to Egypt's activist community, from global media's use of the Twitterati as informants, interlocutors, and recipients of international funding to support capacity building and scaling up of social media operations in human rights campaigns, communities of cyberactivists in Egypt have become celebrities. Even in Egypt's topsy-turvy political environment, activists have seen their local public image and visibility increase dramatically over the past two years as the country's state and private media provided them with a platform express their views, motives, and convictions."

Falling under the spell of a slain terrorist

Peter Bergen, CNN, Falling under the spell of a slain terrorist "The U.S. drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American cleric who was born in New Mexico and who would go on to become an al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, did not silence his siren call to jihad."

Pakistani sisters killed for dancing in the rain

alarabiya.net, Pakistani sisters killed for dancing in the rain "Two teenage sisters blamed for damaging their family's reputation have been killed in Pakistan after they made a video of themselves dancing in the rain, according to media reports."

Hacking for Islam

Reuters, Insight - From remote Mauritania, hacker fights for Islam worldwide "In Nouakchott, a dusty city wedged between the Atlantic ocean and western dunes of the Sahara, a young hip-hop fan coordinates a diverse group of hackers targeting websites worldwide in the name of Islam."

Tunisia frees rapper jailed for calling police dogs in song

Yahoo, Tunisia frees rapper jailed for calling police dogs in song "Last month, another court sentenced Ala Yaacoub - more widely known by his rap name Weld El 15 - to two years in jail for insulting police by accusing them of using excessive force against ordinary people." The video was on YouTube.

Boston Marathon suspect had bomb-making instructions, jihad literature available online

startribune.com, Feds: Boston Marathon suspect had bomb-making instructions, jihad literature available online relates to 'Inspire'