Previously on Virtually Islamic:

Previously on Virtually Islamic:

Israa Ghrayeb
KSA Abaya Tweetstorm
SuperSisters
Selfies in Mecca
Wael Ghonim
AI Arabic
Sinéad O’Connor
Senegal Net TV
KSA Influencers

And much more ...

VirtuallyIslamic.com

Hashtag Islam at OUP

My book 'Hashtag Islam: How Cyber Islamic Environments are Transforming Religious Authority' is now available through OUP's Oxford Index https://oxfordindex.oup.com/…/northc…/9781469643168.001.0001

Previously on 'Virtually Islamic'

Previously on 'Virtually Islamic'


‘Hashtag Islam’ new e-book edition
Internet and Muslim Women
Egyptian Female Digital Literacy
Iran Gaming Gender Inequity
Rohingya SIM
Hajj & Information Flows
Palestinian 'Honour Killing'
'The Accidental Celebrity'
Tawhidi under spotlight
Kashmir Journalism Risks
Prevent' Independent Review 

VirtuallyIslamic.com

Cyber Islamic Environments: a 2019 version of my mindmap

Cyber Islamic Environments: a 2019 version of my mindmap 

Previously on Virtually Islamic 2.0:

Previously on Virtually Islamic 2.0:

Content Control
Bangladesh Radicalisation
Islamic apps
‘Deal of the Century’(?!)
anti-Islam algorithms
AQIM Qur’an use
Fashion influencers
Indonesian WhatsApp

Observing cyber-Islamic environments since 2000

This week's blog updates

This week's key stories in the Virtually Islamic 2.0 blog: 

Iran 'disinformation' report

'True Origins of ISIS'

Islamophobia Defined 

Building pictures of online activity

The Page 99 Test (my response)

Matthew Hedges Freed 

Spotify goes Palestinian 

Raed Fares 

Blog Updates

This week's Virtually Islamic 2.0 blog includes updates on the following digital Islam stories:

Uighur monitoring

Dawn of the Code War

Fatwa against 'Battlegrounds'

Mawlid Celebration

Russian Twitter trolls stoking anti-Islamic sentiment in Australia, experts warn 

Matthew Hedges' Case

 

 

 

 

 

'Hashtag Islam' - Indian sub-continent version

My book 'Hashtag Islam' is now available to order in the Indian sub-continent from Pentagon Press. This is a special edition (hardback) with a different cover.

ISBN:9789386618627

It's also available via the usual bookshops, and fromAmazon

Recent headlines:

More details on these and other stories can now be found on the new Virtually Islamic blog:

OpenDemocracy.net, “I’d prefer to die in Poland”: Chechnya’s most famous YouTuber in exile faces deportation to Russia 

Said Temsamani, Eurasia Review, Morocco: Interactive Radio, TV And Social Media To Enhance True Values Of Islam – OpEd  

Hadith centred programme promoted by Moroccan King Mohammed VI.  

Jamie Prentis, The National, Russian trolls stoked UK hatred of Islam after terrorist attacks, 1 Nov 2018 

amaliah, #ProtectYoungHijabis the Hashtag Formed to Protect Over 900 Young Muslim Women From One Sexual Predator 

albawaba.com, Do Arab Governments Control Arabic-Language Twitter?

C.J. Werleman, alaraby.com, How do white Muslims experience Islamophobia? Social media linkage to this interesting article/opinion piece.
 

"I'm white and English. I've never faced racism in my life. I became a Muslim, then people would hurl abuse as I was no longer white," tweeted Christopher John George. "I never knew how bad it felt until I was on the other side… it is DISGUSTING."

"His tweet illuminates not only how Islamophobia is a virulent form of racism, but also narrates an untold story of the Muslim experience in western societies today - the story of how white converts to Islam are now considered by some racists as traitors to their race."  

University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UWTSD Academic focusses on Islam in cyberspace with new book release

"An international publication focussing on how cyber-Islamic environments are transforming religious authority has been released by a UWTSD Lampeter based academic."

Recent headlines

These and further stories on the new Virtually Islamic blog:

 Sufism in Uzbekistan

Sufism in Uzbekistan discussed in great BBC programme:

'Honour Killing' video

'Honour killing' video shocks Syrians

Abu Qatada discussion

Trump and Far-Right

Trump and the far-right article by JM Berger

Mona Haydar profile

Mona Haydar profiled

Virtually Islamic Blog

Please note that I'm primarily now posting on virtuallyislamic.com but will be maintaining this blog/archive too.

Malaysia Syariah-compliant browser

I discuss Islam-friendly apps and browsers in 'Hashtag Islam', and here's a new option: The Star Online, Syariah compliant web browser aims to make the Internet a better place, Sep 28 2018 "… SalamBrowser, touted as the world’s first syariah-compliant web browser, which Salam Web claims will eliminate inappropriate content from the search results." There have been several attempts at this kind of browser product before, so it will be interesting to see how effective it is compared with mainstream products.

Afaq

9News, The secretive IT unit helping Islamic State supporters hide in dark corners of Internet, 24 Sep 2018  "Afaq's purpose is to help Islamic State jihadists and supporters to remain safe and secure online, while they actively recruit would-be fighters and spread violent propaganda across the Internet."

Gender and jihad

Nikita Malik, Forbes.com, Why Do We Underestimate The Role Of Women In Terrorist Organizations?, 26 Sep 2018 "It is important to remember, moreover, that Islamic State was the first terrorist organization to spearhead a systematic campaign to reach out to women – using gender specific propaganda to do so. The group later inspired others, including the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban, or TTP) to follow suit and produce content tailored specifically for its ‘jihadi sisters’, and elaborate on their role in promoting the mujahideen (fighters)."

'One Day in the Haram'

Review of 'One Day in the Haram':

Leslie Felperin, Guardian, One Day in the Haram review – a fascinating glimpse inside Islam's holiest site, 6 Sep 2018

"A trip to the mosque’s social media office offers an insight into how modern technology is used to service ancient traditions, and that tension between old and new is woven throughout the movie, which is in itself an artefact representative of that duality."

I discuss the issue of social media and pilgrimage in 'Hashtag Islam'.

I'm looking forward to seeing this. As it stands in the UK, it is only available on Amazon Prime at present. I'm hoping that a DVD release is imminent.

Mosul Eye

Guardian, Lucy Lamble, Small Changes, The Mosul historian who risked his life to blog about life under Isis – podcast, 26 Sep 2018 "When his beloved city was occupied by Islamic State, Iraqi Omar Mohammed was determined to document every atrocity – as anonymous blogger Mosul Eye" Essential listening!

New home for blog

I'm now blogging on the virtuallyislamic.com website, but will continue to place summarised posts here too. 

Recent posts

Contesting identities within cultural insecurity

14/09/18 12:32 Filed in: Research | Gender

Currently taking a look at this interesting thesis, which draws on a number of elements associated with the study of cyber Islamic Environments. Kathleen Woodhouse-Ledermann, Contesting identities within cultural insecurity: The case of Muslim women in contemporary France (Rutgers, 2018) [PDF download]

Tags: French Muslims, Gender , Research

Twitter reacts to Begum Kulsoom Nawaz’s demise

12/09/18 20:23 Filed in: Pakistan | Social Media

Express Tribune, Twitter reacts to Begum Kulsoom Nawaz’s demise, 11 Sep 2018

Tags: Politics, Nawaz Sharif

'The next billion users': Google targets India's lucrative mobile market

12/09/18 20:19 Filed in: Social Media | India Internet

Guardian, 'The next billion users': Google targets India's lucrative mobile market, 11 Sep 2018
"As mobile markets in developed world near saturation, Google rolls out Neighbourly, its first Indian-inspired social network"

Tags: Google, Social media

Women Warriors

11/09/18 10:56 Filed in: Islam and Gender

This looks like an interesting read:
Nickolay Nickolov, Mashable, Women Warriors

"“The situation doesn’t favour women,” says Maryam Ado Haruna who works with the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), a Nigerian organisation using tech to develop good governance. Religious beliefs and cultural trends can contribute to attitudes about who can and should access the internet. “The way parents deny access deliberately and husbands deny wives a— they think our religion, Islam, means that internet is not for Nigerian women,” Ado Haruna says."

Tags: Nigeria Internet, Gender,

Man arrested after breakfast with woman in Saudi Arabia

11/09/18 10:28 Filed in: Social Media

BBC News, Man arrested after breakfast with woman in Saudi Arabia, 10 Sep 2018 "In the 30-second video, the man and woman briefly joke about eating their breakfast together, with nobody else invited."
Contrasting views were expressed on social media from Egypt and Saudi Arabia in relation to this incident.

Tags: Saudi Internet, Egyptian Internet, Gender

Hashtag Islam

Hashtag Islam - print version

I'm very pleased to have received my first printed copy of 'Hashtag Islam'. It's been great to have had the chance to work again with series editors Bruce B. Lawrence and Carl W. Ernst - alongside Executive Editor Elaine Maisner and the excellent UNC Press team. The book is out in October.

New and Noted: Contesting Religion: The Media Dynamics of Cultural Conflicts in Scandinavia

Knut Lundby (editor), Contesting Religion: The Media Dynamics of Cultural Conflicts in Scandinavia, De Gruyter

Another one for the Reading List.  The good news is that it is Open Access!  The book includes contributions from Knut Lundby, Mia Lövheim,  Lynn Schofield Clark and Mona Abdel-Fadil