Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Kyoto III

I'm currently in Amsterdam airport, hoping to connect to Cardiff *soon* having managed (unexpectedly) to get back earlier than planned from Japan. It was a useful trip to Kyoto: there's a lot of interesting research going on, including in relation to Islam and the net, and I made some good contacts which I hope to build on. I'll be posting some related links in due course. Some of the work I heard going on in Japan would benefit from a wider audience. I'm hoping to prepare a paper for publication in Japan, based on my presentation. We'll see whether a Japanese version of iMuslims comes together as well ...

'Burka Woman'

Telegraph, Comedian under fire for Burka Woman version of Pretty Woman, 21 Dec 2010 "Saad Haroon has been accused of mocking Islamic values prompting bloggers to call for him to be stoned to death.

"The video follows his tongue-in-cheek efforts at serenading a "sexy ninja" or "mystery prize" hidden beneath a black niqab, with only her dark eyes visible through a narrow slit.""

Saad Haroon's website has more background (and videos (including stand-up clips)) on his work. There's also a blog. 'Burka Woman' is on YouTube.

Shumukh-al-Islam

thestar.com, Al Qaeda-affiliated website targets Arab Christians in Canada - 21 Dec 2010: "More than 100 Canadian-Arab Christians are listed on an Al Qaeda affiliated website, apparently targeted because of their alleged role in attempting to convert Muslims."

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Indonesian Islam

The Jakarta Globe, The True Heart of Indonesia's Islam, 13 Dec 2010: "Four episodes will be shown during the exhibition, and Indonesian Muslim leaders and intellectuals have been invited to lead discussions of the episodes and how they apply to people’s lives.

“For decades, Islamist radicals have been propagating their virulent ideology of hatred, supremacy and violence throughout the Muslim world — fueled by a potent combination of petrodollars and missionary zeal,” [Holland] Taylor said.

“This flow of radical ideas includes a massive effort to translate and disseminate extremist texts and to produce extremist programming for television and the Internet.

"'This type of programming has started taking up a more and more significant chunk of the public discourse in many Islamic countries, as well as among Muslim communities in the West.”""

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Kyoto II

Gave my paper today on e-Jihad. It was very introductory in nature, and compressed (30 minutes including a video), so could have done with more time to unpack the detail (I guess that's what the book is for) or could have spoken quicker (not so good). Some useful questions, on defining iMuslims, defining e-jihad (and historical precedents), and on comparative approaches between different forms of activism online. There's plenty of scope in all these issues, but - as many readers of this blog will know - also the need for more researchers. There's some very interesting work going on in Japan in relation to studies of the net - as well as Islamic Studies in general - which I may link into in a future post. The conference itself is very well organised, and has a good range of speakers on its programme.

alyaban.net

As I'm presently in Japan, I've been finding out a little more about resources useful to readers to this blog. One in particular is alyaban.net. This is a project promoting news from a Japanese perspective. It is linked to the Sasakawa Middle East Islam Fund. The news and commentaries are regularly updated, and can be obtained via RSS.

Kyai Gaul

Arlina Arshad, AFP, Indonesians embrace new media for old debates, 18 Dec 2010 "To most Indonesians, Ahmad Mustofa Bisri is an influential Muslim cleric and a respected figure from the country's biggest Islamic organisation, the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama.

"But to his 7,000-odd followers on Twitter, the 66-year-old is "Kyai Gaul", or the Trendy Cleric, who thumbs daily Islamic greetings on his iPad and Blackberry."

Friday, December 17, 2010

Kyoto

Today's blog comes to you live from Kyoto, where I am participating in a conference.

New Horizons in Islamic Area Studies.

My paper tomorrow is part of the Islamist Discourse in Media: Papers, Computers, and Satellites session. I'm providing a version of my E-jihad: a Brief History presentation. Every time I give this, I end up re-writing it, and this time is no exception. There's no shortage of material. I'm presently wondering how to fit hundreds of screen shots into a short amount of time ...

If any material relating to the central theme of this blog emerges, I'll post it. I'm not sure if others are posting or tweeting from here.

'Fighting bad guys with good tech'

Jessi Hempel, CNN, Fighting bad guys with good tech - Fortune Tech, 16 Dec 2010 saw this today, some useful points made

Jaish al-Hacker al-Islami

Nigel Stanley, it-director.com, Cybercrime, Cyberwars, Cyberterrorism and Hacktivism - Part 2: "One member of the forum called for the creation of an Islamist organisation, which he dubbed "Jaish al-Hacker al-Islami," or the Islamic Hacker's Army." Some of this is covered in my writing, particularly 'Islam in the Digital Age' (on hacking).

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Sudan arrests

Reuters, Sudan police arrest women protesting at flogging video, 14 Dec 2010: "Sudanese police arrested dozens of women protesting on Tuesday against laws they say humiliate women after a video of a woman being flogged in public appeared on the Internet."

Monday, December 13, 2010

MENA Ad Spending

arabcrunch.com, Google: MENA Ad Spending is Between 110-130 Million USD in 2010, 100 Million Arab Users will be Online in 2015 - ArabCrunch, 12 Dec, 2010 "During his speech at google’s first organized event in Egypt coined G Days Ari Kesisoglu – Regional Manager, Middle East North Africa said that online ad spending in the MENA region is between 110 to 130 Million USD annually. Although there is no real projections of online ad spending, last year it was estimated below 100 million USD, thus annual growth rate is estimated between 20-40 %."

"Reform in Saudi Arabia: A Battle of the Fatwas"

James M Dorsey, mideastposts.com, Reform in Saudi Arabia: A Battle of the Fatwas, 11 Dec 2010 [posted retrospectively]

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Stockholm blasts

BBC News - Stockholm blasts: Sweden probes 'terrorist attack', 12 Dec 2010: "The e-mails, with MP3 audio files in Swedish and Arabic, were sent to the Swedish security service and the TT news agency.

"They called for 'mujahideen' - or Islamist fighters - to rise up in Sweden and Europe, promising Swedes would 'die like our brothers and sisters'."

'The Jihadist Social Network Underworld'

The Investigative Project on Terrorism, The Jihadist Social Network Underworld, 10 Dec 2011 ""When are these crusaders gonna realize they can't win?," Baltimore bomb plotter Antonio Martinez boasted on his Facebook page on August 4th. "How many more lives are they willing to sacrifice. ALLAHUAKBAR." As details emerge about the plot to bomb a military recruitment center in Baltimore, MD, one thing is clear—Facebook is having a coming out party as the new go-to place for Jihadi recruitment, radicalization, and planning."

Friday, December 10, 2010

'Living in the hands of God. English Sunni e-fatwas on (non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide'

Stef Van den Branden and Bert Broeckaert, Living in the hands of God. English Sunni e-fatwas on (non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 10.1007/s11019-010-9280-1

I'm always interested to see how my research is used:

"This study analyses Islamic views on (non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide as expressed in English Sunni fatwas published on independent—i.e. not created by established organisations—Islamic websites. We use Tyan’s definition of a fatwa to distinguish between fatwas and other types of texts offering Islamic guidance through the Internet. The study of e-fatwas is framed in the context of Bunt’s typology of Cyber Islamic Environments (Bunt 2009) and in the framework of Roy’s view on the virtual umma (Roy 2002)."

I haven't read this study yet (subscription is required), but it looks very interesting. The MA Islamic Studies I run has a section on medical ethics.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani update

Robin Pomeroy, Reuters/montrealgazette.com, Iran says stoning woman still in jail, quashes rumour, 10 Dec 2010

"Talk of Ashtiani's release appears to have been sparked by photographs of her at home released to the international media on Thursday by state-run Press TV ahead of an interview with her to be broadcast later on Friday.

"Rumours spread quickly on the Internet, with thousands of joyful messages appearing on the Twitter website after the International Committee Against Stoning, based in Germany, said "sources in Iran" had word of her freedom."

Hossein Derakhshan gets 'temporary bail'


oneindia.in, Iran blogger Hossein Derakhshan released on temporarily bail "The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) said that Derakhshan had requested a prison furlough, or temporary release."

cultureclashdaily.com, The Man Who Opened Iran To The World, The Blogfather, Released On Bail

"The man known as the Blogfather of Iran, Hossein Derakhsah, has been released from an Iranian prison on bail of $1.5 million.

"The 35 year old former journalist rose to fame around the world for beginning an internet revolution that challenged the tightly controlled theocracy, under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

Bowe Bergdahl

mtexpress.com, Bergdahl shown in new Taliban video: Reports conflict as to who is holding soldier captive, 10 Dec 2010 "A new video that has not been widely distributed on the Internet has been reported by international news media to include four seconds of footage of Hailey-area native Bowe Bergdahl, a missing U.S. Army soldier captured in June 2009."

"Terrorist Use of Social Networking Sites: Facebook Case Study"

Jana Winter, Fox News, Al Qaeda Looks to Make New 'Friends' -- on Facebook, 9 Dec 2010 "The DHS report, "Terrorist Use of Social Networking Sites: Facebook Case Study," notes while terrorists have been using social networking sites for quite some time, their strategies for exploiting Facebook have evolved and that they have learned "the inherent value in exploiting a non-ideological medium.""

This report has been widely covered elsewhere (sometimes more sensationally than others), for example:

David Gardner, Daily Mail, Facebook used by Al Qaeda to recruit terrorists and swap bomb recipes, says U.S. homeland security report, 10 Dec 2010

Also see The Australian, 'Al-Qaeda seeking friends on Facebook' says US Department of Homeland Security study, 10 Dec 2010

Mohamed Mohamud

Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, religiondispatches.org, For God or for Fame? The Making of a Teenage Bomber, 9 Dec 2010

"The discrepancy in Mohamud’s mind between reality in the media and reality of actual events speaks to McLuhan’s assertion that media are extensions of man. There is, of course, no real equivalency between the actions of a teenager seeking to become operational through the Internet and the actions of the most powerful army the world has ever known, except perhaps in the 24/7 media defined reality that envelops us."

Fatwas

Claudia Genzano, medarabnews.com, L'Islam virtuale: l'idea del sacro e del diritto nella rivoluzione digitale discusses CIEs and fatwa production, refers to iMuslims

"A Politics of Place: How Young Muslims Frame Global and Local Events in Online Communication"

Center for Global Studies, George Mason University, Global Migration and Transnational Politics Series Working Paper no. 11: Dorthe Possing, "A Politics of Place: How Young Muslims Frame Global and Local Events in Online Communication" [pdf file]

"Drawing on empirical material from a broader study that focuses on computer- mediated communication and activism among young, well-educated Danish, American and British Muslim women the paper offers a preliminary analysis of how certain events are used by Muslims to express their sense of belonging. The paper argues that the concept of ”place” and the notion of ”politics of place” are crucial in addressing questions of how we are to understand ideas of belonging among young Muslims living in non-Muslim societies and how such ideas are affected by widespread patterns in communication."

Came across this, not sure if I have blogged it before - haven't read it fully yet.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

KSA arrest: Mohammed Abdallah Al-Abdulkarim

bikyamasr.com, Saudi professor held over Internet article about royal family, 8 Dec 2010 "Reporters Without Borders condemns law professor Mohammed Abdallah Al-Abdulkarim’s detention in Riyad since 5 December for writing an article for a website about splits within the Saudi royal family."

middle-east-online.com, No country for criticism: Saudi professor arrested after writing about conflict within royal family, 8 Dec 2010 "Abdulkarim, 40, teaches jurisprudence at Imam Mohammed bin Saud University, the country's leading Islamic university, according to HRFS [Human Rights First Society of Saudi Arabia] and a Facebook page set up to defend him.

""His arrest was illegal on two counts," said HRFS head Ibrahim Mugaiteeb."

Ahmed Al-Omran, mideastposts.com, Twitter is Big in Saudi. The Professor Detention Debate Shows Why "As usual, the local media in Saudi Arabia has ignored the story, but the social web was quick to pick it up. Not too long after the arrest, the news was flying all over Twitter and Facebook. Users on Twitter used the hashtag #FreeDrAbdulkarim to denote their reactions. Most of them expressed anger and frustration at the arrest. “I, and many others, believe in every word Dr. al-Abdulkarim said in his article. Are you going to arrest us too?” Abdulrahman Alnasri said.

"However, the most intense exchange of the day on Twitter was between Abdulrahman al-Enad, member of the Shoura Council, and Waleed Abulkhair, the lawyer of Mohammed al-Abdulkarim. Al-Enad said al-Abdulkarim has made a mistake and should be punished. Some of what al-Enad said did not set well with Abulkhair, who demanded the Shoura Council to apologize for what he considered impoliteness."

Ahmed Al-Omran is, of course, best known for his work on Saudi Jeans (where you can also track this story)

al-Awlaki

Opinion piece:

Theo Padnos, huffingtonpost.com, Love and Healing for Muslim 20-Somethings: Anwar al-Awlaki's Moment, 7 Dec 2010 "When I was a student in an Islamic school, the thing that most discouraged me about the system to which my fellow students were entrusting themselves was that it gave them terrible advice."

'Twenty Guidelines for Jihad'

Syed Saleem Shahzad, AsiaTimes, Broadside fired at al-Qaeda leaders, 10 Dec 2010

"A number of senior al-Qaeda members who had earlier opposed the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and some of whom were recently released from detention in Iran, have produced an electronic book critical of al-Qaeda's leadership vision and strategy ..."

" ... On November 15, some members of this group released Twenty Guidelines for Jihad on the Internet site www.mafa.asia. The author is cited as Suleman, saying he was "al-Qaeda's official spokesperson in 2001," indicating a distancing from al-Qaeda's organizational structure."

This is a very interesting article, with lots of detail. Syed Saleem Shahzad is author of Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban 9/11 and Beyond which is to be published by Pluto Press next year.

Perspective on WikiLeaks

Opinion piece: WikiLeaks Yoram Ettinger, YNet, Israel Opinion, Op-ed: WikiLeaks exposes Obama, Leaked documents refute US President Obama’s fundamental assumptions 9 Dec 2010

"The worldwide proliferation of Islamic terrorism is orchestrated and executed, also, by multi-lingual graduates of Western universities, who proficiently use the Internet, Blackberry, iPod, Twitter and Facebook. Contrary to Obama's assumption, modern-day Islamic terrorists do not reject modernity. In fact, they leverage modernity in order to advance Islam's historical values and goals."

opinion piece: WikiLeaks

A Pakistan perspective:

Burhanuddin Hasan, Random Thoughts, Pakistan Observer, The WikiLeaks bonanza "Some religious party leaders as well as TV anchors of Pakistan are claiming that the US government itself is behind the leaking of its secret embassy cables to malign some political leaders in Pakistan and in some other Muslim countries."

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Islamic 'Pipeline to Extremism'

Francis NJubi Nesbitt, AlterNet, Islamic 'Pipeline to Extremism' Turns Out to Be Mostly FBI Set-Ups, 7 Dec 2010 "The recent rash of charges against Somali-Americans on “conspiracy to provide material support” to al-Shabaab, a Somali rebel group on the U.S. terrorism list, seems designed to send a clear message that any support for the militants will lead to criminal prosecution. It also demonstrates the ubiquitous presence of law enforcement in these communities."

Cut and paste khutbah

Cut and paste culture isn't just an education phenomenon:

Qantara.de - A Battle of the Fatwas, 8 Dec 2010: "Another scholar accused some clergy of copying and pasting Friday sermons from books or the Internet and reading them out loud without even understanding what they're saying. Yet others suggested that clerics needed to improve their writing skills. 'Some of them elaborate on the topic by repeating themselves and going around in circles,' Ahmad Mawrai, a Saudi professor, told the Gazette. 'In many cases they jump from one topic to another. This is why their sermons are tedious and boring.'"

Tajik Youth + Digital divide

Farangis Najibullah, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Tajik Youth Look To Mosque For Outlet, 8 Dec 2010: "Farhod Hasanov has never heard of e-mail, or Facebook, or other social-networking tools teenagers in other parts of the world take for granted in this digital age."

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Islamic Studies Pathways - an Academic Guide to Islamic Studies Resources on the Internet

Islamic Studies Pathways - an Academic Guide to Islamic Studies Resources on the Internet: the old url is no more. Please point your browsers to Islamic Studies Pathways' more recent home (linked here). It is also linked directly into virtuallyislamic.com. Islamic Studies Pathways has been running since 1996, and was the foundation for much of my subsequent research. There will be a major update next year.

Monday, December 06, 2010

WikiLeaks on Hizbullah's fibre optics

Guardian, Lebanon told allies of Hezbollah's secret network, WikiLeaks shows, 5 Dec 2010 "Lebanon's western-backed government warned its friends that "Iran telecom" was taking over the country two years ago when it uncovered a secret communications network across the country used by Hezbollah, according to a US state department cable."

Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe - Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center, Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe, 6 Dec 2010: "On Sept. 15, 2010, a group of scholars discussed key findings of a new study, 'Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe,' published by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life.The study examines several of the oldest, largest and most influential Muslim groups operating in Western Europe today, many of which are virtually unknown to non-Muslims."

'How to get better Muslim preachers'

Tehmina Kazi, Comment is free, Guardian., How to get better Muslim preachers, 6 Dec 2010 discusses Facebook, Young Imam, Malaysia, and much more. "The scarcity of universal qualifications for Muslim religious leaders is part of the problem."

IslamPolicy.com

Islamic website tied to MP's stabbing resurfaces under new name - Telegraph: "Younus Abdullah Muhammad, a founder of both sites, told The Daily Telegraph that IslamPolicy.com was the direct successor to RevolutionMuslim.com which was closed amid the furore over its role in the attack on Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham."

Friday, December 03, 2010

Iranian blogger jailed for 15 years

eurasiareview.com, 15 Years In Prison Confirmed For Iranian Blogger, 3 Dec 2010

"Iranian blogger, Hossein Ronaqi Maleki’s 15-year prison term has been approved by an Islamic Republic appellate court. RAHANA website that covers human rights news in Iran reports that Ronaqi has been kept in solitary confinement for over 11 months and was given 15 years in prison by a preliminary court.

"The blogger known as “Babak Khoramdin” is charged with “membership in Iran Proxy, an internet group, propaganda against the regime, insulting the leader and the president.”"

Impact of Mobile Phones in Pakistan

Asmaa Malik, The Gazette, Mobile phones help transform Pakistan, 3 Dec 2010 "Alongside the swift arrival of KFC and McDonald's logos to Lahore's dusty, cluttered cityscape, billboards for Pakistan's emerging telecommunications and technology companies have kept pace.

"In big cities, the Internet has become ubiquitous. You can get unlimited broadband access for as little as 500 rupees (about $6) monthly in this country, where a comfortably middle-class household runs on about 50,000 rupees ($600) a month.

"Like their counterparts around the world, Pakistani teens spend hours in front of their laptops checking out their friends' profiles on Facebook and watching videos on YouTube."

review: Zahid Hussain's The Scorpion's Tail

Joshua Foust, foreignpolicy.com, O&G Book Review: Zahid Hussain's The Scorpion's Tail "In The Scorpion's Tail: The Relentless Rise of Islamic Militants in Pakistan-And How It Threatens America, the Wall Street Journal correspondent Zahid Hussain charts a sobering history of the Pakistani state's relationship to Islam, Islamism, and Islamic radicalism. While the radicalist form of Islam -- the kind America really cares about -- didn't take root in Pakistan until the 1980s during the war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, it was, Hussain argues, the result of decades of Pakistan's elites politicizing Islam to shore up their rule of the country. Starting with the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, and moving through the tumultuous history of coups, countercoups, and new constitutions, Hussain walks the reader through Pakistan's steady Islamization."

Sounds like a useful book...

Portland bombing issues

Thom Jensen, KATU News, Terrorism expert: Radicalization can begin on Internet, 1 Dec 2010 "While it’s not clear why the man accused of plotting to bomb Pioneer Courthouse Square may have turned to terrorism, research shows that for many it usually begins on the Internet, according to an expert on terrorism."

Thursday, December 02, 2010

Call for chapters: Muslim Women's Digital Geographies

Here's a call for chapters from Anna Piela. Please send responses to Dr Piela, and not to myself:

CALL FOR CHAPTERS: MUSLIM WOMEN’S DIGITAL GEOGRAPHIES (edited collection)


"I would like to announce a call for chapters for an edited collection "Muslim Women's Digital Geographies". The collection aims to bring together research on Muslim women's diverse activity on the Internet that may span personal writing, debates in discussion groups, political activism, networking and other forms of interaction with other people and audiences. The collection is interdisciplinary, and welcomes perspectives from all disciplines, be they Islamic studies, social sciences, technology studies, gender studies, fashion studies, linguistics, art, politics and many others.

Context of the book:

"As I synthesised and analysed existing research relevant to my PhD topic, which was, incidentally, "Muslim Women's Online Discussions" and which focused on religious interpretations produced by Muslim women in online discussion groups, I came across interesting bits of research related to Muslim women’s online activities and creative work. With the PhD now done and dusted, I realised that it would be a good idea to create an edited book that would bring together current research in what I have called “Muslim Women’s Digital Geographies” a definitely growing subject area ...

"I would like to ask anyone interested to send me a 150-word abstract of their proposed chapter by 30 March 2011."


Contact details:

Dr Anna Piela

annapiela@googlemail.com

http://westminster.academia.edu/AnnaPiela/

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Wired on the hajj

The new print edition of Wired (UK edition) has an interesting article on crowd-control for the hajj. I don't recall very much coverage on Islam-related issues in Wired (I've been reading it since the early days).

Unfortunately, the article is not online yet - Wired UK's print edition is ahead of its online equivalent. I'll link into it when it becomes available.

Zachary Adam Chesser

New article: Christopher Anzalon, Perspectives on Terrorism - Zachary Chesser: an American, Grassroots Jihadist Strategist on Raising the Next Generation of Al-Qaeda Supporters: "Zachary Chesser, the 20-year-old Virginia man best known for issuing thinly-veiled threats to the creators of the Comedy Central TV show South Park earlier this year, was a prolific writer and self-styled grassroots jihadist strategist. He was a regular poster on several major jihadistInternet forums, including Al-Qimmah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Summit), a Somali-English-Arabic forum dedicated to covering the activities of the Somali jihadistgroup Al-Shabab. It is this group that Chesser was accused by US authorities of attempting to join. He signed his online writings with his nom de guerre Abu Talhah al-Amrikee, which combines the name of a prominent historical companion of the Prophet Muhammad with the geographical marker “American.”"

Useful overview.

Portland's bomb plot and the net

KATU.com, Did the Internet incite Portland's bomb plot?, 3 Nov 2010: "In the year before the bomb plot, authorities say Mohamed O. Mohamud reached out to websites promoting violent jihad. And they were easy to find."

Also see

Nancy Haught, The Oregonian, Muslims respond to criticism of Islam stirred up by Portland bomb plot, 30 Nov 2010 ""There's no part of the Quran that says killing people is okay," says Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, professor of Islam at Reed College in Southeast Portland. But it's also not that simple."

Helpful article