Central Asia Digital Islam Project

Registan, The Central Asia Digital Islam Project: How the Internet and Social Media are Reshaping the Islamic Marketplace in Central Asia "Advances in communications technology and large-scale migration are rapidly eroding these obstacles, however, allowing Central Asians to increasingly participate in trans-national Islamic discourses through digital media."

'Kazakh Mullahs Get Web-Savvy'

Maqpal Mukankyzy and Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL, Kazakh Mullahs Get Web-Savvy, 22 Nov 2013, "Darkhan Syzdykov, deputy imam of Qostanay's Maral Eshan mosque, supports the effort. Syzdykov, who took part in the local workshop along with 56 other religious leaders, believes that without the Internet and social media, mullahs would lose touch with their most important target audience.

""Nowadays, young people spent most of their time surfing on the Internet. Nobody wants to bother to listen to mosque sermons," Syzdykov says. "Young people prefer to get answers to their questions [about religion] without leaving their homes. That's why imams should be proactive on social networks.""

Kazakhstan portal

For information: "Kazakhstan to launch the first Islamic educational website. Religion. Tengrinews.kz: "The e-ISLAM portal is being developed as instructed by Head of State following the 38th sitting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers August 15, 2011."

Kazakhstan and the web

Tengrinews, Islamic theologist confuted the statements on jihad against Kazakhstan police, 31 May 2012 "According to Kazakhstan General Prosecutor’s office, 46 people were convicted for crimes related to extremism and terrorism in Kazakhstan in 2011. 10 of them were convicted for creation and management of a terrorist group. The prosecutors have studied over 62 thousand websites to make sure that spread of extremist information on the Internet is suppressed. The court banned over 400 Internet-resources for spreading damaging information." Other data and perspectives available.

Malaysia: Tun Musa Hitam profile

Interview with, and profile of, Tun Musa Hitam, the chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation:

Gregor Stuart Hunter, The National, A bridge over troubled waters, 28 Jan 2011: "He [Tun Musa] says the Islamic world must take advantage of the internet - despite admitting he once fretted over the revolutionary potential of the fax machine.

'Most of my friends at my age don't even know how to send an SMS. They're like little children,' Tun Musa says. But he acknowledges that for many millions of citizens, technological literacy and curiosity can be rewarding.

"Now in his mid-70s, he has embraced the online world and is a tech-savvy operator. 'When you find that a blog has been closed and you cannot access it, I know how to do it through other means, through different routes. I may be an old man, but I want to know.'""

Moscow metro bombings

Reuters, Russia's "silent war" spills into Moscow, 30 Mar 2010 "Russia says the bombings, which killed 39 people, were carried out by a group with links to the North Caucasus, giving credibility to statements by Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov that he would attack Russian cities and energy pipelines."

Guardian, Suicide bombers kill nine more in Russia, 31 Mar 2010

CBC, Black Widows: The brides of Allah, 30 Mar 2010 "The Black Widows is what Russian journalists call female Islamist suicide bombers who have participated in more than 30 attacks that have killed about 900 people in Russia since July 2001, when Khava Barayeva and Luisa Magomadova rammed their explosives packed truck into a Russian military headquarters building in the Chechen village of Alkhan Yurt."

Paul Quinn-Judge, Foreign Policy, Russia's Terror Goes Viral, 29 Mar 2010

"The metro bombings in Moscow make clear that terrorism is far from exorcized from Russia. So where has it been hiding these last few, quiet years? The Web..."

"... Now that he is gone, Buryatsky is quickly becoming an online legend, reinforced by his letters, now being selectively released by guerrilla websites. They depict his hatred for "dying Russia" and the "pigs" who serve it, and his own growing obsession -- a "wild hunger" as he called it in one letter -- to become a shahid, or martyr. It would not be surprising if his last message -- the one filmed on his phone and later confiscated by the FSB -- surfaces on some guerrilla website, leaked by sympathizers inside the local police. "

Kazakhstan

David L. Stern, GlobalPost/Reuters, Web crackdown spreads, 21 Jul 09 "With less than six months until it takes over the chairmanship of one of Europe’s flagship human rights organizations, Kazakhstan has thumbed its nose to Western governments and introduced a draconian Internet law.

"The new legislation follows similar crackdowns on online political communication in other former Soviet republics and signals a growing fear among officials in authoritarian states after public uprisings in Iran and Moldova were fueled by internet social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook."

Kazakhstan IT

Trends, First multimedia project on Islam basics to be designed in Kazakhstan, 8 Apr 09, "The first multimedia project on basics of Islam 'Bissimillah: Acquaintance with Islam' is being designed in Kazakhstan, project's director Amanzhol Temirbek said.

""We hope that the modern presentation of a text, audio and video footages will make acquaintance with Islam attractive and visual," Temirbek said. The project also includes multimedia materials on fundamentals of Allah's religion in a CD. It is of an educational and informational nature."

see bismillah.kz

Kazakhstan

Reuters/Yahoo Tech, Kazakh bloggers say can't access popular website, 13 Oct 08, "Internet users in Kazakhstan complained of censorship Friday after being unable to access the popular blogging service Livejournal, but the state-owned telecoms company denied it was blocking it."