Friday, March 06, 2009
Abu Dhabi
The National, Prophet’s birthday a time for reflection, 6 Mar 09, "Mosques around the country are preparing to mark the birth of Prophet Mohammed, an official national holiday where Muslims are encouraged to spend time with family and reflect on their life."
Yemen
Long War Journal, Yemen: New terror camps as a city falls to jihadists, 3 Mar 09 "In January, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh asked his network of loyalist jihadists to prepare for offensive operations against domestic “enemies of the state.” In return, Saleh has ceded authority to fundamentalist fanatics who seek to impose a neo-Salafi theocracy in the religiously pluralistic country. It is unclear if this is the full extent of the quid pro quo."
Taliban video
CBS News, Internet Terror Monitor, Taliban Releases New Compilation Video, 4 Mar 09 "The militant Afghani Taliban movement released a new compilation video featuring several attacks carried out against Afghan and NATO forces in Afghanistan."
Manuals
CBS Internet Terrorism Monitor, New Ammonium Nitrate, Bomb-Making Manuals Distributed Online, 4 Mar 09 "Al Gurabaa organization distributed a new nine-page illustrated manual for the preparation of Ammonium Nitrate using ammonium, sugar and wood dust."
Slumdog Millionaire online
Anila Baig, The Sun, Every angry Muslim boy should watch Slumdog, 6 mAR 09 "Everyone should watch Slumdog Millionaire, in particular every confused Muslim boy who carries not just a chip on his shoulder but a sack of potatoes." Opinion piece from Sun Columnist to Lahore cricket shootings, which generated some responses from readers (see below article).
Non-tech. article. Great film, though, and a good excuse to look at some of its current online presence:
Wikipedia
Official UK Site
MySpace: Slumdog Millionaire (includes AR Rahman's music)
Yoga & Islam
Jakarta Post, Yoga in-sync with Islam, experts say, 6 Mar 09 "Salman Harun, a professor at Jakarta’s Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University and a noted Koranic scholar, said the act of prayer in Islam, or shalat, could be perceived as a form of yoga.
"He argued that most forms of yoga as practiced the way they are today not Hindu in nature and that the practice is simply an age-old method created by people trying to connect to a cosmic force.
"“In that sense, the moves done while praying, like the way we stand, the ruku (bending over with the hands over the kneecaps), the sujud (kneeling with the face down on the floor) and the way we sit during praying is similar to yoga,” he said.
"“Besides, most Muslims would agree that the moves in shalat are beneficial to our health.”
"He said that, despite popular culture linking the method to Hinduism and Buddhism, this has little to do with the way yoga is practiced around the world."
Non-tech, but the story has a long thread online ...
"He argued that most forms of yoga as practiced the way they are today not Hindu in nature and that the practice is simply an age-old method created by people trying to connect to a cosmic force.
"“In that sense, the moves done while praying, like the way we stand, the ruku (bending over with the hands over the kneecaps), the sujud (kneeling with the face down on the floor) and the way we sit during praying is similar to yoga,” he said.
"“Besides, most Muslims would agree that the moves in shalat are beneficial to our health.”
"He said that, despite popular culture linking the method to Hinduism and Buddhism, this has little to do with the way yoga is practiced around the world."
Non-tech, but the story has a long thread online ...
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Gaza: 'Closed Zone'
Rory McCarthy , Guardian, Animator of award-winning Israeli movie tackles Gaza, 5 Mar 09, "One of the creators of the successful Israeli movie Waltz with Bashir has produced a new animated film to highlight the continued blockade of the Gaza Strip and its 1.5 million Palestinian residents.
"Yoni Goodman, who was director of animation for the Golden Globe-winning movie, said he was motivated to take part in the project by the recent war in Gaza. His 90-second animation, Closed Zone, follows a young boy chasing a bird through the Gaza Strip who finds his way out blocked at every turn."
This is an effective 90 second film. Also see:
Gisha (Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement)
Saqib Saab, Have You Joined The Twitter Revolution?, 24 Feb 09 I was pointed to this by the Muslim Matters' review (see below). " ... a whole wave of my Muslim friends have all of a sudden joined. When Muslims all get onto something, then you know it’s big. Not just that, but I can see it benefitting us and have already seen some initiatives to use it for da’wah purposes."
UAE iPhone
just picked this up:
tecfre.com, Price does matter : Another Iphone failure story in UAE, 24 Feb 09 "Even though iPhone is a trend setter, but it is not world’s most feature rich phone and hence Price vs Value ratio for iPhone is very low. Consumer is not a fool to buy a phone at double the price for features which are available in other phones for half the price."
tecfre.com, Price does matter : Another Iphone failure story in UAE, 24 Feb 09 "Even though iPhone is a trend setter, but it is not world’s most feature rich phone and hence Price vs Value ratio for iPhone is very low. Consumer is not a fool to buy a phone at double the price for features which are available in other phones for half the price."
Iran: television
Middle East Online, Politics aside, Iranians love American TV shows, 2 Mar 09 ""I never took television seriously and first started watching these to improve my English," Ehsan said. "But they are so funny and show the everyday life of young people in a way that you don't see in movies."
""Some of my friends follow them on satellite TV, which is not allowed in our home, but the DVDs are easy to get and I watch them on my computer," he said."
Some intriguing key phrases must be emerging from close study of 24, Lost, Friends, etc. Alas, they don't seem to be watching any UK TV series in this way.
""Some of my friends follow them on satellite TV, which is not allowed in our home, but the DVDs are easy to get and I watch them on my computer," he said."
Some intriguing key phrases must be emerging from close study of 24, Lost, Friends, etc. Alas, they don't seem to be watching any UK TV series in this way.
Trainspotting
Middle East Online, Iraqi pilgrim train chugs to better days, 5 Mar 09 "Abdel Amir Hammoud, Baghdad's public transport director, said the train has been making the two-and-a-half-hour journey every Friday since early December with an average of 80 to 100 passengers in the cautious first weeks.
"But last week he had to add an extra carriage to carry the 220 passengers headed for Samarra, with the numbers going up every Friday for the Muslim day of prayers."
non-computer tech, but interesting story
"But last week he had to add an extra carriage to carry the 220 passengers headed for Samarra, with the numbers going up every Friday for the Muslim day of prayers."
non-computer tech, but interesting story
Saudi Arabia: 'Fatwas'
Middle East Online, Wanted! Prince Waleed… by Saudi theologian, 3 Mar 09 ""People such as the Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and Walid Al-Ibrahim need to be brought before a Sharia court" ruled Sheikh Youssef bin Abdallah Al-Ahmed, a member of the board of lecturers at the theology faculty of the Riyadh-based Islamic University of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud.
""These two men are no less dangerous to Muslims than drug traffickers", added the theologian in a fatwa uploaded on his personal website on Saturday."
You can read the lively online responses to this in this article as well. The original article was translated from SaudiWave, which - incidentally - has some comprehensive coverage of other Saudi subjects.
""These two men are no less dangerous to Muslims than drug traffickers", added the theologian in a fatwa uploaded on his personal website on Saturday."
You can read the lively online responses to this in this article as well. The original article was translated from SaudiWave, which - incidentally - has some comprehensive coverage of other Saudi subjects.
Iran: arrests
Guardian, Iranian police arrest pornographic film actors, 4 Mar 09 "Police in Iran have arrested a group of mostly female actors who were making pornographic films, a crime that carries the death penalty under the country's Islamic laws, local media reported today.
"The arrests were made at a house in a middle-class area in the east of Tehran, the pro-reformist website Fararu said."
Website: Fararu
"The arrests were made at a house in a middle-class area in the east of Tehran, the pro-reformist website Fararu said."
Website: Fararu
Sudan: al-Bashir warrant
alJazeera, Al-Bashir warrant sparks US unease, 5 Mar 09 "Barack Obama, the US president, has called for stronger international action to press Sudan to end the conflict in Darfur." Plenty of online discussion on this topic. See:
Human Rights Watch/Huffington Post, ICC: Bashir Warrant Is Warning to Abusive Leaders (VIDEO), 4 Mar 09 "The International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan signals that even those at the top may be held to account for mass murder, rape and torture, Human Rights Watch said today. ICC judges granted the warrant for Bashir, its first for a sitting head of state, on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in orchestrating Sudan's abusive counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur."
Human Rights Watch/Huffington Post, ICC: Bashir Warrant Is Warning to Abusive Leaders (VIDEO), 4 Mar 09 "The International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan signals that even those at the top may be held to account for mass murder, rape and torture, Human Rights Watch said today. ICC judges granted the warrant for Bashir, its first for a sitting head of state, on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in orchestrating Sudan's abusive counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur."
Jihadi Forums
Thomas Hegghammer, Jihadica, The History of the Jihadi Forums, 4 Mar 09 Hegghammer writes: "One of the most intriguing questions about the jihadi internet is how it came into being. The early history of jihadi websites remains very poorly understood. Most of us started studying them too late, and we are too busy keeping track of present developments to examine the past.
"My curiosity was therefore piqued by a recent article by ‘Mihdar’ on Midad al-Suyuf, who provides what he calls a ‘complete historical analysis’ of the jihadi forums on the web. Considering Mihdar’s record as a somewhat controversial figure - for other controversies involving Madad al-Suyuf, see here or here, the study should be taken with a grain of salt. And indeed, Mihdar is more interested in politics than in facts. He devotes a considerable part of his ‘analysis’ to lashing out at other jihadi forums, in particular criticising the policy of closing forums to registered members only. This, he argues, both restricts the flow of information (since password-protecting a forum means that you cannot enter it from public search engines, like Google), and facilitates the formation of cliques and factions among the members."
Nevertheless, it's an intriguing item. I haven't had time to look at it in detail, but will be monitoring responses. The archive availability and labour intensive nature of analysis makes any future, more academic analysis a difficult task.
Here's the link to the Jihadica copy of the 'analysis' [madad-al-suyuf-the-jihadi-forums] in pdf format
"My curiosity was therefore piqued by a recent article by ‘Mihdar’ on Midad al-Suyuf, who provides what he calls a ‘complete historical analysis’ of the jihadi forums on the web. Considering Mihdar’s record as a somewhat controversial figure - for other controversies involving Madad al-Suyuf, see here or here, the study should be taken with a grain of salt. And indeed, Mihdar is more interested in politics than in facts. He devotes a considerable part of his ‘analysis’ to lashing out at other jihadi forums, in particular criticising the policy of closing forums to registered members only. This, he argues, both restricts the flow of information (since password-protecting a forum means that you cannot enter it from public search engines, like Google), and facilitates the formation of cliques and factions among the members."
Nevertheless, it's an intriguing item. I haven't had time to look at it in detail, but will be monitoring responses. The archive availability and labour intensive nature of analysis makes any future, more academic analysis a difficult task.
Here's the link to the Jihadica copy of the 'analysis' [madad-al-suyuf-the-jihadi-forums] in pdf format
Book Review: Groundswell
Useful review of a subject I touch upon in iMuslims:
Ibn Abee Omar, Muslim Matters, Book Review: Groundswell - How Muslims Can Benefit from Social Technologies, 4 Mar 09 "I often feel the Muslim world is 2 steps behind in all technologies. When the world was listening to CD’s, Muslims still insisted on using audio cassettes. Now when the entire world has shifted to mp3, many of our Muslim media companies unfortunately are still clinging to the CD age. Being a step behind everyone is never a model of success in any environment.
"The internet itself spawned many changes in the Muslim communities around the world. It facilitated the sharing of knowledge, but also deviance. It created online communities of like-minded people, but in some senses it also encouraged their withdrawal from real life communities. Many internet-savvy Muslims had their first experiences with social media by joining various forums and message boards. This spawned new relationships and introduced people to a myriad of issues they were previously unaware of."
Book details: Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, (Forrester, 2009)
Ibn Abee Omar, Muslim Matters, Book Review: Groundswell - How Muslims Can Benefit from Social Technologies, 4 Mar 09 "I often feel the Muslim world is 2 steps behind in all technologies. When the world was listening to CD’s, Muslims still insisted on using audio cassettes. Now when the entire world has shifted to mp3, many of our Muslim media companies unfortunately are still clinging to the CD age. Being a step behind everyone is never a model of success in any environment.
"The internet itself spawned many changes in the Muslim communities around the world. It facilitated the sharing of knowledge, but also deviance. It created online communities of like-minded people, but in some senses it also encouraged their withdrawal from real life communities. Many internet-savvy Muslims had their first experiences with social media by joining various forums and message boards. This spawned new relationships and introduced people to a myriad of issues they were previously unaware of."
Book details: Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, (Forrester, 2009)
Swat
ionglobaltrends, Swat Valley: Radical cleric sets deadline for implementation of Sharia, 2 Mar 09 "A hardline Muslim cleric in Pakistan's volatile Swat Valley said Sunday the government must fulfill its promise to set up strict Islamic courts in the region by March 15 or face protests."
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Shi'a Muslims
Economist, Grumbling and rumbling: Shias in the Gulf, 26 Feb 09 - commentary/overview (non-tech) "As Shia clerics weighed in with calls for an end to what they called systematic persecution, Sunni extremists accused the rafida, an abusive term for Shias, meaning rejectionists, of acting as a fifth column for Iran. “Today they besiege the religious police,” howled one website commentator. “Tomorrow they will encircle the Eastern Province along with the Shias of Bahrain and with Iranian backing.” The Saudi king should “strike them with an iron fist”, declared the writer. Another suggested that the Shias be hurled into the Red Sea or, better still, dropped onto the Iranian shrine city of Qom."
Afghanistan: mullah + iPhone
AP/Fox News, Mullah Embraces iPhone in Afghan Tech Boom, 3 Mar 09 "Beyond making life easier, some say the country's embrace of technology could help break the cycle of 30 years of relentless warfare. It puts at the tip of a finger many things that were strictly outlawed by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar — music, movies, pictures of people and games like chess.
"Young Afghans see the world differently from older Afghans because of their use of the Internet and mobile phones, and their participation in sports, said Shukria Barakzai, a female lawmaker and former newspaper editor."
"Young Afghans see the world differently from older Afghans because of their use of the Internet and mobile phones, and their participation in sports, said Shukria Barakzai, a female lawmaker and former newspaper editor."
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