Commentary

Digital Journal, Internet Brings Some Moderate Tone to Big Three of Faith, 22 June 2009 "Religion has entered the digital world in major ways. Not only are there mega churches in Christianity, but now the Islamic and Jewish groups use the Internet widely. Some of these teach and convert, with moderate views."

Blogging

CPJ, 10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger

"CPJ names the worst online oppressors. Booming online cultures in many Asian and Middle Eastern nations have led to aggressive government repression."

Qur'an Software

muslimmatters.org, Review: Al-Mudarris Quran Software, 28 Apr 09, "A few months ago I got a copy of Al-Mudarris software. It’s essentially a software that incorporates ayaat with multiple translations and audio recitations of each individual ayah. That is nice, however, what really prompted me to utilize the software is the notes and tafsir features."

Details: Mudarris software. It looks like a useful piece of software. I like the repetition option for practising (shown on the demo), and might give a more thorough test sometime.

'Six Days in Fallujah' - Cancelled (Maybe)

AP, Company pulls plug on `Fallujah' war video game, 28 Apr 09 "The publisher behind a video game based on one of the Iraq war's fiercest battles has pulled the plug on the title, called "Six Days in Fallujah."

"A spokeswoman for Japanese game company Konami Corp. confirmed Tuesday the company is no longer publishing the game, which was set to go on sale early next year."

That's what they say. However, elsewhere ...

bit-tech.net, Six Days in Fallujah dev hasn't given up, 29 Apr 09 "Atomic Games has said that it was very much surprised by Konami's decision to withdraw from publishing Six Days in Fallujah, but that it is still very optimistic for the future of the project."

See Atomic Games for their other titles

Farewell Faith Fighter?

Metro, KO for 'holy hatred' fight game, 28 Apr 09 " ... the Saudi-based Organisation of the Islamic Conference labelled it offensive to Muslims - and have now successfully demanded it be removed from the internet."

Well, not that successfully, in that it can easily be found elsewhere ...

'Ahmed and Salim'

McClatchy Newspapers/dallasnews.com, Israel cartoon 'Ahmed and Salim' paradies Islam, but some aren't laughing, 26 Apr 09, "Ahmed and Salim spend hours in front of their computer posting crude updates on Facebook and playing Wii. They jam with Guitar Hero and watch bad American sitcoms. They bicker and call each other names ...

"... The United Arab Emirates has banned Ahmed and Salim, and Palestinian bloggers have denounced it. YouTube removed one of the first six episodes and warned the creators that it could ban the series if new episodes are too offensive."

Swine Fever discussions on net

al-Bawaba, ”Muslims immuned from swine flu symptoms”…, 29 Apr 09, " ... the news about the symptoms and the infections from the current swine flu virus created a heated debate in the streets, the cafes and internet forums all across the Arab world - will the "scavenger pig" spread also among the Muslims?

"A review of some posts loaded in recent days to the internet exposes some kind of optimism among the Muslims. For instance: "Anonymous Coward" wrote: "Muslims are better immune. Did you ever hear of SARS cases in Muslim countries?" Other posts support this view, claiming Muslims will not be infected as they don't eat the "dirty" pork. This is of course a wrong suggestion as humans do not get swine flu from eating pork."

Also see AKI, Swine flu: Imam claims virus affirms Koran, 29 Apr 09 "The global spread of the deadly swine flu virus affirms Islam's teachings and its holy book, the Koran, according to imam Amadia Rachid based in the Italian city of Salerno. "We believe that what is happening shows the truth of our faith," said Algerian-born Rachid in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI)."

Abu Dhabi

Time, Abu Dhabi: Torture and the Sheikh, 28 Apr 09 "ABC News broke the story last week, and now Human Rights Watch is following up with demands that the sheikh in question, Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, be investigated and prosecuted for the 2004 incident." Tapes circulating widely on the net.

iMuslims UK: update

Received first copy of iMuslims UK/British Commonwealth edition from Hurst & Co. Slightly different size to US edition, and it has a different cover - but the same content(!). It's available to pre-order at present through the usual channels - I don't have an official publication date as yet for this edition.

Roxana Saberi (update)

rsf.org, American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi on hunger strike for past five days, 25 Apr 09 "Roxana Saberi, the young American-Iranian journalist who was sentenced to eight years in prison on a spying charge in Tehran on 18 April, has been on hunger strike for the past five days, her father has told Reporters Without Borders. He said she called him today from prison to tell him this. She is “determined and ready to go all the way,” Reza Saberi said, adding that he was “very worried.”"

Also see freeroxana.net
Facebook: Free Roxana Saberi

Lashkar-e-Taiba: From 9/11 to Mumbai

Stephen Tankel, 'Lashkar-e-Taiba: From 9/11 to Mumbai', International Centre
for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) - pdf report. Also hear the podcast (via ICSR page. I haven't read this/heard this yet [I should have a classification system for such items that are in my 'In Tray']

Zardari on bin Laden

This is not a headline (file under 'big maybe'): AP, Pakistani leader: Bin Laden 'may be dead' — or not, 28 Apr 09, "Pakistan's president said Monday his intelligence agencies believe Osama bin Laden may be dead, but he added there is no proof. Other Pakistani officials and a U.S. counterterrorism official said they thought the al-Qaida chief is alive. U.S. officials said bin Laden is most likely hiding in the mountains along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, in particular the lawless tribal regions."

Nida al-Jihad Video

CBS News, Video Shows Taliban Militants Downing U.S. Chinook, 27 Apr 09, "The video closed with shots of an attack on what the group called a “crusaders’ base” where the militants used RPGs and BK antiaircraft guns.

"The 37-minute video was released by the militant Islamist media house Nida al Jihad."

AQIM Video

CBS News, Child Seen Pledging To Wage War on “Worshippers of The Cross” In New AQIM Video, 27 Apr 09 "A new video released by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on the Internet shows three children who seem to be between six and 12 years in one of the militants’ camps. The children are identified as Abu Dujana Sufian, Muadz Abdel Salam and Osama and were born and raised in the camps according to the video. The eldest of the three Abdel Salam is seen making a speech before the camera pledging to fight the “worshippers of the cross.”"

Naqshabandiyah Army

CBS News, Naqshabandiya Army Release New Compilation Video, 27 Apr 09 "The Iraqi insurgent group Naqshabandiyah Army released a 27-minute video showing a compilation of attacks on U.S. army vehicles in Iraq using RKG3 anti-tank grenades. The video included shots showing a whole arsenal of these grenades at a group’s depot. It also showed a group of new fighters receiving lessons by an instructor on efficient ways to use this weapon."

Iran 'Net Crime' update

Tehran Times, Iran's police pursues crimes in cyberspace, 27 Apr 09, "Islamic Republic of Iran's Police on Sunday announced that 124,000 computer related crimes have been identified in the country.

"Deputy for Special and Computer Crimes at the Islamic Republic Police (IRIP) General Mehrdad Omidi said that some 124,000 internet and computer crimes were reported during the last Iranian year (ended 20 March), 26 percent more than the last year."

Somalia/UK

Mustafa Haji Abdinur, AFP, Foreign jihadists heed call for holy war in lawless Somalia, 13 Apr 09

"Abu Muslim, who prefers not to reveal his real name, said he was inspired to quit his university course and job at a bakery in England after browsing the Internet to learn about the so-called U.S.-led "war on terror." ...

" ... A recent Internet video showed a light-skinned American identified as Abu Mansur al-Amriki urging "all the brothers overseas, all the shebab (youth), wherever they are, to come and live the life of a mujahed (holy warrior)."

"The clip was interspersed with songs and rapping in what the Middle East Media Research Institute described as "a clear appeal to foreign youth, especially in English-speaking countries, to join the jihad in Somalia.""

Web 2.0

TodayOnline, Extremists on Web 2.0, 24 Apr 09 "Extremists are fast mastering Web 2.0 and learning new ways to reach out to a wider audience, especially the young. And this is a worry for South-east Asian countries, where radical websites in Bahasa Indonesia and Malay are proliferating."

Malaysian Media Commentary

Azly Rahman, Malaysia Today, Of 'badangs' and 'blogoticians': A Republic of Virtue, 27 Apr 09 "As campaigning in by-elections continue, I see the impact of digital communications technologies increasing. I see bloggers you have never met, running for political office. One that will be the prototype is perhaps Jeff Ooi, an interesting case study of Malaysia' first "blogo-tician".

"Broadcast media might be supreme as long as the rakyat is not yet fully digitally-literate. Government-owned and controlled television stations will be useful when the rakyat can be made to be stone-glued to their television sets. Hegemony of the ruling regime can continue to be maintained as long as the rakyat is given bread and circus (or roti canai and fun-fairs). This is the feature of the success of the previous 22-year old regime; one that began to crumble after the fall of the Thai Baht of 1997, after the Tom Yum Effect of 1997."

This was taken from Azly Rahman's blog.

Islamic Movement Uzbekistan (IBU)

bild.de, Islamist extremists threaten attacks on Germany "The video, created by the Islamic Movement Uzbekistan (IBU), has been released to mark the start of the trial of alleged terrorists in Düsseldorf."