Anti-Assad forces in Syria are growing more Islamist

Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz, Anti-Assad forces in Syria are growing more Islamist

Bahrain: Cleric Relocated After Fiery Speech

Bahrain: Cleric Relocated After Fiery Speech · Global Voices "Internet activists have reported that Bahrain’s Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa, has ordered the immediate transfer of Sunni cleric Dr Adel Hassan AlHamad from one of the grand mosques in Riffa to another mosque in Tubli."

Islamic Cleric in Norway Convicted of Web Threats

Islamic Cleric in Norway Convicted of Web Threats - ABC News "The Oslo District Court convicted Najmaddin Faraj Ahmad, also known as Mullah Krekar, on Wednesday of posting online threats during an earlier trial, including encouraging the killings or kidnappings of Norwegians."

Egypt's orthodox Muslim rapper offers words of faith (MC Dahab)

Egypt's orthodox Muslim rapper offers words of faith - The National  "It's hard to imagine this bespectacled, shy youth from rural Egypt as the fiery hip-hop artist Mc Dahab, whose complicated prose tackles military trials for civilians as adeptly as religious observance. That is, until he begins to rap." More at MC Dahab's Facebook page

KSA Social Media

Your Middle East, How social media has transformed the silent kingdom, 23 Aug 2012  "Many Saudis use Twitter and Facebook penetration is quasi-universal amongst the younger segment of the population. It is both an appreciated luxury, and an undoubted necessity. In a country that imposes severe restrictions on the mixing of sexes and on public entertainment, this emerging social media sphere presents a critical lifeline to Saudi youths."

Jihad advocates focus on young Muslims in West

ČeskéNoviny.cz, Jihad advocates focus on young Muslims in West - Czech BIS  "The Jihad advocates adhering to Al-Qaeda focus their psychological manipulation on very young Muslims in the West, Czech counter-intelligence service BIS says in its annual report, adding that the spreading of Jihad via the Internet is a significant security risk for the Czech Republic."

And here is the report link on the BIS site [pdf]

Saudi Aramco’s internal computer networks restored

Saudi Aramco’s internal computer networks restored after a malware affected 30,000 of its workstations - ArabCrunch "Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, said on Sunday that the company was back in operating 30,000 workstations after a malware attack put put to hold these workstations at the company."

Africa internet

From farming to films: how the web is changing Africa | World news | The Observer

NWO - The Future is Elsewhere

NWO - The Future is Elsewhere: Towards a Comparative History of the Futurities of the Digital Evalution/Revolution This looks like an interesting project, running out of Leiden University. I am seeking more information from the organisers, and will update when/if it appears.

Research: catch-up mode

I have highlighted a few titles below that have popped up in my research - which I intend to obtain in due course:

Taylor & Francis Online, Carmen Becker, Muslims on the Path of the Salaf al-Salih - Information, Communication & Society - Volume 14, Issue 8

Abstract - SpringerLink, COUNTERTERRORISM AND OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE, Lecture Notes in Social Networks, 2011, Volume 2, Part 2, 223-247, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-7091-0388-3_12, Counterterrorism Mining for Individuals Semantically-Similar to Watchlist Members, James A. Danowski "The research reported here develops a method for locating individuals in discussion forums who have highly similar semantic networks to some reference network, either based on watchlist members’ observed message content or based on other standards such as radical jihadists’ semantic networks extracted from messages they disseminate on the internet."

 New(-ish) and noted: Taylor & Francis Online, Amanda E. Rogers, The Journal of North African Studies, Volume 17, Issue 3, 2012, Warding off terrorism and revolution: Moroccan religious pluralism, national identity and the politics of visual culture,


El-Sayed el-Aswad, Muslim Worldviews and Everyday Lives, AltaMira Press "The worldviews of Sunnis, Shi'as, and Sufis are covered in turn, and Muslims in the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, and suburban Detroit are the focus. el-Aswad also discusses the effects of Western attempts at imposing its essentially secular worldview through the process of globalization and how cyberspace has promoted connectivity among Muslim communities and, especially in the United States, opened up unlimited options and new possibilities."

Mali music falls silent as Islamist repression bites

Lindsey Hilsum on International Affairs, channel4.com, Mali music falls silent as Islamist repression bites

Provocation as a Way of Life

Qantara.de, Provocation as a Way of Life "Every movement has its pioneers. With his novel "Taqwacore", Michael Muhammad Knight created a blueprint for an individual youth protest culture in the US: "Muslim Punk". His book is both shocking and provocative. But "Taqwacore" has struck a chord with Muslim youngsters who say it reflects their own conflicts of identity."

Amateur jihad tests Syrian rebel resources

Amateur jihad tests Syrian rebel resources | Reuters "Talal Mohammad is a long way from Tennessee, and he's out of his depth.

"In an olive grove a few miles from the frontlines of Aleppo, he's at a loss to explain to a battle-hardened bunch of Syrian rebels what exactly this prosperous, U.S.-trained Saudi dentist is doing there - and what he can offer to their cause."

"Crucifixions in Egypt & Al Azhar Fatwas Encouraging Violence?: More Islamophobic Nonsense"

The American Muslim (TAM), Crucifixions in Egypt & Al Azhar Fatwas Encouraging Violence?: More Islamophobic Nonsense
this story featured in the Daily Mail today

India, Pakistan shut down networks after panic

India, Pakistan shut down networks after panic - Security - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au "Indian authorities have ordered internet service providers to block websites and restrict bulk SMS sending for two weeks after a campaign of threatening messages created mass panic in the country."

Ramadan Themed Web Frauds

Ramadan Themed Web Frauds Strike Islamic Internauts - SPAMfighter  "According to researchers from BitDefender the security company, cyber-criminals taking advantage of Ramadan the Muslim's religious festive time (20th July-18th August 2012) are unleashing spam e-mail scams while targeting Muslim Internauts who faithfully follow their fast during the festival."

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi publishes beheading video - The Long War Journal "The al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) published a gruesome video on jihadist internet forums that shows the beheading of two Shiites. In a statement that accompanied the video on one of the forums, a jihadist said the Pakistani terror group is part of al Qaeda and the Taliban."

Dark Humor Facebook Pages of the Syrian Opposition

jadaliyya.com, Dark Humor Facebook Pages of the Syrian Opposition "The uprising in Syria has unleashed a wave of dark humor and satire across a range of media, from the clever posters of the Local Coordinating Committee of Kfarnebel to the short sketches from YouTube series “Freedom and nothing else.” Therefore, it’s not surprising that along with the thousands of Facebook pages for organizing coordinating committees calling for freedom of imprisoned protesters and honoring those killed in the uprising, a number of satirical pages for the uprising have sprung up over the last year and a half."

How German Islamists Recruit Young Men for Jihad

Spiegel Online, How German Islamists Recruit Young Men for Jihad, 23 Aug 2012 "Young Muslim men in Germany are systematically trying to recruit their peers for jihad using sophisticated rhetoric and psychology and by targeting vulnerable youths who are searching for direction in life. Two men who have quit the scene tell their story to SPIEGEL, providing a rare look into a dangerous underground."

Come the reformation: Islam online

afr.com, Come the reformation: Islam online "Islamic hardliners may have issued a slew of fatwas against digital technology, including chat programmes (they could lead to flirting) and the use of Koranic verses as ring tones (disrespectful). But Muslims have embraced the internet and smartphones just as the rest of the world has – and, in some ways, even more." Some familiar themes to readers of this blog