Category Archives: CyberOrient

Virtual Ummah

CyberOrient, Islam: Introduction

Virtual world for Muslims debuts

BBC News, 2008/12/09

A trial version of the first virtual world aimed at the Muslim community has been launched.

Called Muxlim Pal, it allows Muslims to look after a cartoon avatar that inhabits the virtual world.

Based loosely on other virtual worlds such as The Sims, Muxlim Pal lets members customise the look of their avatar and its private room.

Aimed at Muslims in Western nations, Muxlim Pal’s creators hope it will also foster understanding among non-Muslims.

“We are not a religious site, we are a site that is focused on the lifestyle,” said Mohamed El-Fatatry, founder of Muxlim.com – the parent site of Muxlim Pal.

“This is for anyone who is remotely interested in the Muslim culture and the Muslim lifestyle,” he said. Continue reading Virtual Ummah →

Muslim Americans for Obama

CyberOrient, Election 2008, Islam in America

[The website Muslim-Americans for Obama was created by Zeba Khan and welcomes members who share their goal of electing Senator Obama President. Here is their mission statement]

Although there is only a short period of time until the election on November 4th, there is much work to be done for supporters of Barack Obama’s candidacy. Muslim-Americans for Obama (MAFO 2008) was formed to offer a vehicle for Muslim-Americans to mobilize quickly and effectively so that our community turns out in great numbers for Barack Obama on Election Day. Given the role that “being a Muslim” has played so far in this campaign (most frequently as a slur or ‘allegation’ that Obama is himself a ‘secret’ Muslim), we also wanted to create a space that rises above such sophomoric and hateful rhetoric, in order to assert the following core beliefs:

• That we support Barack Obama because, among other reasons, he rejects the politics of fear, challenging our nation to embrace its collective identity, where each American has a stake in the success and well-being of every American.

• That we have a duty both as Muslims and Americans to organize and vote.

• That our role and responsibility as concerned American citizens in this or any election should not be to silence our voice, out of fear of being ‘spoilers’ or of being identified as a Muslim: this succumbs to anti-Muslim fear-mongering that will only fester in continued ignorance.

• That we have the same rights to petition and assemble endowed by the Constitution as do the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Agnostic, or Atheistic communities, or any community for that matter.

• That, until the Muslim-American community is effectively organized in the United States, it will continue to be vulnerable to slurs and misperceptions and our many contributions and service to this country we love will go unnoticed.

While we are taught like every American to respect and embrace freedom of speech, we will not tolerate hate speech on MAFO 2008. Our goal is as serious as it is urgent: to register our voice and support for Barack Obama in this historic election. We do not have the luxury of time to engage those who stoke the politics of fear to divide our country and marginalize hard-working Americans who happen to be Muslim.

Hardliner Repression of Iranians Online

CyberOrient, Iran

Hardliner Repression of Iranians Online

by Elham Gheytanchi, Co-authored by Babak Rahimi, The Huffington Post, September 10, 2008

As Tehran’s nuclear crisis grabs headlines and there is talk of easing relations with Iran by opening an US interest section in Iran for the first time since hostage crisis of 1979, an ominous development is taking place inside Iran: the escalation of state repression against Iranian dissidents online. In the wake of the ninth anniversary of the July 1999 student uprising, which shocked the regime to its foundation, the hard-liner administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stepped up the arrest of political dissidents, who have used the Net as an alternative medium to express their views against the Islamic Republic. Coupled with their suspicion of the international community, and continued attachment to a dogmatic vision of an Islamist society, the recent developments raise concern over the extent to which hard-liners are determined to muzzle dissent in cyberspace, hence advancing their sphere of influence over the Iranian civil society — especially over women’s rights and human rights groups who have suffered the most in the latest attacks. Continue reading Hardliner Repression of Iranians Online →

African and Arab Media Conference

Conferences and Talks, CyberOrient, Journalism and Media

The Arab Media Centre is pleased to inform you that its next conference will take place on 30-31 March, 2009 at the University of Westminster in London.

CALL FOR PAPERS
African and Arab Media Audiences:
Shared Agendas for Research

Conference jointly organised by the Africa Media Series, Arab Media Centre and Audiences Group, Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), University of Westminster

Dates: 30-31 March, 2009

Venue: University of Westminster, New Cavendish Campus,
115 New Cavendish Street, London W1

THE TOPIC

Media research to date has largely neglected the fast growing and diverse media audiences in African and Arab countries. These countries share painful histories of colonization and broadly comparable experiences of post-independence media development. Today they share the challenge of adjusting to global trade and investment regimes that affect local media production and distribution systems but are crafted elsewhere. Yet when we speak of media reception in the Global South, we tend to think in terms of isolated geographies: of ‘Latin America’, ‘Africa’, or the ‘Middle East’. By contextualizing primarily in terms of place, we overlook memories, issues and features that media users in different regions have in common. We foster artificial boundaries and separate research agendas. As a result, opportunities for productive joint debates about Arab and African media consumption are missed. Continue reading African and Arab Media Conference →

The World’s Top Intellectual is …

CyberOrient, Islam in America, Journalism and Media

In a world dominated by media celebrities little space is left for intellectuals. Undergraduate students multiple-choice their way through the great lights of the academic past: Freud, Marx, Heidegger, Derrida, Foucault and the list goes on. But who among the living tops the list of brain savy heroes? Foreign Policy held a referendum for four weeks earlier this year in which 500,000 people responded. The idea was to create a list of the world’s top 100 intellectuals. But surprise, the list would seem more a result of who was motivated to respond than anything else. Write down your top three (or at least think about three prominent living intellectuals) and compare to the Foreign Policy list. Continue reading The World’s Top Intellectual is … →

Mullah Atari

CyberOrient, Iraq, Iraq War

Since the U.S.-led take-over of Iraq, now more than five years ago, a wide range of Iraqis have become mad as hell, or perhaps more accurately mad enough to make hell with both the U.S. military and against each other. Some are even mahdi as hell, resulting in the Mahdi Army virtually commanded by Muqtada al-Sadr, the grandson of a well-known shi’a grand ayatollah. This renegade militia is the major homegrown thorn in the side of President Nuri al-Maliki’s Green Zone republic. Starting in October, 2003, Muqtada put into play a shadow Islamic government and by August of 2004 he called on his supporters to fight the Coalition forces. For almost three years there has been a loose ceasefire, but that was shattered recently when al-Maliki attempted to oust the Mahdi Army from Basra. Continue reading Mullah Atari →

The Clash of Knuckleheads Theory

CyberOrient, Islamophobia, Journalism and Media, Terrorism Issue

by ARSALAN IFTIKHAR
Published in Islamica Magazine, September 2007

For seven of my twenty-nine years, my existence as an American Muslim public diplomat and human rights lawyer has revolved around being an honest public voice to the masses since the tragedy of 9/11. From high-level political delegations to regular TV appearances as the ‘Muslim Guy’ on international media (either condemning terrorism or swashbuckling notorious Islamophobes who demonize Muslims); a simple Google or YouTube search will have my record speak for itself.

I have condemned terrorist knuckleheads like Osama bin Laden & Company. Notwithstanding the categorical prohibition of suicide and civilian attacks in Islam, these murderous knuckleheads have done nothing but add madness to already existing madness in our world. From Bali to Madrid to London, my seething disgust increases exponentially each time their irreligious attacks occur. When a 9-year old child (anywhere in the world) is considered to be a ‘legitimate target’, you know that these maniacs have lost their bloody minds committing ungodly acts of mass murder. Continue reading The Clash of Knuckleheads Theory →

The Calligraphic Tattoo

Calligraphy, CyberOrient, Languages

Tattoo artists are often skilled calligraphers, but what do you do if you want a tattoo in Arabic script? If you can’t make it to Patterson, New Jersey or some hippy stranded in Casablanca, there is always the Internet. Google to the rescue:

If you are considering having Arabic writing tattooed, then you need the correct translation for the lettering as well as the outline to give to the tattoo artist. We can provide you with this service. We translate using either Syrian Arabic, Israeli Arabic, or Druze Arabic.

Ordering a translation from us is simple:

1. Go to the translation-page and make payment.

2. Include the word or phrase that you want translated

3. Within a few hours-days, we will email the translated phrase or word back to you. Your translation comes in the form of a picture (jpeg, jpg) which you can print out on your printer and take to your tattoo artist.

For Arabic you have to double your pain: the needle and pulling out your credit card to have an expert spell out “Ummi” or “Qalbi.” Just don’t let them sell you any “khara.”

By the way, when I tried the “contact” click, I found the following message:

This website is for sale.
Please send your purchase offer to:
mail at jandrewsmedia.com

The law of supply and demand strikes again. Ma’a laysh.