Islam and the forefront of technology are not typically thought of together. Friday sermons and religious classes might drop hints of social networks or smartphones; however, the content is not tech-centric. Conversations might walk down Nostalgia Lane to reminisce about the wonder years of technological advancements in past eras of Islamic history. Yet not much is said about Islam and technology in the contemporary sense.
To help remedy this situation, given the advent of tech blogs like TechCrunch, Mashable, ReadWriteWeb and others, the Islamic technology and social media mashup blog, IslamCrunch, was spawned from the chaos that is this brain of mine, along with input from my wonderful wife and best friends. We wanted to have conversations that showed how Islam and technology have a daily relationship. We showcased and interviewed Muslims who were involved with startups, new web apps, music projects, and more.
As we garnered some awareness within the Muslim community, we received critical feedback as well as some praise. An article on Cameron Peron's blog was delivered to a diverse and wide audience. We were blessed to have made some groundbreaking posts both within the Muslim community and in the social media networks. Since then, IslamCrunch has had three different blog layout designs, the latest of which (version 3.0) highlights our love of Twitter and other social networking platforms.
With our advocacy of micro-blogging and social networking, we have seen an influx of Muslims using Twitter, Facebook, and other web apps to connect with their circle of family and friends. I hope the global village becomes a community of sharing, peace, and networking for the common good.
Like most other faith-based communities, Muslims are also using Facebook pages, text messaging, tweets, and blogs to promote their causes. Live blogging of events is now a common thread of the web as well. Since we are part of a niche audience, even small local events have an eager readership across time zones.
With 2010 now on the horizon, I am eager to see how technology can improve and expand our knowledge of the religion, as well as build bridges based on commonalities and mutual respect.
Article comments
1 - Matt
I look forward to the day that all of humanity stops looking at life through a superstition tainted lense. On that day, we, as the human race will be able to truly embrace knowledge and not worry about our ideas offending a supernatural sky daddy. For peace on earth all religions must be regarded as the false myths they are.