The future of one of the largest Islamic websites in the world was in doubt today after hundreds of staff walked out, accusing new managers of trying to hijack the site in order to promote a hardline, conservative agenda.
IslamOnline, which draws over 120,000 visitors a day and is one of the most popular internet destinations in the Middle East, was plunged into crisis following an attempt by the website's senior management in Qatar to wrest control of the site's content away from its editorial offices in Cairo. [guardian.co.uk] Read more
Online goes offline .... The site was founded in 1997 under the guidance of Egyptian cleric Yousef el-Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar. It has numerous sections-news, arts & culture, youth, health & science, politics in-depth, reading Islam (for new Muslims) and others.
In my experience of freelancing there for 10 years and working exclusively as their U.S. correspondent/editor since January, I've come to known Islam Online as a site that covers topics other Muslim sites don't dare to address: marital issues, homosexuality, and child abuse. This, in addition to offering news from the Muslim world and fascinating arts reporting. When I came on board, the site was on an initiative to increase its coverage of Muslim-Americans, for which I was heavily involved. [altmuslim] Read more
Workers' jihad at Islamic website Islamic advice websites aren't the first thing that spring to mind when talking of strikes, sit-ins and workers' occupations, but if there's any proof needed that Egypt's extraordinary wave of industrial action is reaching every corner of the nation, then today's drama at IslamOnline.net fits the bill.
With more than 120,000 hits a day and a global reach that extends through several languages, IslamOnline is one of the biggest and most influential Muslim websites in the world. From Baghdad to Basildon, Muslims use it as a key source of scholarly advice on everything from impotency to the insurgency in Iraq. [Guardian Cif] Read more
Workers' jihad at Islamic website - What Guardian readers think "Well I'm consciously drawn to Guardian articles on Islam, mainly because they often wrong, usually partial, and almost always weird.
It's a strange article on IslamOnline.net that does not mention al Qawadari, a key spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who founded the site." [LibertyPhile Research] Read more
