“Going on Pilgrimage online: The representation of the twelver-shia in the internet”

The article I read for today dealt with the Shia Muslim religion finding space in the virtual world. It was a general overall look at Islam in the online world today dealing with issues of chat rooms, dating sites, virtual temples, e-mailing prayers to shrines and more. I found all the information to be interesting, but nothing new to what we’ve already seen in the class. The article begins by telling how Muslims in non-Islamic countries used online services to find Mosques and groups where they were living to join an “outcast” community. From here our focus is shifted to Iran and how it specifically deals with censoring the internet and the demand from its citizens for online access. Even though a lot of the internet is censored there some parts slip through the government’s radar and its citizens can discuss taboo issues such as sex and criticizing those in charge. From there the author discusses how the internet is also used to spread Islam throughout the world offering translations into Chinese, Hindi, English and many other languages. People can even ask clerics questions at certain sites.

Overall I found the article interesting for citing specific examples of how virtual reality is used in Islam, but i didn’t find any of the information new or groundbreaking. I’m glad that people from around the world are able to get a better understanding of Islam through the internet and even visit reconstructed holy sites online that only allow believers in person, but never the less this article didn’t bring any new information to my attention that this class and religion and culture did.

~ by bmill1 on March 19, 2008.