Presidency of Two Holy Mosques Starts Website
The Presidency of the two Holy Mosques has started a website in order to enlighten the public about its activities. Phase 1 of the website is already launched and allows people to watch the prayers and sermons at the two mosques (The Prophet’s (SAW) Mosque in Madinah and Masjid-Al-Haram in Makkah) as well as offering 45,000 recordings of the recitation of the Quran as well as Islamic Lectures.
Phase 2 will provide e-education services and indexing of rare books and calligraphic writings. English and other Major languages will also be included in the second phase. The website also includes tons of other information such as How to perform Hajj and Umrah, Speeches in Arabic, Urdu and english, Prayer times in Makkah and Madinah, etc.
The website is http://www.gph.gov.sa
Twitter, Banned in Dubai?
by Muhammad on April 18, 2008
in Uncategorized
Just got his bit of news from Techtree.
The message reads: “We apologise the site you are trying to visit
has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the
religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the United Arab
Emirates.”
Apparently Dubai has blocked the Twitter site, but there’s no indication as to why. There is speculation over governments seeing Twitter as a threat to their sovereignty, but come on. Firstly, this is Dubai, one of the most liberal places in the UAE, also, which self-respecting internet user won’t figure out all the anonymous browsing websites there are out there to get hold of twitter anyway?
This story is seriously dodgy.
UAE is the new China?
by Muhammad on April 15, 2008
in Uncategorized
Buzz 2.0 tells of his recent bump up against the UAE’s new initiative to censor certain websites in the UAE free zones.
I logged onto blogger this morning to post some thoughts on twitter business models, read the first blog entry from blogger about a staff member leaving. Clicked the blog link and was served up with the dreaded message.
For anyone in the UAE, if you have been to a legitimate website and found that your access was denied, you can log a complaint here: safesurf@du.ae
Technorati Tags: Censorship, UAE, Internet, Blogging, Blogs
This is what Israel Does: No More Mr. Nice Guy…
by Muhammad on February 21, 2008
in Uncategorized
Technorati Tags: Palestine, Israel
Saudi Girls Gone Wild?
Just got my hands on a very interesting article regarding the younger generation in Saudi Arabia… who live in one of the strictest social conditions implemented by any government. I remember having many a conversation regarding the dark side of the segregation of the sexes in Islam, although you can understand where it comes from… the extreme implementation of this often leads to things far worse than the rules were intended to prevent.
The article also alludes to a book which I want to try to get my hands on… Girls of Riyadh, of which it says…
“…In a country where “driving while female” is illegal, as is checking
into a hospital without a male guardian’s signature, a gossipy romance
can spark an explosion of political debate. That’s what happened when a
Beirut publishing house first released Girls of Riyadh in
2005, by 24-year-old Rajaa Alsanea. It was initially banned in her
native Saudi Arabia, but young Saudis quickly got their hands on it
anyway. They lauded it online, while writers and columnists debated the
book’s meaning and Saudi talking heads told the author she should
disown it.
In the book, an anonymous narrator details the lives
of four upper-class girlfriends, showing them flirting with boys, going
to parties, and in one case, contemplating a relationship with a member
of a different Muslim sect.”
A bit too taboo? In today’s times? Barriers are being broken everywhere and in the tradition of people everywhere who have a point of view forced upon them… Rebellion simmers and boils over. The article also mentions another book which details enforced lesbianism due to the extreme segregation which is being enforced.
There’s a reason why the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said that the middle path is the right way and everything should be done in moderation. Extremism on any side leads to too much evil.
Viva La Revolucion!
M.
P.S. you can buy Girls of Riyadh from Exclusive Books and its available for purchase on-line.
Technorati Tags: Saudi Girls Gone Wild, Girls of Riyadh, Rajaa Alsanea
