Apparently, come Ramadhan month this year, Muslims will have more to look forward to than just fasting, new clothes, Ramadhan food markets, and reunions with family and friends. What are we on about? Well, this.
The “halal” Facebook, also known as “Salamworld” is slated to open its doors to netizens in July. Its main purpose? To become an Islamic alternative to the hugely popular social networking giant, Facebook. Salamworld brands itself to be a safe site that is free of everything that is:
- Haram (forbidden)
- Pornographic
- Criminal
- Fraud
- Pedophiliac
- Inappropriate Advertising (e.g. gambling and alcohol)
Launched in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Salamworld Inaugural Global Summit, the grand event was witnessed by a gathering of Islamic leaders and intellectuals, and it aims to garner 50 million users in three years.
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By the way, as of January 2012, Facebook has more than 800 million active users. If it were a country it would be the third-largest in the world after China (population: 1.34 billion) and India (population: 1.17 billion).
When asked, one of the owners of Salamworld, Siberian Muslim businessmen Abdulvahed Nizavov said, “At Salamworld, our aim is to overcome all political, language, and cultural barrier, to open the world to Muslims, and open Muslims to the world. Muslims in the world are not well-represented on the Internet; we want to change this situation.”
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“However, we’re not constructing an Internet mosque; we are just creating a halal environment for Muslims.”
Right.
This should be interesting. But wait, hang on, are they forgetting that there are also platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, any given blog, and (let’s not leave out the giant) Google?
What are your thoughts on this? Do leave us a comment below. We’d love to hear it.
