Gary R. Bunt, Islam in the Digital Age: E-jihad, Online Fatwas and Cyber Islamic Environments, (London: Pluto Press, 2003, ISBN 0 7453 2099 6 hardback/ISBN 0 7453 2098 8 paperback, £14.99/US$ 24.95, 248 pp, 215x135mm
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Islam in the Digital Age: Bibliography
This is the first comprehensive analysis of Muslims and Islam on the Internet post-9/11.
The Internet is an increasingly important source of information for many people in the Muslim world. Many Muslims in majority and minority contexts rely on the Internet -- including websites and e-mail -- as a primary source of news, information and communication about Islam. As a result, a new media culture is emerging which is having a significant impact on areas of global Muslim consciousness. Post-September 11th, this phenomena has grown more rapidly than ever.
Gary R. Bunt provides a fascinating account of the issues at stake, identifying two radical new concepts: firstly, the emergence of e-jihad ('Electronic Jihad') originating from diverse Muslim perspectives -- this is described in its many forms relating to the different definitions of 'jihad', including on-line activism (ranging from promoting militaristic activities to hacking to co-ordinating peaceful protests) and Muslim expression post 9/11; secondly, he discusses religious authority on the Internet -- including the concept of on-line fatwas and their influence in diverse settings, and the complexities of conflicting notions of religious authority.
Highlighting contradictory and diverse concepts of 'Islamic' authority in this way, Islam in the Digital Age offers a unique insight into contemporary Muslim cultures in a post-9/11 context.
The book will be backed up with related webpages and updates (via www.virtuallyislamic.com)
"The Internet is very big in the Arab world. After Al-Jazeera, it is the second most important source of dissenting opinion. Literally, millions of people in the Muslim world rely on web sites to get their information and fatwas. A whole new life of cyber Imams and a new culture is emerging through Internet programmes and will have a profound effect on Arab consciousness. The book documents all this and examines various sites and offers the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the Internet on Islamic culture." Zia Sardar, author of 'Postmodernism and the Other' and 'Why Do People Hate America'
"Islam in the Digital Age offers a fascinating trip to the new Arab and Islamic configurations blossoming on the web in the post 9/11 world." Yves Gonzalez-Quijano, Lecturer, GREMMO (Groupe de Recherche et d'Études sur la Méditerranée et le Moyen-Orient), Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen, l'Université Lumière Lyon 2
"Gary Bunt has done what no other scholar to date has tried to do: he has expressed the variety of functions which the Internet has been performed for Muslim cybernauts. He has demonstrated both the flexibility of uses and the persistence of themes that characterize the Islamic lane in the information superhighway. This is a book that will be invaluable both for cyber savvy Muslims and for students of virtual Islam." Bruce Lawrence, Professor of Islamic Studies, Duke University, and author of 'Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence' (Princeton, 1998)
Corriere della Sera - L'Islam nella Rete, tra trasgressione e tradizione Italian review of Islam in the Digital Age.
Aksiyon, Islam'in dijital çagi, 18 August 2003 Extensive article on 'Digiislam' by Sema Sak, includes interview with myself (in Turkish).
Guardian Unlimited | Online | Islam at the electronic frontier refers to Islam in the Digital Age.