| Review |
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Virtually Islamic: Computer-mediated communication and cyber Islamic
environments Gary Bunt Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000 |
| Bunt's valuable introduction to this topic is
guided by a number of questions: * Is the digital umma or online Muslim community a 'real' and/or 'imagined' phenomenon? * Does cyberspace create an idealized sense of Muslim identity (or identities) compared with the reality? What impact can this have on individuals and communities, especially those situated in 'hostile' situations? * How do Cyber Islamic Environments reflect traditions, 'orthodoxy,' 'messages,' individuality and pluralism in Islamic contexts? * Do Cyber Islamic Environments on the Internet represent, in certain contexts, the loss of traditional centres of knowledge and power, manifestations of transnationalisms where conventional borders, controls and authorities are electronically navigated? Bunt acknowledges that these questions are difficult to explore systematically because the online environment changes so rapidly. They are also difficult to explore because of the immense diversity there is online. Bunt's survey of the range of Islamic sites, both generally and specifically with particular sites, gives a good sampling of the diversity there is there. His study identifies and illustrates some of the tensions that the Net poses to established religious traditions (which are in themselves diverse anyway): challenges to established religious authorities, a bypassing of previous gatekeepers of religious information, the risk of information overload, tensions between online and local expressions of religion, new technologies of publication redefining orthodoxy vs religious and political entrepreneurship, greater exposure to consumerist and sexual content raising questions of censorship, power struggles for the hearts minds and souls of Muslim occurring not just between Islam and other religions but between different factions of Islam. Bunt recognizes that the study of the impact of the Internet on Islam is at early stages. His book is a good beginning. Table of Contents: Review by Peter Horsfield |