Islam Online runs a story about the work of Al-Sadiq Al-Othmani, a Moroccan expert on Islam living in São Paulo, who has turned to the Internet to introduce Islam to Latin Americans. In a country like Brazil, where it may take some believers up to 12 hours to reach a rare mosque, cyberspace has greatly amplified the work of Muslim preachers:
Othmani, a renowned imam in Sao Paulo, cites his own personal experience.
"In 2007, I delivered a sermon themed
‘Islam and slaves freeing’ in a Sao Paulo mosque, and it was appealing
to the few attending worshippers," he recalled.
"After I finished, some of the attendants asked me to translate the sermon and post it on the internet, and I did."
The sermon was posted on the website of a young Muslim who established a website to introduce Islam to Brazilians.
"To our surprise, the sermon got 800,000 hit in just one week," said Othmani.
"We also received a flood of letters and
e-mail from many people asking for more information about Islam, and
many of them later converted to Islam."
Othmani later embraced the idea of online da`wah and established an online magazine that introduces Islam to Latin Americans.
"So far the magazine gets some 5,000 visitors a week."
I just received my copy of iMuslims: Rewiring the House of Islam and am curious to learn about other ways in which the Internet is reshaping this religion.
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