The University of North Carolina Press

376 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 26 illus., 1 table, notes, index

Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks

Cloth

ISBN  978-0-8078-3258-5

Published: April 2009

Paper

ISBN  978-0-8078-5966-7

Published: April 2009

iMuslims

Rewiring the House of Islam

By Gary R. Bunt

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Exploring the increasing impact of the Internet on Muslims around the world, this book sheds new light on the nature of contemporary Islamic discourse, identity, and community.

The Internet has profoundly shaped how both Muslims and non-Muslims perceive Islam and how Islamic societies and networks are evolving and shifting in the twenty-first century, says Gary Bunt. While Islamic society has deep historical patterns of global exchange, the Internet has transformed how many Muslims practice the duties and rituals of Islam. A place of religious instruction may exist solely in the virtual world, for example, or a community may gather only online. Drawing on more than a decade of online research, Bunt shows how social-networking sites, blogs, and other "cyber-Islamic environments" have exposed Muslims to new influences outside the traditional spheres of Islamic knowledge and authority. Furthermore, the Internet has dramatically influenced forms of Islamic activism and radicalization, including jihad-oriented campaigns by networks such as al-Qaeda.

By surveying the broad spectrum of approaches used to present dimensions of Islamic social, spiritual, and political life on the Internet, iMuslims encourages diverse understandings of online Islam and of Islam generally.

About the Author

Gary R. Bunt is senior lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Wales. He is author of Virtually Islamic and Islam in the Digital Age.

Reviews

"A near-encyclopedia of Islam online."
--Publishers Weekly

"Fascinating. . . . An excellent guide to the emergence of 'specific forms of online Islam'. . . . What is really new, as Bunt shows so powerfully, is the contribution of concerned and thinking Muslims, with no background in traditional education. This opening of Islamic knowledge to ordinary believers is a good development. . . . It will play a major part in rescuing Muslim societies from the current impasse."
--The Independent U.K.

"Many scholars have commented on online Islam, and a few have undertaken research, but only Bunt has developed a comprehensive approach to chronicling Muslims' uptake of the full range of cyber-technologies. iMuslims is a significant book for both religious studies and policy studies."
--Jon W. Anderson, coeditor of Reformatting Politics: Information Technology and Global Civic Society

"Bunt demonstrates an unparalleled command of the many and diverse manifestations of Islam on the Internet. Thoroughly comprehensive and up-to-date, iMuslims offers a wealth of examples throughout, allowing the reader to come away with a firm sense of the rich world of 'cyber-Islamic environments.'"
--Peter Mandaville, author of Global Political Islam

"iMuslims will be welcomed by all who want to understand the impact of the Internet on Islam and the Muslim world today. Gary Bunt, leading expert on Islam, provides a fascinating picture of the Internet as a vehicle for transformation of mainstream Islam as well as a propaganda and recruitment tool for militants."
--John L. Esposito, Georgetown University, co-author of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think

"Bunt confirms his pre-eminence in the study of Islam and new information technologies with this incisive and timely i-Muslims. This work expertly examines how Muslim digitisation and 'wiring' are likely producing new transformations in the understanding and practice of Islam, and importantly in the religious authority to interpret it, which go to the heart of the current critical debate over who speaks for Islam."
--James Piscatori, Australian National University