2025 – Page 31 – Virtually Islamic News

Thu 28 Shaban 1446AH 27-2-2025AD
'Red-pill', Andrew Tate, Donald Trump, prosecutions

Tates Fly

Andrew Tate leaves Romania for Florida after travel restrictions lifted https://www.ft.com/content/ab64f05b-d5be-4d43-8f41-c9abe1c4088e [image or embed] — Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) 27 February 2025 at 09:16 The self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate...

Thu 28 Shaban 1446AH 27-2-2025AD
Elon Musk, Modern Slavery, Starlink

Starlink Concerns

Important reporting/thread from @mattburgess1.bsky.social (I haven't seen this reported elsewhere). @wired.com is pushing out some great content at the moment....

Wed 27 Shaban 1446AH 26-2-2025AD
Egypt Internet, Egypt,, Music

Umm Kulthum

Digression (with digital overtones): Amuna Wagner, OkayAfrica, Legends: Umm Kulthum’s Legacy Lives in the Emotion of Younger Generations, 21 Feb 2025 “The Egyptian government announced 2025 to be the...

Wed 27 Shaban 1446AH 26-2-2025AD
Artificial Intelligence, chatbots, Elon Musk, Grok

Grok AI Issues

Noor al-Sibai, Futurism, Elon’s Grok 3 AI Provides “Hundreds of Pages of Detailed Instructions” on Creating Chemical Weapons, 26 Feb 2025. “Elon Musk has boasted that his AI efforts will...

Wed 27 Shaban 1446AH 26-2-2025AD
Artificial Intelligence, Business, Digital MENA, MENA, Research

AI Middle East (Report)

Alvin R. Cabral, The National, Many Middle East firms struggle to know where to start with AI, 26 Feb 2025 “A report from global consultancy Deloitte has found that...

Wed 27 Shaban 1446AH 26-2-2025AD
Apple, Donald Trump, Phones

iPhone ‘bug‘

Sky News, Apple fixing bug in iPhone speech-to-text glitch which interprets ‘racist’ as ‘Trump’, 26 Feb 2025 “The fault has been linked to people speaking “words with some phonetic...

Tue 26 Shaban 1446AH 25-2-2025AD
Artificial Intelligence, translation, Turkey, Turkey Internet

AI Turkish Translation Replacement

Kaya Genç, Rest of World, Turkey’s translators are training the AI tools that will replace them, 20 Feb 2025. “Translation has become a job for a limited number of...

Tue 26 Shaban 1446AH 25-2-2025AD
Bahasa Indonesia, Censorship, Indonesia, Indonesia Internet, Music

Sukatani Censored

Resty Woro Yuniar, SCMP, Indonesian punk band’s apology for anti-police song sparks outcry over perceived censorship, 27 Feb 2025. “Sukatani, a punk rock duo hailing from Purbalingga in Central Java,...

Mon 25 Shaban 1446AH 24-2-2025AD
Gaza, Gaza Protests, Hamas, Israel-Hamas Conflict 2023, Israel-Hamas Conflict 2024

Gaza Film

This film was subsequently withdrawn from the BBC iPlayer (at the time of posting). The post below relates to its original release. BBC faces questions over Gaza film's Hamas...

Mon 25 Shaban 1446AH 24-2-2025AD
Artificial Intelligence, Research

AI v Conspiracy Theories

This is very interesting and worth a deeper dive: New research from Costello, Pennycook, and Rand. Can conversations with AI help reduce belief in conspiracy theories? Quite possibly. What’s...

Islamic Algorithms – book cover

Gary R. Bunt, Islamic Algorithms: Online Influence in the Muslim Metaverse (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024)

Explore the book

Paperback, hardback and ebook editions are available now.

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Prof. Gary R. Bunt, 2026

Comments

“Gary Bunt’s Islamic Algorithms explores the dynamic relationship between technology shifts and the evolving engagement of Muslims online. Bunt emphasises the unchanging core of Islam, adapting its expression to developing technology. A testament to Bunt’s brilliance in the ever-changing Cyber Islamic Environments, this is a must-read for those interested in Islamic studies, digital Islam and Muslim metaverses.” ―Eva Nisa, Senior Lecturer of Anthropology, The Australian National University, Australia

“A timely and insightful exploration, the book offers a concise yet comprehensive glimpse into the evolving landscape of Cyber Islamic Environments. From the serene halls of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque to the potential realms of Muslim metaverses, this book takes readers on a journey to unveil the dynamic relationship between Islam and technology. In a world where smartphones guide prayers and iPads connect elders in study groups, Bunt shares a compelling and timely perspective on the evolving relationship between Islam, technology and the digital age.” ―Umar Ryad, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium

Bibliography and Glossary

Review by Michael Dhanoya (University of Leicester) in LSE Blogs

“Islamic Algorithms is a great contribution to the topic of Digital Religion …”

Review in The Muslim World‘ by Dr Akif Tahiiev of Goethe-Universitat Frankfurt am Main

‘Gary R. Bunts Islamic Algorithms liefert detaillierte Einblicke in die digitalen Räume von AkteurInnen, die sich auf unterschiedliche Weise auf den Islam “

“Gary R. Bunt’s Islamic Algorithms provides detailed insights into the digital spaces of actors who relate to Islam in various ways.*

* Google Translation

Margareta Wetchy, Gary R. Bunts Islamic Algorithms unter der Lupe, Machine Against the Rage

“Overall, Islamic Algorithms: Online Influence in the Muslim Metaverse is crucial to contemporary Islamic studies. The book is highly recommended for researchers, academics, and practitioners interested in the interaction between
technology and religion.” Reza Adeputra Tohis and Zulkifli Mansyur, Religion & Theology, 32 (2025): Issue 1-2 (Jun 2025) [PDF]

” … Bunt’s volume is an important step forward in understanding the importance of digital discourse to contemporary Islamic traditions and Muslim communities.” James Riggan, Reading Religion (American Academy of Religion)

“Islamic Algorithms provides a timely and thoughtful examination of how Islam, algorithms, and digital culture intersect. It is a valuable resource for scholars and researchers interested in digital presence of Islam, and digital culture both in theory and practice.” Mohamed Taher, Middle Eastern Librarians Association

Book cover: Dijital Dünyada Müslüman Olmak: Mecra, Kimlik ve Otorite‘

Gary R. Bunt’s chapter ‘Şeyh Google’dan Yapay Zekâ İmama Mı?: Müslüman Dijital Mecralarda İslami Etki ve Otoritenin Dönüşümü‘?‘ (trans. Necmiye Durmuş) is available in ‘Dijital Dünyada Müslüman Olmak: Mecra, Kimlik ve Otorite‘ edited by Mehmet Ali Başak (Eskiyeni). The original version was in

Scharia im Wandel edited by Mahmud El-Wereny and Alexander-Kenneth Nagel. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2024).

Available from:

AI ‘Fake Journalism‘ Fri 28 Rabi Al Thani 1448AH 9-10-2026AD

Starlink Test Implications Fri 28 Rabi Al Thani 1448AH 9-10-2026AD

Virtually Islamic on Substack Fri 28 Rabi Al Thani 1448AH 9-10-2026AD

Iran AI Fri 28 Rabi Al Thani 1448AH 9-10-2026AD

Indonesia Online Gambling Thu 27 Rabi Al Thani 1448AH 8-10-2026AD

Scharia im Wandel book cover. Showing figures reading, a stack of books, and the background of a minaret and mosque dome.

My chapter, “From Sheikh Google to ImamAI? Evolving Islamic Influence and Authority in Muslim Digital Worlds,” is published in “Scharia im Wandel. Beiträge zur Transformation islamischer Autorität im Spannungsfeld von Kodifikation, Migration und Digitalisierung,” edited by Mahmud El-Wereny and Alexander-Kenneth Nagel. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2024). Studies on Islamic Cultural and Intellectual History, Noorhaidi Hasan et al.

The book is the result of a 2022 conference at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

A Turkish version of the chapter is in preparation for publication in 2026.

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