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human rights

Virtually Islamic News > Blog > human rights
  • Sun 8 Shawwal 1446AH 6-4-2025AD
  • Gaza, Human Rights, Israel, Media manipulation, News Media, War crimes

Gaza Medics ‘Executed‘

This episode is now under understandable further scrutiny (updated coverage below): Edith M. Lederer, Wafaa Shurafa, Lee Keath, AP News, Israel walks back its account of the killing of...
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  • Mon 17 Ramadan 1446AH 17-3-2025AD
  • Human Rights, Journalism, Syria, Syria Internet, War crimes

Syria Violence

Essential viewing (click through for the video) This is from CNN on the Syria situation: "A masked fighter filmed himself parading around the ransacked home, singing “ethnic cleansing, ethnic...
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  • Sun 9 Ramadan 1446AH 9-3-2025AD
  • Human Rights, Iran, Iran internet, Iranian internet

Iran – Recipes for Survival

Rachel Cooke, Observer, Crumble, cookies and madeleines – recipes of hope for Iran’s jailed women “Sepideh Gholian’s diary of prison life came out four years ago. Next month, she...
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  • Wed 5 Ramadan 1446AH 5-3-2025AD
  • Journalism, Syria

Syria report

An excellent and powerful report from Paraic O’Brien in #Syria on @channel4news.bsky.social this evening youtu.be/-9arRFAa5wk?…...
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  • Sat 16 Shaban 1446AH 15-2-2025AD
  • Gaza, Hamas, Human Rights, Israel-Gaza Conflict 2023, Israel-Gaza Conflict 2024, Israel-Hamas Conflict 2023, Israel-Hamas Conflict 2024, Politics

Gaza releases

Palestinian prisoner releases were blocked at the time of posting. Militants have handed over the bodies of four hostages taken into Gaza during their October 2023 attack, with Hamas...
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Palestine stamp, green, showing mosque
  • Mon 6 Rajab 1446AH 6-1-2025AD
  • Gaza, Human Rights, Israel, Israel-Gaza Conflict 2024, Israel-Hamas Conflict 2024, Palestine, War crimes

Social Media and Online Coverage: Israel-Hamas Conflict (Month Fifteen) – updated

This is the fifteenth month since the current Israel-Hamas conflict commenced. I have been keeping copies of selected online content since 7 October 2023. Some of these posts feature...
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Tank as vegetable stand
  • Wed 1 Rajab 1446AH 1-1-2025AD
  • Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Human Rights, Syria, Syria Internet, War crimes

Syria Situation(s)

Updated This page provides snapshots of online activities and representations following the removal of Bashar al-Assad from Syria. The list appears to be all-Sunni and is probably all-Islamist, but...
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  • Wed 25 Jumada Al Oula 1446AH 27-11-2024AD
  • Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Egypt Internet, Egypt,, Human Rights

Alaa Abd el-Fattah

Ahdaf Soueif, The Guardian, My sister is on hunger strike to free her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah from jail in Egypt. We don’t want her to die, 27 Nov...
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Entisar Hijaze from Nazareth Details: https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-releases-palestinian-teacher-detained-over-tiktok-video?amp
  • Tue 3 Jumada Al Oula 1446AH 5-11-2024AD
  • Crime, Gaza, Gaza Protests, Human Rights, Israel, Israel-Gaza Conflict 2024, Israel-Hamas Conflict 2024, Journalism, Lebanon-Israel Crisis 2024, Palestine, War crimes

Social Media and Online Coverage: Israel-Hamas Conflict (Month Thirteen) – updated

This is the thirteenth month since the current Israel-Hamas conflict commenced. I have been keeping copies of selected online content since 7 October 2023. Many of these posts feature...
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  • Fri 17 Rabi Al Awwal 1446AH 20-9-2024AD
  • Afghanistan, Afghanistan Internet, Censorship, Human Rights, Iran, Iran internet, Taliban

Taliban Satellite Jammers

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Islamic Algorithms

Islamic Algorithms - book cover
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
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

 

Screenshot: quote on Islamic Algorithms

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

Muslim World cover

“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

Religion & Theology cover

“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] 

Reading Religion Logo

” … 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)

Middle East Librarians Association logo

“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

Şeyh Google’dan Yapay Zekâ İmama Mı?

 

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

  • Kitapyurdu

  • BKM Kitap

  • Kitap Bahçesi

  • Nobel Kitap

  • FCR Publisher 

Links

Virtually Islamic – main site

Islam in Britain – blog 

X @garybunt 

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Threads g.r.bunt 

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Disclaimer

VirtuallyIslamic.com is the research website and blog of Professor Gary R. Bunt

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Virtually Islamic News – Remix

Salam. This version of Virtually Islamic News (previously the blog) launched in 2023. Archived copies of posts going back to 2003 can be found through the Virtually Islamic Site Map.

Virtually Islamic News is part of virtuallyislamic.com

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Heştek İslam

Now available in print and ebook versions:

Gary R. Bunt, Heştek İslam: Si̇ber-İslami̇ Ortamlar Di̇ni̇ Otori̇teyi̇ Nasil Dönüştürür? (trans. Mehmet Ali Başak & Aziz Akkaya) (Istanbul: Adab Yayınları, 2023).

Kitapyurdu

Heştek İslam

“From Sheikh Google to ImamAI?”

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

In the clouds …

Data visualisation, via Voyant Tools
Data visualisation, via Voyant Tools. August 2023

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