: Searching for Islam on the Internet

In the first of a three part series, National Public Radio explores online Muslim communities (I guess we were too late in the game to be interviewed). IslamiCity and the Islamic Broadcasting Network are two of the featured sites where members discuss the collaborative and free-wheeling nature of the Web and the battle to “portray Islam as a religion where diversity and debate are encouraged.” And that includes Muslim women. “I think for the first time, a lot of Muslim women can be equal partners in a discussion on anything,” says Samer Hathout, co-founder of the Muslim Women’s League in Los Angeles. “That is the beauty of it — they don’t know if you are a woman or a man — or if you’re covered, or you’re not covered.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.