A new addition to the social networking scene with a Islamic twist appeared today. Ummah5 was developed by Ayoob Syed based on the Ning architecture. Ayoob is a fellow San Francisco Bay Area (Silicon Valley) resident. He sent me an invite this morning and I was more than happy to jump in (I am member #7!). I am honored that he asked me for my feedback and any critiques of the network. Showing my Shafi’i pride, I immediately asked for a prayer time widget according to the Shafi’i madhhab (Ayoob already set up a Hanafi widget).

According to their main page:

“ummah5 is a humble attempt to provide resources and organization to our Muslim community. We are attempting to bring together everyone who considers him/herself a Muslim and wants to do something to raise the condition of our Ummah.”

What’s on the inside:

• your own blog
• a comment wall
• photo album
• video album
• post your favorite RSS feed on your profile
• forum
• start your own group
• member directory
• 50+ themes to personalize your page
• advanced customization of the themes
• personal ummah5 box - use it to promote yourself, your business, service, product or whatever you want

At the moment, ummah5 is closed to the public. You need an invite to get in. If you would like an invite, add a comment to this post with a link to your favorite IslamCrunch article.

More invites! Not as new as our Yahoo! Mash invites but we didn’t see too many Muslims taking advantage of this online productivity social network. So, if you would like an invite to 8apps, drop a comment here with a link to your favorite IslamCrunch post.

8apps is an ongoing, evolving social network project run by Jonkenpon. It aims to be a collection of 8 indispensable online applications designed to help you work better. Currently there are 3 apps within 8apps. Handshake is the glue that ties everything together. It is a professional social network in which you can vote on your contacts’ abilities, send mails, write comments and style your profile page to your liking. Blueprint is a brainstorming board that you and your Handshake contacts can use to get projects quickly and colourfully out of the ideas phase. Orchestrate is a multi-pane task manager that allows you to view as many lists on screen as you like, and of course, you can share lists with your Handshake contacts.

Unity has been established amongst Sunni Muslim scholars from across the globe! Imam Suhaib Webb announced on his blog about the Sunni Muslim Unity Pledge. The official pledge name is Pledge of Mutual Respect and Cooperation Between Sunni Muslim Scholars, Organizations, and Students of Sacred Knowledge.

IslamCrunch fully endorses this pledge and we seek the assistance of Allah s.w.t. to uphold this pledge. To see a list of other bloggers who endorse this pledge, please visit our friend Mujahideen Ryder’s post: The Sunni Unity Pledge.

Several of our teachers and friends from the Zaytuna Seminary Program have signed the pledge. Additionally,  we sincerely endorse this pledge to assist in establishing goodness and removing the evil from within our communities. Also, please visit Shaykh Yasir Qadhi’s post and Abu Eesa’s post with background information. 

Join the Facebook group here:

In what looks like an attempt to simplify the Facebook profile, Facebook has quietly added mini icons. Nothing is mentioned on their ‘Featured Updates’ page or Facebook’s blog. The social networking news blog, Mashable, also had no mention of this new Facebook feature.

These icons show the apps on the user’s profile page. From a design perspective, this not only simplifies the profile page but gives the page a better aesthetic appeal. With Facebook users going app-crazy, the icons are an easier navigation tool as you browse your friend’s profile. (Facebook allows users to re-arrange the layout of the apps and features on their profile). Instead of searching for the app on the page, the icons will help you navigate to a specific app.

Yumondo is a new web 2.0 community site that is currently in closed beta. We had the honor of being invited to use and test the site. While browsing through the site, we met one of the site’s moderators, Mohammad Pashmi. Based in Berlin, Mohammad gave us a friendly European welcome to the site and honored us with an interview. We would like to thank him for his prompt reply and friendship. Click here to grab an invite for Yumondo. Also, the site has just undergone a new design change. The previous design relied on dark colors while the new design uses a white background with bright blue text on the tabs.

IslamCrunch: What is your web application/service about?

Yumondo: Yumondo is about letting people share their style. It’s a service designed to let people upload and share information about their favorite places, events, and things. These things that you associate with are all part of what defines your style in a way.

IslamCrunch: Why did you start this project?

Yumondo: Mostly because we thought it would be fun and interesting. We all share a vision of a world where communities can be connected, and can grow up around common interests and shared tastes and styles.

IslamCrunch:How much time do you devote to its growth?

Yumondo: Well, I serve as the community manager for Metaversum* as a company. Metaversum is the company behind Yumondo, and Yumondo is one of our products. I am also responsible for our community building on other projects, so I only get to spend a few hours per week with the Yumondo community. There are a few other guys who spend much more time there, like Robert and Christian. You can see them in Yumondo and our Yumondo blog.

IslamCrunch:How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?

Yumondo: The Yumondo team is about 8 people. The backgrounds are pretty diverse, with some development people, customer support, IT and marketing.

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