While we wait for Facebook to send us our decal, we decided to create our own digital version of the decal being sent out to local businesses. As you can see, we added our SMS notification service to the decal. If you would like to receive text alerts about Islam, Muslims and all the halalness of IslamCrunch, please sign up for SMS list – http://www.textmarks.com/MUSLIM

And please join us on Facebook – http://facebook.com/IslamCrunch

From what we can tell, IslamCrunch appears to be one of the first Islamic-themed sites to implement the Facebook like button. Try it out, click the thumb, join the Open Graph.

Follow us (or like us as you can’t become a fan) on our Facebook page:

http://facebook.com/islamcrunch

What are your thoughts on Facebook’s Open Graph? Security concerns? Awesomeness? Share your comments below.

After joining every social network in the universe, posting dozens of photos as well as adding thousands of friends and strangers, you realized that your online presence needs consolidation. You need a one-stop place to show the world who you are and what you do. Even though there are quite a few build-it-yourself homepage solutions, Flavors.me gives you beauty, simplicity, flexibility and most of all: “tweet appeal.”

Flavors.me has three features that makes your own page fun and cool. Besides pulling in your social feed, you can customize your main content. Here’s your chance to tell the world about your plans for world peace or how much you love posting comments on this article. Also, you can use your own image for your background. Best of all, it’s all so easy. With so much flexibility and ease-of-use, you can try different layouts, styles and colors.

Here’s my Flavor: http://flavors.me/mikael

Read the article for the interview and invite code: http://bit.ly/flavorsme

Here’s a screen shot of my article featured on Flavors.me feedback page:

Share

IslamCrunch is offering 2 free tickets to sold out film screening of New Muslim Cool. For a chance to win these tickets, simply post a comment here and describe another important element of Islam in the West (besides hip-hop).

Here’s an example: Technology is an important element of Islam in the West. We have so many Muslim engineers, scientists, computer specialists. Plus we have the benefit of centuries of jurisprudence, Islamic law and spiritual teachings. We can use this extensive knowledge to lead the technology front in order to benefit humanity.

The most appealing answer will be given the tickets. Video comments would be very cool too. Screening will be on Sunday, April 26 at 3pm in San Francisco. More details here: http://fest09.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=63

We would like to request that the winner provide a review of the film. Your review may get posted on IslamCrunch!

This contest is sponsored by Kinza Academy – Muslim home education.

Ta’leef Collective is a new organization that we are involved with. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ta’leef Collective provides the space, content, and companionship necessary for a healthy understanding, embrace and realization of Islam. Ta’leef Collective is an expansion of the program formerly known as Zaytuna Outreach.

Ta’leef Collective hopes to serve:

• Seekers of knowledge
• Converts
• Muslim Youth
• Other under served populations

If you are in the Bay Area, we would like to invite you to join us and your community at our new location.

Date: Sunday, March 15, 2009

Time: 7:30pm

Address: 43170 Osgood Rd., Fremont, CA 94539

Program:

• Recitation of the Burda poetry (Classical poem about the characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings of Allah be upon him)
• Spiritual and practical pearls of wisdom from our teachers
• For those who would like to stay, we will be continuing our weekly Mawlid gathering later in the evening

Tea and sweets will be available.

For more information, please email: admin {at} islamcrunch . com

Website: http://taleefcollective.org/2009/03/grand-opening-march-15-2009/

Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taleef-Collective/133124145555

Curing Extremism

The DeenLoad series offers single lectures for download. The first series is titled Curing Extremism with Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.

In this timely download, Imam Zaid, Shaykh Abdal Hakim and Shaykh Hamza diagnose and offer curative solutions to one of the most pressing problems we face as a globalized human society…. religious extremism.

Is Islam intrinsically extreme? Who’s to blame? What is the role that the individual, the community and the society at large can play in combatting and preventing religious extremism?

Find the answers to these essential questions and more in this critical series.

Click the link to purchase the download: http://zikrcast.com/Distance_Learning/deenload.php

We highly recommend the video download. It is high quality video in 640 x 480 mp4 format.

Another special treat: for every person who adds a comment to this post with sincere feedback on why you enjoy or dislike IslamCrunch, will receive a discount code for $1.00 off the sale price. If you leave a video comment, you will receive a $2.00 discount code.

LECTURE OUTLINES

Part 1 by Imam Zaid Shakir

• Particular dynamics of Muslim life in Britain
• What shapes who we are
• Parallels between the ghettos in the US & Britain
• Distorted understanding of “the other”
• The reality of low self esteem amongst the youth
• Fighting with the wrong weapons
• Superficial reactions to social ills
• Changing our perception of western societies
• Taking advantage of the opportunities that Western society offers
• Being a community of balanced
• Forging a new vision of change for our youth
• Doing more to help more

Part 2 by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad

• The bewilderment of this age
• The guiding Ship of Faith
• Unity amidst diversity
• The response of the believers and the response of the hypocrites to trials
• A multitude of choices and conflicting voices
• Following the scholars or ones whims
• The tranquil stability of the believers
• Projecting inner ugliness onto Islam
• Aiding the enemies of Islam with our wrong actions
• Spreading the message of Rahmah

Part 3 by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

• Defining terms & limits
• Living in a culture of extremes
• Causing our own suffering
• To whom is our allegiance
• Interacting with the law of the land
• Understanding civil disobedience
• Studying the Prophetic model of social reform
• Advice for Muslims living in the West
• Perceptions of Muslims in the West
• The question of assimilation and integration
• The potential benefits that Muslims bring to society
• A call to wisdom
• The example of the Bee
• The best defense

To launch this group, we are conducting a photo contest!

To enter, submit photos to the new Flickr group. Photos must depict Islam with elements of modernity and/or Muslims interacting, engaging or using technology.

After submitting your photos, post the link to your photos on our contest page. You can submit more than one photo but only one contest entry per email address. So if you plan on submitting more than one photo, please ensure you share all of the URLs to your photos on your entry form. All photos and your entry form must be submitted by December 1st, 2008.

Prize: A Flickr Pro account valid for 2 years!
A Flickr Pro account gives you:

• Unlimited uploads and storage
• Unlimited sets and collections
• Access to your original files
• Stats on your account
• Ad-free browsing and sharing
• Video uploads

Some ideas for the contest: reading the Quran on your iPhone, viewing an Islamic studies class on your smartphone, using a laser-guided compass to find the qibla, using GPS to find the resting places of Islamic saints. This is the 21st century, technology surrounds us.

Visit the contest page for contest rules and more details.

Technorati Tags: flickr, photo, contest, islam, 21st century, quran, iphone, smartphone, gps, compass, technology

One of the co-founders of Yamli, Habib Haddad, contacted us to share with you the latest feature of Yamli (see our previous post about Yamli here). Yamli has released an API that allows website owners to add a new feature to their site: allow users to type in Arabic text.

Here’s a link to their API: http://www.yamli.com/api/

Click here to read their informative press release.

Our Twitter buddy, Mohamed Marwen Meddah, also has a great post about the Yamli API on his blog: http://www.startuparabia.com/2008/10/yamli-officially-releases-free-api-allowing-easy-integration-of-arabic-transliteration-into-any-website/

From: http://zikrcast.com/Distance_Learning/deenload.php

Zaytuna Distance Learning Program Presents: DeenLoads

A new single-lecture format, offering timely and illuminating lectures from a wide variety of top Muslim scholars. Featuring numerous exclusive lectures including:

“Curing Extremism” with Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir and Abdal Hakim Murad

“Real Love” with Hamza Yusuf.

DeenCards give you access to exclusive lectures. Your DeenCard has a special access code that you enter on a special DeenLoad page. Your DeenCard is your gateway to beneficial and enriching knowledge you can expect from the Zaytuna Distance Learning program.

How do you get an exclusive DeenCard? Visit us at a Zaytuna booth at Minara events, regional conventions and other venues.

These limited edition DeenCards are an exciting new way for you to learn from Zaytuna scholars, anytime, anywhere.

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IslamCrunch has exclusive details on the material that is available on the 2 inaugural DeenLoad cards.

“Real Love” with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf:

This Limited Edition card gives you access to an exclusive, CD-Length lecture by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf in high-quality, MP3 audio format. A preview of the  special 3-Part series, “Curing Extremism” featuring Shaykh Hamza Yusuf,  ImamZaid Shakir and Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad is also included as a bonus.

ZDL DeenCard [Know Your Self, Know Your Prophet, Know Your Lord]:

This Limited Edition card gives you access to over 6 hours of course selections from the Zaytuna Distance Learning portal in high-quality, MP3 audio format! Featuring illuminating courses and lectures by Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salek bin Siddina,  Ustadh Abdullah Ali, Ustadh Yahya Rhodus and others to come.

Both cards will be available at the Zaytuna booth at the ISNA 45th Annual Convention in Columbus, Ohio from August 29 – September 1.

DeenLCards allow Zaytuna to bridge the gap between the physical and digital world.

A sneak preview video of Sweetcron’s Admin Panel on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqFd6EDQimU

SweetCron is the eagerly awaited new lifestreaming blogging software that is:

• Free
• Open source
• Self hosted
• Easily customisable
• Your lifestreaming automatic imports of your web 2.0 life

See Yong Fook’s site (SweetCron’s developer) to see SweetCron live.

SweetCron is expected to launch on August 28, 2008. Get ready for the future of blogging.