�My Islam� on the Internet
IslamOnline – Art & Entertainment Section
By Tarek. A Ghanem
As a medium, the Internet, with its setting and structure, seems to favor modernist Islam. For the Internet, with its basic notion of unlimited access to all, provides equal footing for the qualified and the commoner alike. There is now the boundless and self-perpetuating electronic space where everyone is free to publish their interpretation and judgment. The Qur�an and the Sunnah are being discussed on popular forums, unlike the in the 7th century, for example, when the discussion of such topics was confined to �qualified� and specialized scholars. Oversimplification and then absolutization seem to be the order of the day. This has led to what Hofheinz has termed �My Islam�: a lingo spread on discussion forums and personal web sites wherein generalizations and statements like �the Islam I know�� �Islam as everyone knows is� are familiar; hence, �My Islam�.
