ABU DHABI // A social media site on to which people can upload photos of Muslim heroes in everyday life, called Champions of Islam, has won the Haqqathon Islamic app contest.
The winner of the contest, which ran as part of the second annual Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies forum, was announced on Wednesday night.
The organisers also announced a surprise winner that received the highest number of votes from live and online audiences – the Islamic sex-education website and app called Marhubba.
The Champions of Islam project aims to provide role models for Muslim youth to counter terrorist organisations’ use of creative videos to portray their members as powerful heroes, said Chris Abdurrahman Blauvelt, founder of Launch Good, whose team created the app.
“This is an advantage that ISIL has over our scholars,” said Mr Blauvelt.
Many youths who are good and idealistic people lack proper direction and are influenced by these organisations, choosing to join them.
“I was almost one of those men,” Mr Blauvelt said.
An example of a strong Muslim role model the platform would feature is professional American footballer Husain Abdullah, the first to perform sujood live on national TV after scoring a goal.
But Sheikh Hamza Yousef, one of the three judges and president of Zaytuna College in the US, had a question for the team about female champions.
“Everything I saw indicated it is directed towards males. Have you thought about women role models?” he asked.
He said females were as much targets for ISIL recruitment in Syria as males.
Mr Blauvelt said there could be a version for females, but the focus would initially be boys because the number of young men fall-ing prey to extremist groups were “far more significant and greater”.
Among the apps pitched were video games, social media platforms and apps for users to submit questions to scholars.
But the judges, whose decision constituted 75 per cent of the score, had concerns over some of the apps being abused.
One team presented an online game called Quest 99, in which users would upload videos or photos on a subject released weekly by game organisers.
“People could start uploading stupid things. I see potential for abuse,” said Sheikh Hamza.
“Nothing will go live without an eyeball seeing it,” answered Shaukat Warraich, a member of the presenting team and chief executive of Faith Associates, a UK organisation.
Another team presented a mock-up of a video game in which boys and girls can journey in a choice of seven themes: fantasy, space, oceans, caverns, nature and cities.
As the player crosses barriers and avoids risks of death, messages from the Quran or hadith would appear after each stage.
Selection of winners was done through the judges, votes from audience members, and an audience watching live online.
The winning projects will make their ideas a reality through support and funding of the forum organisers.
hdajani@thenational.ae
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
