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The Sudanese Journal for Public Opinion Studies

Compact Periodical issued by Vision Center for Public Opinion Studies

Director General and Editor-in-Chief:

Mr. Hamza Osman Omer Osman.

Managing Editor:

Miss: Hajir Ahmed El-Shafie.

Participant Editors:

Dr. Badawi Osman Mohamed.

Mr. Salah Mohamed Ali Ahmed.

Mr. El-Rikabi Hassan Yagoub.

Mr. Ali Mukhtar Ahmed Ismail.

Art Director:

Haytham Awad Suliman

El-Mahady El-bashir .

Address: St. 53 Amarat district-Khartoum-Sudan.Tel: +249 183569513 / Fax: +249 183569512.

Published articles, researches, and studies reflect the view of authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of Vision Center for Public Opinion studies.

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Rules of Publishing in the Journal

1/ The Sudanese Journal for public opinion studies, welcomes publishing researches, studies, and articles relating to issues of public opinion.

2/ Priority in publishing is for researches of public opinion and its measurement , in addition to public studies , communicator , and field media studies .

3/ The volume of published researches in the Journal ranging between (3000 – 1000) words. One hard copy must be sent to the Journal. In addition to a Word software copy.

4/ Researches must adopt conventional scientific rules in preparing and writing researches , especially in documentation and reference to sources , and this should include : author name , book or article title , name of publisher or magazine , place of publication if it was a book , date of publication , volume , issue number , and pages numbers if it was an article .

5/ Contributions will be presented to arbitrators selected by the Center. Contributor will not be notified by arbitrators׳ names, and may be required to make some amendments before approving his article.

6/ Contributions submitted mustn’t be previously published in other periodicals or any media means.

7/ Management of the Journal have the right to omit some phrases, if it deemed that there is need necessitates that.

8/ Management of the Journal is not committed to give back the unpublished researches to their holders.

9/ Holders of approval researches will be granted incentives to be specified by the Center.

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ContentsNO. Subject Page No.

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Fatwa in the new millennium: how the new media affects muslim students’ attention to

and participation in the islamic matters

Saif eldin Hassan Elawad & Prof. Dato’ Dr. Syed Arabi Idid

Saif eldin Hassan Elawad & Prof. Dato’ Dr. Syed Arabi Idid

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2The Impacts of Social Networking sites on

University StudentsVision Center for Public Opinion Studies

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Introduction:The issuance of the second number of (The Sudanese Journal For Public Opinion Studies) coincides with so-called the spring of Arab revolutions, that the internet had great influence and key role on it, through software, websites, and social networks by increasing of social networking and exchange of information and enriching forums of debates and dialogue among the groups and individuals, in addition to increasing awareness of the need for political and economical reformation. This issue including researches and studies prepared by professors, experts, and specialists in the field of information studies dealt with one subject through multiple research and scientific angles.

In the preface there is a scientific article on importance of the electronic social networks and the relevant criticism, in addition to a paper on skills of dealing with new media and its developed means in eliminating media illiteracy.

Another paper entitled (Forms of technological convergence and its social effects ), and the revolt which has caused and expected to cause in the fields of computerization , communication , and digital media , through merging giant clusters of new companies which assume the producing and distribute multimedia , there is also a scientific paper on the image in the new media and its reflects on public opinion (Readings on making use of internet ) , along with a study written in English prepared by selected experts entitled ( Fatwa in the new millennium : How the new media affects Muslim students׳ attention to and participation in the Islamic matters )

. In addition to a study prepared by Vision Center for Public Opinion studies on the impacts of social networking sites on the students of the Sudanese universities.

We hope that the readers, researchers, users of internet, and social networks subscribers find good knowledge on new media in the contents of this issue of the journal. We also wish this issue to become a scientific specialized reference for students and researchers.

Success granted by God.

Editor-in-Chief.

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Fatwa in the new millennium: how the new Media affects muslim students’ attention to and

participation in the islamic matters

Saif eldin Hassan Elawad(1) & Prof. Dato’ Dr. Syed Arabi Idid(2)

INTRODUCTIONThere is no doubt that we live in times of dramatic change, and the

online/ new media industry has faced its share of this change. In many ways, our industry has changed forever. For those who understand the implications of these changes and response proactively, the future is bright.

The Internet plays a large role in student’s daily life in the univer-sity. It is used to keep in touch with family and friends, to do research, to watch television shows or download music, and now to participate in Islamic matters such as Worship, Transactions, Ethical, Theological, Punishments, and Family law matters, (the concepts of Tawhid, Ibadah, Aqidah, Muamalah and Akhlaq). The Internet is not always the place to go for Islamic fatwa. This study will explore how Muslim students attend to the new media and examines how it affects them participation in Islamic matters. Through Internet sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube and also through the multitude of Islamic blogs available, Islamic information is readily accessible and may increase Islamic in-terest within groups that generally does not participate in Islamic fatwa. If Islamic information is presented to Muslim students in a medium they are more familiar with, they may begin to seek out such informa-tion. The study posits that an increase interest in fatwa through social

(1) PhD candidate Department of Communication, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science, International Islamic University Malaysia, (safeelawad@hotmail.com). Former Rector of IIUM(2) Professor of Communication, Department of Communication, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science, International Islamic University Malaysia, (sarabidid@iiu.edu.my)

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networking sites on the Internet will lead to higher participation levels within the university students. Theories such as uses and gratifications guide the study and will be used as bases for the results.

The Internet plays a large role in a university student’s daily life. It is used to keep in touch with family and friends, to do research, to watch television shows or download music, to participate in politics, and now to participate in religious matters. The Internet was not always the place to go for religion matters; according to the Associated Press, (2005) the Internet, satellite television and even the telephone are increasingly be-ing used in the Muslim world to issue fatwa — religious decree — on issues as varied as whether women can pluck their eyebrows or good Muslims should read Harry Potter.

The Internet is especially accessible on university campuses. Most student housing has high-speed access and wireless connections are now commonplace in classroom buildings. This study explores new media and examines how university students use new media to participate in the fatwa and religious matters. It explores the impact of information and communications technologies on debates relating to the normative boundaries of Islamic Fatwa. It is argued that media technologies pro-vide channels for contemporary fatwa to be heard in the public sphere of Muslim World. Through a qualitative analysis of sets of interviews with Muslims students about the Internet, we see how fatwa is discussed and contextualized differently in Islam.

For fourteen centuries, Islamic practice has centered on the mosque. With Islam’s combined emphasis on orthodoxy and orthopraxy, there was no substitute for the formal collective prayer that the mosque provides, nor for the religious instruction and interpretation that the mosque’s imam or sheikh offers. However, this stable model has been completely transformed in the past decade, as Muslims have found, for the first time, an alternative to the mosque. Specifically, the Internet has become not only a clearinghouse for Quranic text, but also for religious

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guidance and even fatwas (religious edicts). This new, global online Is-lam has been propagated by countless websites maintained by sheikhs, religious scholars and even laymen.Today, any person can look up a fatwa on any subject, checking whether a particular action is haram (forbidden) or halal (permissible), sometimes within minutes, with just a few clicks of the mouse. Needless to say, this accessibility has been a boon to Islamic practice.

But just as conventional Islam benefits from use of the Internet, Is-lamist activists are also taking advantage of this free information en-vironment, racing to digitize their radical brand of Islam. Their doc-trine is a new concept of jihad, labeled “the jihad of the age” by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Islamic preacher and former dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at the University of Qatar, where he founded the Islam Online network. No longer are Muslims exposed to a single Islamic discourse associated with their particular mosques, but rather many simultaneous online discourses.

NEW MEDIA AND THE SOCIAL NETWORKING WEB SITES

Online social networking Web sites have in the last five years become a primary means of communication among young people in the United States. According to a 2006 Pew Internet & American Life Project sur-vey, 55% of U.S. teenagers who used the Internet also maintained a profile on a social networking Web site (Lenhart & Madden, 2007). Although the establishment of the first social networking Web site can be traced back to 1997, it is the emergence of Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook—launched in 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively—that marked the mainstreaming of these Web sites (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). Boyd and Ellison (2008) defined social network sites (SNSs) as Web-based services that enable their users to perform three activities: “(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and

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(3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system” (p. 211). According to Alexa.com, a Web site that tracks Internet traffic, at the time of this writing (autumn 2011)

In order to better understand the place of religion in young people’s lives, like university students, and because of the significant communi-cative function that social networking Web sites play in their lives, it is worthwhile to examine the extent to which young people identify them-selves as being religious in their social networking Web site profiles.

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Cornfield et al. (2005), The Internet is replacing tra-ditional media. Webmasters access logs that indicate what people are doing while they visit a site. For example, one study found that people watch television spots and listen to radio online (p.31). Being able to access television and radio over the Internet gives people the opportu-nity to attend to radio and television more often, or when they would otherwise be unable to. As innovations have been made and the variety of content has increased, Muslims have been turning to the Internet for information with more frequency

While Internet use is increasing, the user needs to be reminded that the Internet is simply a convergence of existing media forms into a new form. According to Christensen (2007): Talk of <technological revolu-tions’ can be overblown, especially when we fail to address the fact that much of what we read, hear or see via the <new media’ are simply <old media’ products (such as films, music, newspapers and magazines) that have been repackaged and redistributed (p. 36). What this means is peo-ple are simply taking mediums they have attended to for years and use those mediums in different ways. An example of this was the rise in use of Internet radio and watching television on the computer (Kel-

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lner, 2005). This leads to two simple benefits. First, people can seek out more information more easily from more sources and there can be two-way communication, discussion, and public dialogue regarding Is-lam matters. An example of this is found on many Internet news sites. People can read a news story online and then post responses in bulletin board fashion. For example, when any newspaper is posted online and stories nowadays are often responded to through the web pages.

Second, the Internet is becoming a more active medium than ever before. Tools are being developed that can help better target groups of people on the web which can increase online traffic to Islamic materi-als.

There are several benefits the Internet has regarding communication and Islamic activism. Because of «its <anytime, anywhere’ communi-cation capacity, (the Internet) provides citizens with a new channel for them to actively engage in Islamic activities.

So while web spending is less regulated, using the Internet can be more effective than other types of Islamic solicitation because it can be targeted very specifically.

The web is two-way, and provides updates on activities. It puts lots of needed energy in the Islamic process» also online Fatwa - for Muslims scholars and Fatwa - allow a level of interactivity and user participation that traditional media cannot provide»

There are also benefits from a public relations standpoint. The Mus-lims scholars now controls the message for very little expense and ef-fort while constantly maintaining visibility. The Internet allows for real time interaction through instant chats, a sense of community through groups and bulletin boards, and also provides for two-way symmetrical conversation. The Internet may make it easy for people to get Islamic information, but people aged 18-24 may not be interested in Islamic matters. According to Net Politics, Start Setting the Rules (2004), young people are more likely to use the Internet for information and entertain-ment as opposed to a more traditional media. Combine this with the fact

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Americans who communicate online are more likely to join groups of like-minded people on the web. Release of statistics by DoubleClick showed that Facebook reached one trillion pageviews in the month of June 2011, making it the most visited website in the world. This is evi-denced by Facebook’s More than 750 million active users, 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day, Average user has 130 friends, and People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Face-book (About Facebook, 2011),

While spending time on the Internet joining groups and seeking out information and entertainment, users are also exposed to Islamic infor-mation. The Internet expands the number of ways people can search for information about Islam, and fatwa. Another major benefit of using the Internet as a fatwa tool is its low cost, extra staffers don’t need. The site can be accessed and edited anytime, anywhere. Unlike direct mail, where the cost rises with the number of mailings sent out, with the Internet the costs do not rise with the number of individuals reached. Also, less money can be spent - reachable communities already exist on the web.

The Internet can be an effective Islamic tool for different types of groups, while there are several benefits to using the Internet, while the Internet is proving to be one of those necessary tools, also, there is a problem with the freedom of what people can write and what people can access on the web. With increased Internet use, there is also an is-sue with timing and staffing. Internet strategies need to be created early on in the planning stages to ensure that material can be kept fresh and relevant to people.

In a study by A team from the National Centre for Social and Criminal Research in Egypt prepared a study on Facebook which took several weeks, from which it noted serious consequences (of using this site). Among other things it noted: “many visitors to the website succeeded in finding their first love and former rela-tionships, and rebuilt destructive relationships outside the fam-

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ily, which is threatening marriages and Muslim family life.” it says: One in every five cases of divorce came about when one partner discov-ered that the other was having a relationship through the Internet, and through Facebook.

One final downside is that even though the Internet is a dynamic medium, once something is placed on the web, it can never really be removed from public access (Cornfield, 2005). This can pose a prob-lem if people post negative or untruthful information about Islam, or if a Muslim scholar makes a gaffe that is forgotten by the public until it is rediscovered at a later time. This negative information does not go away and can always be retrieved later.

The popular site for university students is Facebook. The website Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard Uni-versity in America, at the beginning of 2004 CE. Use of the website was initially limited to students of the University, then the network expand-ed to include other universities in Boston, and eventually to include the entire world at the end of 2006 CE.

The aim behind the founding of this site was to enable people to get to know one another and build social relationships. This site is regarded as the most important virtual community on the Internet. The number of users runs to tens of millions and is constantly increasing. It is widely accepted in the Arab and Muslim world and is available in more than forty languages; the people in charge of the site are planning to add further languages.

The world of Facebook is a world in which one may communicate in writing or verbally (chat), in which there are both major sins and benefits for people, but this site is distinct from others in many ways, including the following:

Availability of detailed personal information about users, which has already resulted in negative consequences

The spread of this website has made it a global chat site which brings together people from all parts of the world; they made matters worse

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by giving the users of their site a program that makes it easy for these conversations to take place without entering the site, such as that which was produced by Hotmail and Messenger. Chatting results in negative consequences that are known to everyone who has any experience of that on the Internet, especially if the program takes it possible for peo-ple to see one another as well as writing.

According to the Facebook website, «Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet» («About Facebook», 2011). A search con-ducted by the researcher on Facebook for the term «fatwa» in English and Arabic, results in over 1113 groups. Most pertain specifically to topics associated with the Islamic matters. Islamic Laws & Fatwa’s Fa-cebook group (in English) alone has over 2,256 members, Fatwa Fatwa Imam Syafii group has over 577 members, and Saat Fatwa – (one hour of Fatwa) Facebook group (in Arabic) alone has over 2,004 members There are groups showing both support and criticism of online fatwa, no matter the (Doctrine) mazhab affiliation.

There are even groups people can join to send the message that Is-lamic solicitation from their friends is no longer wanted. Another way people can show their fatwa on Facebook is by adding fatwa page appli-cations to their pages. Applications are programs created by Facebook that users can choose to have embedded in their profiles. Users can show support for their favorite Sheikh by adding that particular sheikh’s application, let everyone know which fatwa you prefer to choose for, or even how you agree or not agree with the specific fatwa. Some Muslim scholars also have «official» Facebook profiles so you can add them as a friend and receive fatwa updates. More recently, Facebook now gives users the option to show others users what they are a fan of. Users can select movies, books, brands, and even Muslim scholars. The pages you subscribe to are placed in a special box in the Facebook profile.

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While Facebook contain easy access to information about fatwa and differing ways to show it, blogs also play a large part in the way people get fatwa news and information. According to Drezner & Farrell (2004), «blogs (short for «weblogs») are periodically updated journals provid-ing online commentary with minimal or no external editing. They are usually presented as a set of «posts,» individual entries of news or com-mentary in reverse chronological order (p. 32).

A search conducted by the researcher on google blogs for the term «fatwa» in English and Arabic, results in over 174 blogs. The Study show that only four percent of online Muslims refer to blogs for in-formation and fatwa. In this case, the readership does not even closely match the number of blogs. Blogs have seen an astronomical level of growth since 1999 where there were only 50 blogs. In 2005 it was pro-jected there would be around 10 million. Now, television networks, newspapers, opinion journals, politicians, and scholars use blogs. Even though most blogs may have a small readership, they are still effective communication devices.

Generally, «most bloggers don’t set out to challenge news organiza-tions for mass audiences. Most are people who write (or post photos, video or audio) online to share their lives and interests with friends and family» (MacKinnon & Zuckerman, 2006, p. 45). Also in MacKinnon & Zuckerman (2006), «many others ... use personal blogs to share ideas and brainstorm with circles of colleagues and peers who are interested in similar subjects, issues or topics that tend not to be a focus of main-stream media stories» (p. 45).

While Facebook and blogs all contain Islamic information; YouTube plays a special role. According to Christensen (2007), the domain name was registered in February of 2005 and the first video was uploaded the following April. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim — all former PayPal employees, founded YouTube. Google purchased the site in November of 2006 for $1.65 billion dollars. As of February 2007, YouTube was the fifth most visited website in the world (Christensen,

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2007).According to Abdallah El-Tahawy (2008), social networks may be

one of the best places for young people to discover necessary informa-tion about the Islamic matters. Individuals and groups can meet virtu-ally from wherever they happen to be. Fatwa can now easily occur far from the headquarters and Internet users can be actively involved in an Islamic matter. Not only is the Internet a convenient medium for uni-versity students to access information, but it is also an effective tool for Muslim scholars.

A fatwa is a ruling by a recognized Islamic scholar, often on a weighty matter. But the traditional definition is becoming blurred as Muslims turn to Islamic Web sites and «tele-imams» for advice on how to live their lives.

For example, going online turns up the fatwa on British author J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, banning reading about the boy wizard because of his ties to witchcraft. Another says plucking women’s eye-brows is «haram,» or forbidden, because it alters God’s creation. One exception: if the lady’s bushy brows displease her husband.

Religious rulings have often been on grave topics. Many Western-ers first heard the word «fatwa» when the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued one in 1989 condemning British writer Sal-man Rushdie to death, accusing him of blasphemy in his book «The Satanic Verses.»

More recently, fatwas have dealt with the question of whether sui-cide bombing is accepted under Islam, producing dueling opinions — not surprising given that Islam has no single, universally recognized source. Muslims across the world seek advice from various authorities representing different sects and schools of Islamic law.

But now the growth of so-called new media fatwas has upset Egypt’s religious establishment, which fears an erosion of its authority to peo-ple without solid theological credentials.

Traditionally, fatwas were issued by a mufti, a scholar such as Ali

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Gomaa, Egypt’s chief Sunni Muslim authority, known as the Grand Mufti. Gomaa heads Dar al-Iftaa, or the House of Fatwas; it and Al-Azhar University are Egypt’s most important institutions for issuing fatwas and have influence with Sunnis everywhere.

Now, however, the proliferation of alternative outlets for religious advice offers Muslims the opportunity to seek guidance elsewhere and — some fear — to shop around until they find an opinion that may sanction questionable behavior.

«There is an opinion for every occasion and context, and evidence of people shopping around for the opinion that suits their particular need,» said Gary Bunt, author of the book «Islam in the Digital Age.»

Numerous Web sites issue online fatwas in response to personal questions, including IslamOnline.net, Fatwa-Online.com and Ask-Im-am.com. These sites are similar to ones that have sprung up in the West allowing people to seek opinions from rabbis or ministers.

Some of the Islamic sites are run by recognized religious figures, such as Sunni cleric Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi, founder of IslamOn-line. Several operate in English only, targeting the large number of Muslims outside the Middle East who don’t speak Arabic.

Fatwas also are issued by satellite television programs and over the telephone, forcing traditional organizations like Dar al-Iftaa into a race to keep up.

There are several theories that may explain how social networking sites may or may not influence university students. The first is agenda-setting theory.

Agenda setting plays one of the most interesting roles in this new phenomenon. According to Shaw and McCombs (1997), the idea of agenda setting was first examined during the 1968 Presidential Election. Voters in Chapel Hill, NC were asked to report on what they thought the most important issues were for that particular day. Responses were in line with whatever prominently appeared in the news, whether it was print or broadcast.

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Shaw and McCombs (1997) also write agenda setting theory posits that what is salient in the news will be seen as a more important issue. The media sets the agenda for what people pay attention to. Through an examination of topics in the news, it was found that media outlets focus attention on some topics while others are ignored. The topics that the public sees are then thought to be more important than other topics.

A good example of agenda setting is seen in newspapers. For exam-ple, it is basic knowledge that the most important stories are on the front page and the most important stories are above the fold of the paper, making them clearly seen on display for sales purposes (Shaw & Mc-Combs, 1997).

Agenda setting is very evident in internet. People often look to news sources to find information to help them formulate opinions on issues. In the newer mediums, it is important to look at how agenda setting is influencing students.

Instead of the news director being the gatekeeper, the gatekeeper is now the profile creator. The profile creator decides what information to include on a Facebook page, thereby setting an agenda for what they feel is important for other people to know. For example, if agenda set-ting is present, then most students who use Facebook should subscribe to some type of Islamic matters application after seeing it on another user’s page. Additionally, if students see friends have added applica-tions or have been personally invited to add that application by a friend, then students should be more likely to click on those applications. By creating Facebook profiles, users are setting an agenda. This agenda can show other users what you are interested in and they may or may not attend to information based on that fact.

The uses and gratifications approach looks at «how individuals’ so-cial circumstances and psychological dispositions affect their patterns and expectations of media use, and how individuals assess their media use experience» (Tian, 2006, p. 130).

Additionally, uses and gratifications theory may help to explain why

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students attend to the Internet in the manner they do. Tewksbury (2006) discusses an important link between uses and gratification research and the Internet: dependency and ritual play a large part in determining how a person attends to media. He goes on to say, «recent new media re-search has shown that people appear to be forming and assimilating perceptions of emerging content options and they are choosing the out-lets that provide what they seek» (p. 315). This theory illustrates that people aren’t simply «absorbing» information by browsing web sites for example. People are selectively looking for information that coin-cides with already-held opinions.

Islam Takes Hold of the WebOnline Islamic activities typically conform to one of five categories.

The first is to conduct da’wa or missionary work; the second is to use vast Islamic networks that connect like-minded believers and serve as forums for Islamic activists. Related to this second category of activi-ties is the third: online discussion in support of jihad. The fourth major category of Islamic activity is electronic jihad, which entails online at-tacks of Israeli sites, whether conducted by individuals or groups. The fifth form of online Islamic activity is the use and proliferation of online fatwas. A richer understanding of these five categories illuminates the future of Islamic practice.

The Online FatwaOnline fatwas, or religious decress, have become both widespread

and controversial in the past few years. When individual fatwas issued in response to specific circumstances are generalized and applied on a much broader level, their use is hotly contested.

Acting as a website’s voice, fatwas spread each site’s individual ide-ology. According to

Dr. Ragab Abu Mileeh, who is responsible for Islam Online’s fatwas, the site focuses on general, non-sectarian fatwas, such as one banning

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Arab and Islamic countries from cooperating with the United States in the event of a war against Iran.9

Sometimes fatwa wars break out between Islamic websites issu-ing contradictory proclamations on certain issues. A number of Saudi Salafist religious scholars, for example, led by Abdullah bin Jibreen and Nasser al-Omar, issued a series of fatwas against Hezbollah during its war with Israel in the summer of 2006, labeling it as an un-Islamic party working for Iranian interests in the region. These fatwas prompted counter-fatwas, with Sheikh Salman al-Ouda of the website Islam To-day denouncing the timing of the original fatwas. Al-Ouda was joined by Sheikh Mohsin al-Awaji, who called for “supporting Hezbollah’s armed resistance in Lebanon” on his website.10

Meanwhile, al-Qaradawi’s site said simply that “[t]he Lebanese Re-sistance is jihad,” suggesting that it is legitimate. As these prominent sheikhs were delivering their proclamations, furious debates broke out among users on hundreds of online forums.

Dr. Abdel Fatah Edris, a professor of comparative jurisprudence, Dr. Mileeh, and Nasser al-Omar, director of the website The Muslim, all concur that online fatwas are the new, widely-available alternative for the Muslim masses. Regardless of one’s stance toward online fat-was, the established fact is that they have become a means for Internet users to present their problems and receive detailed religious advice. Moreover, this impersonal means of communication allows users to ask more frank questions than social norms in their countries might permit. Within just a few minutes, Internet users are able to receive answers to their religious questions with little effort or cost, compared to try-ing to receive a fatwa by mail or over the phone. Users can also search online fatwa banks for a pertinent ruling, either by topic or the name of the issuing mufti (Islamic scholar capable of issuing fatwas). From the viewpoint of the editors of Islamic websites, online search engines al-low editors to easily call up all the fatwas previously issued on a certain topic, whether on their own website or other sites. Online fatwas have

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addressed new topics imposed by contemporary issues, such as reli-gious questions regarding the Internet itself, which require the muftis to possess a general working knowledge of the Internet.

Research questionsAgenda Setting and Uses and Gratifications theories lend themselves

to three research questions. To help discover if social networking site users have an increase in searching Islamic matters, research question one reads:

RQ 1: Does the widespread availability of fatwa information on the Internet suggest university students will seek out that type of informa-tion?

RQ2: Do university students pay attention to the fatwa information made available to them on sites like Facebook, and YouTube or do they choose to ignore this information?

This question relates to uses and gratifications theory. When stu-dents log on to websites that contain Islamic information they have two choices: they can click on Islamic information or they can choose to ignore it. Selective exposure suggests the students should click on in-formation that is in line with their ideals and interests.

This question also can be explained by agenda-setting theory. In ad-dition to information that people are exposed to just by logging on to a site, people seek out information on the Internet that specifically relates to them to improve their mood. Internet users may choose one Internet fatwa site over another because it may have a slant that fits in more with the users’ Islamic ideals.

The third research question applies mainly to students who use Face-book to communicate with friends. The emergence of social networks as a popular channel for communication creates new ways for Islamic information to spread through university communities. The final re-search question reads:

RQ 3: Do university students become more interested in Islamic

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matters as a result of receiving information from their friends on the Internet?

Previously, news directors and editors set information agendas. Now, research suggests these agendas are set and influenced by peers. It is now suggested students will look to their peers as a gatekeeper when deciding what Islamic issues are more important. Also, particu-larly on Facebook, fatwa page applications are prominently displayed on the front pages. By displaying these applications, students may feel that they are more important and then choose to click on them. On Fa-cebook, a fatwa feed is published and constantly updated showcasing what a member’s friends on Facebook are doing while they are on the site and also what fatwas are occurring in the member’s personal lives. When multiple friends add a particular person as a friend or subscribe to a publication, this information is published on the fatwa feed for other members to see. The webmasters are compiling information based on what profile creators are adding to their page, making the profile creator the gatekeeper. Facebook simply chooses the most significant changes and adds them to the fatwas feed.

METHODOLOGYThe population consisted of postgraduate and undergraduate univer-

sity students at the International Islamic University located in Kuala Lumpur. The target sample size was approximately 20 students, rang-ing in age from 19 to 40.

The instrument used for the study was a personal interview measur-ing attitudes toward Islamic fatwa and Internet use. The questions ad-dressed areas of awareness of, willingness to participate in, and knowl-edge of both Islamic fatwa and the Internet. Additional demographic information such as age range, gender, year in school, and amount of daily Internet use was not collected.

Interviews

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For this study the researcher performed a series of 20 standard in-terviews in that respondents simply answer lists of directed questions, in this way, a richer body of data is gathered from the stories that inter-viewees tell. The goal of these interviews was to illuminate my findings in the light of the students’ intentions and glean the aspects of human agency. I used these interviews to unearth facets that were difficult to get at otherwise such as motivations, experiences, and leadership roles. I have performed standard interviews with 20 students. In those inter-views I asked questions about new media, internet behavior, blogging, and what are they look at the Internet.

The study used individual interviews with 20 randomly-chosen stu-dents to explore the nature of the students’ experiences using facebook, blogs and YouTube. Overall, the students communicated more positive responses to the experience, often indicating that Internet was «fun» and «helpful» and made them look forward to Islamic matters.

This study addressed research needs in the fields of new media. It is significant because there is little research on the use of new media in the university students, particularly on the use of new media as a tool for improving knowledge about Islamic matters. It adds information as to the experience of students who use new media in the Islamic matters and explored it as a way to explore ideas, build understanding, and con-nect with others. This is significant to know as university districts look to include more technology instruction and practices in the curriculum. New media could give students a critical tool for gaining and thinking in the matters of Islam, helping to prepare students for an increasingly technological and global.

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FINDINGS OF THE STUDYThe Internet, ever spreading its global reach, has become a powerful

tool for the distribution of information. Muslim Student society, like so many societies, has taken advantage of this tool, connecting like-minded individuals, increasing the availability of online fatwas, calling for more missionary work, and even waging electronic jihad in some instances. Muslim students have shown themselves to be adaptable, and have harnessed and used new technologies to their advantage. In fact, Muslim scholars have been more successful in disseminating informa-tion, both in Arabic and in English, and furthering its cause than the Muslim government has been with its official websites.

With the open and robust religious discussion and activity taking place online, it is likely that these various discursive threads within online Islam will develop their own unique character, varying accord-ing to culture and geography, and will ultimately alter the character and form of Islam.

Regardless of Myspace web site which is unwell known by many university students at Malaysia and also in Arab and Muslim world, as the interviewees reply. It cannot be denied that there are a number of benefits in facebook site and youtube site, which are attained by wise people who are keen to guide people to goodness. These people have done well by using modern means of communication – such as the Internet, mobile phones and satellite channels; they have entered the world of those people to serve their religion and call people to their Lord, especially activities that are done collectively, because that makes it less likely that the one who does this type of work collectively will fall into the temptations of that world. Among the benefits of that web-site are the following: 1. Personal pages for some shaykhs and daa‘iyahs, in which they of-fer advice to the people and answer their questions, especially those who have groups. The leader or founder of the group benefits when a number of people who are part of that group get together and send out

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messages to the group, open up topics for discussion, and post a large number of high-quality video clips.2. Global campaigns to alert users of that site to global Islamic events that are suppressed and ignored by the kaafir media, or to support op-pressed peoples, or to close a website or personal page.3. Spreading useful and beneficial books, articles and websites among visitors to that site.4. Communication between friends and relatives, especially those who live far apart from one another. Communication has a good impact in maintaining bonds and encouraging one another to remain steadfast in Islam.When the researcher asked the interviewees about blogs, many of them (50%) did not know what exactly mean by blog and weblog. The blogs are not accepted by students to write their own opinion or send their opinions to others. Dealing with youtube site the interviewees said that it is a good web site to share their personal video clips online and it has been a popular place for them to upload clips of Islamic fatwa as well.65% of the interviewees agreed that Youtube is a good website to share their personal video clips online and it has been a popular place for them to watch and upload clips of Islamic fatwa as well.75% of interviewees agree that the widespread availability of Islamic information on new media suggest them to seek out that type of infor-mation.90% of respondents pay attention to the fatwa information made avail-able to them on web sites like Facebook, and YouTube and they choose to recognize this information and distribute it again to their friends.85% agreed that the university students become more interested in Is-lamic matters as a result of receiving information from their friends on the Internet.

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CONCLUSIONWith regard to the shar‘i ruling on signing up for Facebook, it depends on the intention of the one who wants to sign up. If he is a man of knowledge or a seeker thereof or a member of a da‘wah group, then it is permissible and good, because of the benefits they have to offer to the people. But for the one who joins it for evil purposes or for whom there is no guarantee that he will be safe from temptation and may easily slip, especially young men and women, it is not permissible for them to sign up for it.

The one who knows the reality of our times and the temptation and turmoil that is knocking at the door of all of our houses will not object to any faqeeh or mufti who disallows anything in which there is harm, whether it is totally or mostly harmful. The fact that there is some small benefit does not encourage one to say that it is permissible because there is still fear for the one who embarks upon it. If what is good and beneficial is great and the evil and harm is small or non-existent, then we may with a clear conscience say that it is permissible. Hence some of our scholars were very strict about satellite channels at first, because of the pure harm and evil in them; but when there started to be some great good in them and completely Islamic channels were founded, and receivers that only accepted those channels became available, the view that they are permissible became valid; indeed we see that many schol-ars have contributed to these channels and have useful programs on them.

The one who cannot control himself on Facebook and similar sites should refrain from joining them. Joining them is permissible for the one who acts in accordance with the shar‘i guidelines by controlling himself and not following his whims and desires, and who joins them so that he can benefit himself and others others.

We ask Allah to keep us safe from temptations both visible and invis-ible, for He is the Guide to the straight path.

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REFERENCES

Cornfield, M., Carson, J. Kalis, A., & Simon, E.( 2005). Buzz, Blogs, and Beyond: The Internet and the National Discourse in the Fall of 2004. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved November 17, 2007, from,

Drezner, D. W., & Farrell, H. (2004). Web of influence. Foreign Pol-icy, 145, 32-40.

http://www.pewinternet.org/ppt/BUZZ_BLOGS__BEYOND_Fi-nal05-16-05.pdf

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/137243/facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics (accessed Sep-

tember, 11,2011)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?287710-Fatwa-

On-Facebook-By-Islamqahttp://jamaluk.hawaaworld.com/http://www.qaradawi.net/site/topics/index.asp?cu_no=2&temp_

type=44

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The Impacts of Social Networking sites on University Students

Vision Center for Public Opinion Studies

Introduction:There are so many appellations for Internet; some call it «World Wide

WEB, others call it «Electronic Space, and some call it «The Parallel Universe». All that appellations demonstrate the widespread of internet and its strong impact on people’s life in all fields and this was thanks to the technical development in communication, many people around the world deal with internet for spending time or communicate with others, or to answer need or benefit or other purposes that people do in their daily life, therefore you could say that the internet is a parallel uni-verse, despite it is not available to all people. The websites that attain interests of those who deal with internet are social networking such as «Face book» and «Twitter» which became a rendezvous for delibera-tion of the political and social issues and discussing ideas and opinions , and establishing friendship , as well as room for personal advantages whether economical or personal benefits . No one denies the impact of the internet and the social networking on the lives of all people, but this study raised a question: To what extent do the social websites affect the impact of these websites.

The Problem of the study:Arguments about whether the internet has impact on people’s life or

not, has become obsolete, evidences to prove this reality are endless, but the question is what is the volume of the impact of the social net-working websites on the students of the Sudanese universities.

This study seeks to determine the limits of this impact by raising questions that gives indicators to generalize answers on several aspect related to the relationship of Sudanese university students with these

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websites, the questions as follows :1/ How long do you do you spend online, and what language you use ? . 2/ How many hours a day do you stay online during the week?.3/ What are the social websites do you prefer ?.4/Since when have you subscribed to social networking? What time do you spend a day online?.5/ what attracts you to the social networks? And through what means do you interact with others?6/ what kind of communicate you often do? What sort of issues do you share with others?7/ Does using internet have negative impacts on your studying and so-cial activities?.8/ Do social websites provide safeguards for privacy?.9/ Some countries block certain websites, is that due to the issues raised by the subscribers?. Are these countries have the right to block the web-sites?.

Objectives of the Study:The study focus on one key objective, namely learning the impacts

of the social networking websites on Sudanese University students.

Methodology of the study :The study based on analytical descriptive method which is best suit-

ed to the nature of this research which seeks to get answers to questions through descriptive statistics or analysis using the « Chi-Squired test» .

Study tool: The study uses questionnaire as a tool to collect informa-tion including data of the samples and other closed and opened ques-tions.

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Study Sample:a/ Sample :The study used the cluster random sample , the survey amounted to

(500) items , distributed to ten clusters « universities» , these universi-ties are : Khartoum – Omdurman Islamic university-Sudan for Science and technology- El-Neilain- Omdurman National university- Science and technology- El-Ahfad- Computer man- Ribat national University- Maamoun Hummaida University . The items distributed to universi-ties in accordance with the 50/50 . Fifty items for each university , the sample has been selected randomly from within each cluster through a simple random sample which includes equal probability to all cluster items . According to this division the selected sample genuinely repre-sents the society of the study and bears its characteristics. The results could be generalized to the whole community.

b/ Sample Size :The following equation was used to determine the size of the sam-

ple:N = z p(1-p) /d deff N = The whole size of sample Z = (1.96) normative degree .P = (05) percentage of normative attributes.D = 0.062 permitted margin of error.deff = 2 design effect . By the above mentioned facts, the size of the sample is : N = (1.96) 2 (0.5) (0.5)/(0.062) 2 *2 = 500 The appropriate size of the sample was (500) persons.Percentage of response was: 93.2%

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The tabular View:

1/ Gender:

PercentageFrequencyGender48.9%228male51.5%238Female100%466Total

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2/ Age :

PercentageFrequencyAge52.8%24617-2042.5%19821-254.5%22Over 25100%466Total

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3/ University :

PercentageFrequencyUniversity10.7%50Khartoum10.3%48Omdurman Islamic university10.7%50El-Neilain9.4%44Maamoun Hummaida9.7%45El- Ahfad8.640Ahlia Omdurman

10.7%50El- Ribat10.7%50Sudan for Science and technology

9%42Computer Man10.1%47Technology100%466Total

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4/ College :

PercentageFrequencyCollege1.7%8Information20.6%96Science & Technology8.2%38Engineering2.1%10Management science4.3%20laboratory6.7%31Medicine1.1%5Pharmacology25.5%119Computer3.6%17Business administration13.1%61Arts1.9%9Accounting4.5%21Economics2.8%15Science of mass communication4%.2Linguistics2.8%13Optics6%.3Law

100%466Total

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5/ Languages you speak :

PercentageFrequencyLanguages you speak38.6%180Arabic1.1%5English2%.1French

57.3%267Arabic - English2.8%13Arabic-English-French100%466Total

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6/ Using the internet :

PercentageFrequencyDo you use internet100%466Yes

--No100%466Total

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7/ The language used online :

percentageFrequencyLanguage you use online78.8%367Arabic20.8%97English0.2%1French0.2%1Other languages100%466Total

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8/ The benefits of the internet :

PercentageFrequency Do you think using internet provides benefits to you personally

100%466Yes--No

100%466Total

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9/ Type of benefit from internet :

PercentageFrequency In case you benefit from internet ,. which type of benefits

35.4%165Ideological24.2%113Educational6.7%31Entertainment2.6%12Social0.4%2Business

30.7%143All the above mentioned100%466Total

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10/ Using the internet :

PercentageFrequencyRate of using internet% .36168Daily38.2%178One day – 3 days per week25.8%120Once a week100%466total

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11/ Time you spend online :

PercentageFrequencyTime you spend online12.7%59Less than 1 hour a day42.9%200hour to 2 hours a day 126.6%124hours to 5 hours a day 217.8%83More than 5 hours17.8%466Total

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12/ What social websites do you interact through :

PercentageFrequency If you are a subscriber , you interact through90.8%423Face book1.3%6Twitter2.1%10My space5.4%25All the above mentioned0.4%2Other social websites100%466Total

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13/ The beginning of subscription at the social network-ing sites:

PercentageFrequencyThe beginning of subscription7.9%37month 112.4%58Less than 6 months17.2%80year 134.5%161More than 1 year27.9%130More than 3 years100%466Total

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14/ Time you spend at Face book :

PercentageFrequencyTime you spend at face book20.2%94Less than 1 hour a day43.8%204hour to 2 hours a day 121.2%99hours to 5 hours a day 214.8%69More than 5 hours a day100%466Total

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15/ what attracts you to social networking sites:

PercentageFrequency What attracts you to social networkingsites

77%359Communicate with others11.2%52Freedom of Opinion4.1%19Diversity of users attitudes1.5%7Its influence5.4%25Communicate with personal groups0.9%4(Other (to be mentioned100%466Total

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16/ Means of interaction online :

PercentageFrequencyYou interact online through17.8%83Video call9.4%44Voice call50.1%234Text chanting2.8%13Exchange video and photos

19.9%92All above mentioned100%466Total

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17/ Type of communication online:

PercentageFrequencyMost of your communications in socialwebsites are

28.8%134Personal communications18.2%85Communication with groups53%247Personal and groups100%466Total

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18/ Type of communication in Face book:

PercentageFrequency Most of your communications in Facebook are

27.3%127Personal

17.8%83With groups

54.9%256Personal and groups100%466Total

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19/ Issues that you are interested in:

PercentageFrequency The most issues that you are interested in , inthe social websites

83%387Social5.2%24Political8.4%39Ideological3.4%16Religious

100%466Total

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20/ The impact of social networking on academic per-formance:

PercentageFrequency Do you think that using social websitesespecially Face book affects your studying

41%191Yes

59%275No

100%466Total

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21/ The impact of social networking on social activities:

PercentageFrequency Do you think your participation in the social websites comes at the expense of your daily

life activities

46.1%215Yes

53.9%251No

100%466Total

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22/ The impacts of social websites on family and society:

PercentageFrequencyDo you agree with those who think that the social websites have negative impacts on

family and society as general ?

61.5%285Yes

38.5%181No

100%466Total

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23/ Guarantees of privacy in social networking websites :

PercentageFrequency Do you think there are privacy guarantees for

the subscribers in the social websites , nota-bly facebook

63.9%298Yes

36.1%168No

100%466Total

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24/ Raising some issues may lead to block social websites:

PercentageFrequency Do you think that some users may post issues

lead to block the social websites in some countries

75.1%350Yes24.9%116No

100%466Total

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25/ Blocking websites and principles of freedom:

PercentageFrequency Do you see blocking social websites for

periods by some countries contradicts withprinciples of freedom

70.2%327Yes

29.2%139No

100%466Total

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Findings of the study:

1/ 51.1% of the sample were females, while 48.9% were males. We think this percentage was realistic and reflects the representation of fe-males at the Sudanese universities.2/ 52.8% of the sample aged 17-20 years, and 42.5% of 21-25 years .3/ 10.7% of the sample were from the University of Khartoum , El-Ribat , El-Neilain, and Sudan .While the percentage of the rest of the universities ranging between 8.6% and 10.3% .4/ 25.2% of the sample were from colleges specialized in Computer Science . and 20.6% in science and technology , and 13.1% in Arts , and 8.2% in Engineering , and 6.7% in medicine .5/ 57.3% of the sample speak both Arabic and English , whereas 38.6% speak Arabic only .6/ The whole sample using the internet (100%) .7/ 78.8% of the sample using Arabic language to communicate online , and 20.8% use English language and 0.2% using French language .8/ The whole sample (100%) see that they personally benefited from internet 9/ 35.4% of the sample say that they have intellectually benefited from the internet , while 24.2% see that they benefited in studying , and 30.6% see that they benefited in fields of ideology , education , entertainment ,and socially , and they gained business advantages .10/ 38.2% of the sample using the internet 1 day to 3 days a week , while 36.1% using internet daily , and there is 25.8% using internet once a week . 11/ 42.9% of the sample using internet in a period ranging between 1 hour and 2 hours a day , while 26.6% in a period ranging between 2 hours and 5 hours .12/ 90.8% of the sample of the subscribers in social websites interact in the Facebook, and 1.3% in Twitter , and 2.1% in My Space .13/ 34.5% of the sample subscribed in the social websites before more

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than a year , and 27.9% before more than three years , while 17.2% before one year .14/ 43.8% of the sample using Facebook for a period ranging between one hour and two hours a day , and 21.2% for a period ranging between two hours and five hours a day , while 20.2% less than one hour a day.15/ 77% of the sample say they use the social websites to communicate with others , and 11.2% say because of freedom of express , while 4.1% see the reason behind using the social websites is the diversity of users attitudes 16/ 50.1% of the sample interact online through text chatting and 19.7% through exchanging video and photos , while 17.8% through video calls , and 9.4% through voice calls .17/ 53% of the sample say that their interaction in social websites is personal and with groups , while 28.8% say it is personal and 18.2% say that they communicate with groups .18/ 54.9% of the sample say that their interaction in the Facebook is personal and with groups , while 27.3% personal , and 17.8% with groups .19/ 83% of the sample say that they participate in issues of social type , and 5.2% say they post political issues , while 8.4% ideological , and 3.4% religious .20/ 59% of the sample do not believe that communication through so-cial websites have negative impacts on studying , while 41% believe that it have negative impacts .21/ 53.9% of the sample do not see that using social websites comes at the expense of their activities , while 46.1% believe that using the social websites comes at the expense of their social activities . 22/ 61.2% of the sample believe that social websites have negative im-pact on family and society as general, but 38.8% do not believe so.23/ 63.9% of the sample believe that privacy safeguards are available, but 36.1% do not believe so.24/ 57.1% of the sample believe that some users of social networking

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websites raise issues that may lead to block the websites for varying periods in some countries.25/ 70.2% of the sample believe that blocking social websites in some countries is incompatible with the principles of freedom.26/ A question was raised to the sample on the Pros and Cons of interac-tion in social networking websites especially Face book, they said:a/ advantages :-Social communication and acquaintance with others.- Expressing opinions freely.- Promoting and advertising.- Entertainment and chatting.- Disseminating Islamic religion.- Studying.- Following up internal and external events.- Communicate with society stars.- Direct dealing with decision makers in the state.- Exchanging cultures.b/ disadvantages :- Wasting time.- Pornography.- Abusing others.- Social isolation.- Some practices may emerge contradict with Islamic teachings and demolish the norms of the society.- Affect health and sight.- Addicting internet.- Unlawful relations.- Decline in academic level.- Involving in politics and incitement.- Wasting money.- Burying talent activities and hobbies.27/ The sample had been demanded to provide their visions on what

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ought to be in the social websites in terms of topics and how to discuss it , taking into consideration the sensitivity of some debatable issues to some governments and individuals and at different levels , they said the following:-Posting meaningful topics and providing solutions and good proposals that profit people.- Keeping away from political issues and involve in social issues only.- Supporting deletion of topics that scarifies public decency and insult religion.- Not to use social websites to settle subjective purposes.- Respect of privacy.- Developing control mechanisms to watch the websites.- Objectivity in arguing issues.- Respect for others’ points of views.

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Conclusion:

This study is very important because it is the first of its kind in this field and method . The study targeted the group that exposed to inter-net and social websites (University students) because they are the most groups subjected to the internet and social websites . Thus the findings of this study could be adopted and generalized to the whole community .This is because the study used the scientific standards that often used in the researches of public opinion based on the questionnaire , as well as dealing professionally with the sample , and accurately in the process of field research . Thus the findings of the study could be adopted because we believe it is at large level of realism .