New Media and Religion

History of Religion

Religion can be explained as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. Religion has been around for decades. There are over 15 different types of religions including Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

Judaism

Star of David and Manora, symbols of Judaism

Judaism is a monotheistic religion followed by the Jewish people. Monotheistically refers to a religion that believes in only one G-d. During prayer and casual conversation, G-d is referred to as Hashem. A religion developed among the ancient Hebrews and characterized by belief in one transcendent God who has revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew prophets and by a religious life in accordance with Torah Scriptures and rabbinic traditions.

Effects of New Media on Religious Life

InstaRabbi Application

StandWithUs Logo

New Media has expanded the ways in which Jews can reach out to religious authorities for support on religious issues, or political leaders for support on social issues. Websites such as Chabad.org or Aish.com give access to plenty of resources such as Religious timings, Jewish Calendars, Holiday Descriptions, Bible teachings, and more. Applications like 'InstaRabbi', created The GoSephardic organization, enables users to ask questions to a pool of Rabbis, or religious authorities, that can answer them in a timely matter. This application is a major benefit to the Jewish community since it is often difficult to obtain or communicate with religious authorities, and some topics are often trivial to ask in person. Additionally, social media has had a major effect on spreading Zionism and exposing antisemitism. Pages such as StandWithUS, spread pro-Israel messages and information, enabling Jews around to world to respond to anti-zionist attacks. Additionally, social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat enable people around the world to report anti-Semitic attacks against them and others to raise awareness of the issue and to warn other Jews of potential harm.

Kosher and New Media

A major part of Jewish life is eating kosher food, which is food properly prepared according to biblical laws and under the supervision of religious authority, such as a Rabbi. An application such as KosherGPS or KosherNearMe, enable observant Jews to locate and find kosher food in the area they might be in for business, vacation, or without a choice.

Jews in New Media

CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg

There are many Jews who have contributed extensively to the advancement of technology in America, Israel and worldwide.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder, and CEO of Facebook is just one of many Jews who own technology-based companies. Zuckerberg is an American Jew of Ashkenazi origin. Other notable people include, Steve Ballmer is the former CEO of Microsoft and an American Jew of Ashkenazi origin. Founders of Google, Inc. Sergey Brin and Larry Page are both Jews. Sergey Brin was born in Russia to Russian Jewish parents. Brin has cited on multiple occasions that he came up against anti-Semitism in his home country of Russian while trying to pursue his education in technology. Page was born to an American Jewish mother of Ashkenazi origin though his father is not Jewish. (However in Judaism, if your mother is Jewish you are considered Jewish.) Haim Saban is an Israeli-Egyptian Jew, making him Sephardic, who is known for his contributions to media companies such as ABC and Fox.

Besides for many Jews being involved in the realm of new media, Israeli Jews are known to be highly involved in innovations within new media. This includes the creation of many start-up companies that use new media to make people's lives more efficient.

Israel as a Start-up Nation

Israel’s high-tech industry is one of its main economic resources. Over the years, the Israeli industry has shifted from primarily focusing on low-tech industries, such as agriculture and clothing manufacturing (low-tech) to high-tech industries that use advanced manufacturing technologies. For example, between December 2014 and February 2015, 56% of the total goods exported from Israel were high-tech products, which equals to about $2.6 billion in only two months . 90 Israeli companies valued at a total of $40 billion are already being traded on NASDAQ. Israel’s presence on NASDAQ in terms of the number of companies trading is second only to China .

In 2009, Saul Singer and Dan Senor wrote a book that tells the story of the transformation of Israel from being a nation that struggles to survive with very limited economic growth engines, into a global innovation center – second only to the Silicon Valley. The book, Start-Up Nation, made waves around the world, sold millions of copies and has been translated into many languages, so there is no dispute that Israel is now a role model in technological innovation, almost like the Silicon Valley in California, USA .

Famous Israeli Tech Companies That Use New Media

Founders, Waze

Waze Ltd.: The world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation application was founded by 4 Israelis who later won The Hugo Ramniceanu Prize in Economics in 2014. The prize was presented to the co-founders and developers of Waze Ltd., High-tech wizards Uri Levine, Noam Bardin, Ehud Shabtai, and Amir Shinhar were recognized for their business acumen, which led to the integration of Waze Ltd. into the Google group of companies, and for serving as role models for new generations of Israeli entrepreneurs.

Gett Inc.: Formally known as GetTaxi is also a fine example of Jewish entrepreneurship. Gett is an Israeli- based startup that was founded by two Israelis; Shahar Waiser and Roi More. Gett allows users to connect with taxi drivers and black car drivers. The users have the chance to order a car via the Gett app or the company’s website. Initially, the Gett service was only available in Tel Aviv, Israel. As the company gained success and customers it spread out to the U.K, Russia, and the U.S; nowadays it operates across 70 cities. Recently Gett has announced that it has acquired Juno for $200 million. Juno is a rival on-demand car service.

Stats, LLC: The sports company headquartered outside of Chicago, Illinois in Northbrook, has a new program originally formed using technology from the Israeli Defense Forces used to track missiles. The technology is now being used during sports games to track players performance. The developers of the technology are "Sabra's" meaning they were born in Israel. The technology is based on small inconspicuous cameras that are able to track and transfer information while also observing a designated target.

Sikhism

About Sikhism

Sikhism's Ten Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib Ji

There are approximately 27 million Sikhs in the world, making it the fifth biggest world religion. Most of the Sikh population, around 76% live in the state of Punjab in India. Sikhism was founded in the 16th century in the Punjab district of what is now India and Pakistan. It was founded by Guru Nanak and is based on his teachings and those of the nine Sikh gurus who followed him. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion that stresses the importance of doing good actions rather than merely carrying out rituals. Sikhs believe that the way to lead a good life is to keep God in heart and mind at all times through prayers, live honestly and work hard, treat everyone equally, be generous to the less fortunate and serve others (sewa). The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, announced that after his death the spiritual guide of the Sikhs would be the teachings contained in the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. The holy words of the Guru Granth Sahib are called Gurbani, which literally means "from the Guru's mouth". Today, the Guru Granth Sahib holds the status of a Guru, and Sikhs show it the respect they would give to a human Guru.

How Gurdwaras are Using New Media

The Glasgow Gurdwara's Twitter page

A Gurdwara is the Sikh place of worship. Gurdwara translates to "the door to the Guru" or the "Guru's house" and allows Sikhs and non-Sikhs to listen to Gurbani, kirtan (singing of hymns), take part in sewa, as well as receive langar in the langar hall (which serves as a 24 hour free food service through the teachings of the fifth Guru). Up until recent years, most Gurdwaras did not take part in any online activity except for online listings of locations. Today, many Gurdwaras have created personal websites with forums to keep their local community connected, as well as interacting with a global community. The Glasgow Gurdwara in Scotland is one of the most active Gurdwaras on Twitter. They are constantly updating on the local and international news, as well as keeping the community posted on any religious or cultural events the Gurdwara holds or partakes in.

Sikhs and New Media

While it is changing, there is still a strong nonpresence of Sikhs in new media. This nonpresence has contributed to several misunderstandings and stereotypes. Recently, a meme of NCAA player Darsh Preet Singh has resurfaced online. The meme of the player playing Basketball is captioned with "Nobody at school wants to guard Muhammad, he's too explosive". The meme originally was reblogged, retweeted, and reposted on several social media sites as a "funny" post. However, other Sikhs and non-Sikhs recognized the ignorance behind the post and took it to new media sites to enlighten the rest.

In October 2015, after the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji in Bargari, Punjab, several Sikhs came together virtually for the celebration of a major Sikh holiday, Diwali. Due to the desecration, Sikhs all around the world celebrated a "Kaali Diwali" (a Black Diwali) to observe the harm to the holy book in peace. The idea of Kaali Diwali was communicated strongly through new media by Sikhs with hashtags such as '#BlackDiwaali' and '#KaaliDiwali'.

Christianity

While Hinduism is said to be the oldest religion, Christianity is considered to be the largest religion. Christianity is said to have started over 2000 years ago with Jesus Christ and his disciples. Over the decades, many denominations have been formed from this faith and His teachings. However, they all believe that Jesus Christ existed and that his words and teachings were written down and preserved.

Churches Today

Church has definitely changed over time and for good cause. Churches began to realize that attendance was starting to dwindle and it wasn't because of our savior Jesus Christ. The traditional church was just out of touch with millennials and so they settled for a more private relationship with their creator (nothing wrong with this). Churches have begun to adapt to this trend starting right here in NYC. Hillsong Church which also happens to be my personal church is home to a weekly 10000+ people every Sunday and growing. What has allowed them to increase in numbers while other churches seem to be headed in the other direction? New media. Hillsong church is very active across multiple media websites such as Instagram and Facebook where believers can go and comment/ask questions and receive responses within minutes. Not only that but they also have an online presence where you can watch previous messages and stay up to date with all that's going on during any given week. Hillsong has been able to draw out the previous shy crowds of 18-32-year-old believers in a way that has never been done before all thanks to New Media.

• No matter what the case is about church attendance the only thing that matters is that thousands of people continue to devote their lives to Christ on a daily basis no matter what church they are apart of.*

Christianity and Old Media

In the early times, like the general society, information was preserved by the Christians via the inscription of scrolls made from papyrus and tablets. Pages bounded together (codec) emerged in 3 C.E. . In earlier times, it was common for persons to be gathered on a specific day to worship together. The hymn book and Bible were printed material used at such gatherings. However, this form of worship has changed as a result of the change in technology.

Known for being the world's first printed book, the Bible's reach expanded by the advent of the printing press in the mid-15th century. Johannes Gutenberg (c.1398-1468), son of a noble family of Mainz, Germany, created the first movable, metal type. A former stonecutter and goldsmith, Gutenberg used an alloy of lead, tin, and antinomy that would melt at low temperature, cast well in the die, and be durable in the press. It was then possible to use and reuse the separate pieces of type, as long as the metal in which they were cast did not wear down, simply by arranging them in the desired order. The mirror image of each letter (rather than entire words or phrases), was carved in relief on a small block. Individual letters, easily movable, were put together to form words; words separated by blank spaces formed lines of type, and lines of type were brought together to make up a page. Since letters could be arranged into any format, an infinite variety of texts could be printed by reusing and resetting the type.

This accelerated The Renaissance's spread to Germany, France, England, and Spain in the late fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries as texts could later be translated and shared at mass scales.

A sketch of Gutenberg's printing press

Though some credit the first movable print to the Chinese who in the 13th century, printed paper money and playing cards, all which reached the West. However, those letters were "block-printed." Characters or pictures were carved into a wooden block, inked, and then transferred to paper. Since each word, phrase or picture was on a separate block, this method of reproduction was expensive and time-consuming. Gutenberg's' invention was cost-effective and quick enough to propel his invention to be single-handedly responsible for the spread of Christianity to millions of people.

Two hundred copies of the two-volume Gutenberg Bible were printed, a small number of which were printed on vellum. The Bibles were completed and sold at the 1455 Frankfurt Book Fair, and cost the equivalent of three years' pay for the average clerk. Roughly fifty of all Gutenberg Bibles survive today.

Initially tasked with multiplying the output and cutting the costs of books, the printing press also facilitated the dissemination and preservation of knowledge in standardized form -- this was most important in the advance of science, technology, and scholarship. The printing press certainly initiated an "information revolution" on par with the Internet today. Printing could and did spread new ideas quickly and with greater impact.

Bible App

Bible App by YouVersion icon

One of the most popular apps in the Christian community, if not the most popular, is the Bible App by YouVersion. On December 6, 2016, YouVersion surpassed 250 million downloads worldwide for the first time.

This mobile app allows anyone to take "God's Word . . . with you" and to easily make the Bible a part of your busy, daily lives. This free app allows users to not only access the Bible in more than 900 languages worldwide, but it is also compatible with all types of technology, i.e. iPhone/iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Windows 8, Kindle Fire, Java, HP/Palm, Symbian, and Mobile Web . In addition, there are over 1000 Bible versions in the app including some of the most popular (NIV, KJV, ESV, MSG) and users can listen to Bible audio versions as well.

Users not only get to read the original Bible but have a plethora of devotional plans to motivate users on consistent reading. For many Christians, one of their long-term goals may be reading the entire Bible in a year. With the Bible app, there is a plan called "The One Year Bible" that breaks the entire Bible in 365 days, with a chapter to a few chapters from the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and the New Testament daily. Other devotional plans include The Problem with Pain, Exploring Your Gifts, and Focus. .

Live Stream

Some churches have an account with Live stream. This account allows anyone with a connection to wifi to be able to stream their church services. This new media allows for Churchgoers who possibly couldn't make it to the actual church still witness the service from online at home. Also, this allows for the church services to reach more than just the local neighborhood, by the church promoting their live stream people from all over the world could tune in to their services and events right from their homes.

Laudate

The most popular and most comprehensive free Catholic App. Available in many languages. Laudate combines a large number of Catholic religious resources into a single app, giving you instant access to everything you could need, from a copy of multiple versions of the Bible, prayers, confession prompts, Daily Mass Readings, Order of Mass, Rosary, Stations of the Cross, Saint of the Day, etc.

Catholic Calendar

Feasts and celebrations according to the General Calendar and the local calendars of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, Ireland, and others. Features "About Today" pages giving more information about the saint of the day. The app is complete in itself. It needs no Internet connection and no downloads. [1]

Online Sermons

New Media has allowed people to listen to sermons from the comfort of their own homes. Sometimes, unforeseen circumstances prevent people from attending Sunday Service. People are now able to see recordings of sermons from conferences, recordings, gatherings, etc. It is also a great way to refer back to messages that you may have missed something in. Furthermore, there are many online platforms that provide articles, Q&A's, etc, for people who are interested to enjoy. Some examples are The Gospel Coalition and Desiring God.

Islam

New media has changed the way people interact with each other. Now with the use of new media people are able to call others to prayer through simply inviting them to events on Facebook. This way people can be invited to Islamic events which they might not have known of before. Today Twitter is used to send people Quranic Verses and religious stuff and YouTube is used for spreading the word about religious events taking place around people. Through this use of social media we can get many more people to attend local events and learn about the religion as well. Also now we have Facebook Live too which people can use to listen to speeches and learn about religion while at home, without even having to actually be present at the event. This is beneficial for people who may live far from where the event is taking place. New media has also opened up doors for people who have unanswered questions about things related to Islam. Now with the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WordPress, people can have access to more information about Islam and at the same time be able to ask scholars of Islamic studies questions through social media sites. This is something which was hard back in the days without the internet because people couldn't get access to information as readily as we do now. With new media, there are applications that can be installed on smartphones that allow people to be reminded for their prayer times, as there are real-time Islamic Prayer Timetables.

Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) Childhood

Mohammad was the final prophet of Islam and the founder of Islam. He spent most of his life as a merchant. He became a prophet at age 40 and began receiving revelation from Allah. He unified Saudia Arabia to have only one religion. He was born around 570 AD in Mecca, Saudia Arabia. His father Abdullah died six months before he was born. He was raised by his foster mother Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, and her husband until he was two years old. His biological mother Amina died when he was six and then he started living with his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib until he died when Muhammad was eight. Then he came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of Banu Hashim. He lived as an orphan throughout most of his life. He was from the prominent clan called the Quraysh.

Most tribes back then were nomadic and polytheistic. The Kaba which was a black cube was turned into an idol-worshipping place. There were at least 360 idols that were inside the Kaba. Some of the tribes were evil and used to bury their daughters alive back then when they were born because they did not provide a source of income. These tribes considered women to be inferior to men. Slaves back then were also treated harshly. There were many sins these tribes used to do that was considered unholy.

Mohammad was an honest and respect child back then. He never used to lie and always did the right thing. There was a story for the reason why he never committed a sin in his life. He was playing with his friends when he was extremely young. Then an angel called Jibril also known as Gabrial in Christianity approached him. All the kids ran except for Mohammad. He opened his torso and removed his heart and cleaned it until it was clean. Then he left. This was the reason why Mohammad never committed a sin.

New Media Backlash to Islam

With the rise of new media, there were many positive things that were impacted by it. People could now read about Islam and further educate themselves. People could ask questions and would be happy to answer anonymously. However, this means many people could critique about religion online. People would often make these fake Islamic sites, so people would be leaving Islam. They would get information from the wrong sources. People would post pictures that would be extremely offensive to religion. Such as posting a picture of Mohammad. This is banned in Islam because of Mohammad said if anyone would draw a picture of him, they would worship him then instead of Allah. He just called himself a man. Western media would often link terrorism to Islam and has 15 times more coverage than having a terrorist attack committed by a white man. The amount of fake news that spread is extremely significant to Islam because it changes the perspective of the masses.

Five Pillars of Islam

The most important Muslim practices in which is the basis of Islam are the Five Pillars of Islam, they are considered to be mandatory by all believers in the religion. If you do not do one pillar, the rest of the pillars will crumble. They are essentially five obligations that all Muslims must make in order to make their life meaningful and well deserved. These five pillars include, Shahadah (bear witness that Allah is the only one worthy of worship and bear witness that Muhammad is the slave and messenger of Allah), Salat (daily prayers five times a day), Zakat (giving 2.5% wealth back to the poor and donating to charity), fasting during the month of Ramadan, and Hajj (making pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy site of worship for Islam). Hajj is usually is something not every Muslim cannot do because it costs a lot of money going to Saudia Arabia. In this case, they must have the intention to visit this holy place.

Athan and Qibla Direction Apps

Muslim Pro App

With specific Islamic related applications, even the call for prayer known as the Athan can also be projected through a smart device, allowing Muslims to be aware of the specific times throughout the course of their day when they may conduct prayers. Websites like [Muslim Pro] are capable of providing accurate information pertaining to respective prayer time in a persons location along with Qibla directions, which is important for Muslims due to a requirement when performing prayers that they face a specific direction that parallels to them facing towards the direction of the Kaaba . Through new media, Islam is being spread more widely and also people are able to use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and more to help clear misunderstandings of Islam. Even Google has a new Qibla Finder app that uses your location and camera to direct you to exactly the direction of the Kaaba (the holiest place in Islam). [[2]] Apps such as these make it easier for Muslims to navigate anywhere and be able to find their direction using the various compass apps in the App Store.

Some people might be asking as to why we face the direction of the Qibla when we pray. As stated in the Quran "“From whencesoever Thou startest forth, turn Thy face in the direction of the sacred Mosque; that is indeed the truth from the Lord. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do” (Qur’an 2:149–150). First of all Muslims don't worship any idols of any sort. So we only pray only to Allah and no one else. Others might think we worship the mecca but it's actually the Qibla we are facing to pray, which is the symbol of the unity of all Muslims world wide. Praying in harmony is only possible if a single direction is defined by social solidarity, so that direction matters more socially than for any other cause. Prayer is permitted even though you don't know the exact direction. You can use your best guess for Mecca, and you can pray in that direction. It's totally appropriate if you're not in the right direction. As stated in the Quran "To Allah belongs the east and the West. Wherever you turn, there is the presence of Allah. For Allah is all-Pervading, all-Knowing" (Quran 2:115). As we can see facing the Qibla is for unity and for more focus towards the prayer and nothing else. Prayers will be accepted even if its the wrong way and thanks to many compass apps we can find the right direction.

Qur'an App

Muslim Pro App

The most important part of any religion is its scripture. In Islam, the Qur'an is the holy book that was passed down from God (Allah) to the Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.) through the angel Gabriel. It is one of the most read books in the world. Most people, however, do not carry around their holy books wherever they go, and not everyone speaks Arabic even. Websites like Quran.com and apps like Quran for Android, allow anyone to read, hear, and see the translations and transliterations of the Qur'an. Given that there are many different people who have different manners of recitation, the Android Qur'an app allows one to choose between narrators, choose different forms of translations, in different languages and by different scholars and transliterations for those still learning the language so they can follow along with the translation at the bottom of the screen.

Mosque Finders

Going hand in hand with Qibla finders, Mosque locating apps are very necessary for Muslims looking for a location to pray in or just meet with fellow Muslims. Mosques are always oriented towards the Kaaba and also, prayer is held in the congregation. Since churches and synagogues are much more abundant in most places, locating a mosque can be rather difficult. Websites like salatomatic.com [[3]] and IslamiCity.com allow a person to quickly locate a nearby mosque so they can pray in the allocated prayer time.

Haram with New Media

When people in New York City think of the word “Halal” they automatically think of the sidewalk vendors that sell chicken over rice or beef kebabs that plaster the word “HALAL” all over their truck in neon signs. Halal means much more than that for Muslims. It translates to “permissible” in English and haram, which is the opposite, translates to “impermissible”. This translation applies to everything that is permissible in life from food to lifestyle to behavior. When it comes to food, halal means that the meat has been slaughtered and cooked according to the Islamic guidelines some of which include no pork or any use of alcohol in the process. When we make major life decisions such as choosing someone to marry, there is also a halal way to conduct the process which starts with a ceremony called a Nikah which translates to marriage.

If a Muslim's lifestyle and decisions go against the guidelines that have been established by the Holy Book, the Qu’ran, and Hadiths. Hadiths, which are a collection of books and passages that record the lifestyle of the prophet Muhammed. If one chooses to disobey the Sunnah, the teaching of the prophet or the Quran then that is considered Haram. It is the duty of every Muslim to live their life according to the right principals and try their very best to avoid haram practices for the love of their Lord. When it comes to halal food, sometimes it can be difficult to find authentic halal restaurants around NYC. Luckily, the app store on IOS or the Google Play Store has numerous apps that help us find halal restaurants in the vicinity. The one I personally use is Crave Halal which has great ratings in the Play Store and has been a huge help for me to find the nearest halal spots.

One of the many halal scanning apps: Scan Halal

Speaking of food, another big problem for many Muslims who just migrated from different countries around the globe is to locate grocery items and identify whether or not it is halal. The traditional method of sorting this problem out is to read the ingredients label behind every product or to simply trust other Muslims who have been living here before. However, in the case that there isn’t any halal grocery shop around and there is no one to guide you, nowadays, there are many different apps that can help you in this situation. Some of the most popular ones are the following: Zabiha, Halal Check E-Numbers, and Scan Halal. Although all these apps may have different names and are developed by different people, most of them work in a very similar fashion. If put in simple words, one only needs to scan the bar code behind every grocery item and these apps will determine whether or not they are halal using their vast database of certified halal products. Most of these apps are certified by many different Islamic institutions. The only drawback of using these apps is that not every halal product out there is registered in the database which means the app may sometime fail to determine if a product is halal or haram.

Sometimes some foods are Halal for Muslims without a label. Even in the Quran, it is mentioned that what is permissible for the people of the book previously is still permissible for the Muslims. The people of the book include the Christians and the Jews. Thus Kosher product is permissible for Muslims to eat. Here is the quote from the Quran: " [Quran 5:5] Today, all good food is made lawful for you. The food of the people of the scripture is lawful for you, [and your food is lawful for them]*. Also, you may marry the chaste women among the believers, as well as the chaste women among the followers of previous scripture, provided you pay them their due dowries. You shall maintain chastity, not committing adultery, nor taking secret lovers. Anyone who rejects faith, all his work will be in vain, and in the Hereafter, he will be with the losers." Let me clarify on this quote a bit, The food which has been "previously made permissible people of the scripture, it is clear that Muslims and Jews don't eat pork because it is been forbidden in both religion. Even in the Bible pork has been forbidden. Reference to, Leviticus 11. But it is better for one to have the right understanding of what is permissible and what is not. Religion was created for the peace of humanity and connection to our Lord and creator. The Quran does tell us to use our intellect to do what is righteous. At the end of the day, our creator's mercy is all we can count upon.

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the holiest month for all Muslims. During this month, the gates of heaven are open, and the gates of hell are closes. The shaytaan(Devil) is locked up during this month so Muslims can practice their religion without any distractions. Every day of this month, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. There are a lost of things that aren't permissible to do during this time frame. They must restrain from eating and drinking of any sort. Yes, not even water. Additionally, they cannot engage in any sex or masturbation for it will break their fast. Fasting is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Why do Muslims fast? Fasting is to bring yourself closer to Allah(God) and reminds them that the less fortunate go through this everyday. They also donate to the needy and feed the hungry during this month. Muslims should not engage in cursing, fighting or gossiping for it can break the fast as well. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would break his fast at sunset with a date. So Muslims are rewarded by Allah when they break their fast with a date. Some people can be exempt from fasting such as kids, women if they're pregnant or on their periods, sick people, etc. At night, Muslims pray "Taraweeh", which is an additional 10 prayers to the usual prayer at night time to follow the Prophet. There are so much more practices in Ramadan to earn reward from Allah. Most importantly, this is a time where Muslims get together and enjoy this beautiful month. Staying away from sins and staying closer to Allah is among their biggest objectives during this month.

. . . .

Virtual Ramadan amid Covid-19 pandemic

LOS ANGELES Dr. Saleh Kholaki leads members of the Islamic Center of Southern California via live-streaming from his home.

Ramadan in the context of a pandemic in general and particularly in a contagious pandemic like covid-19 has to be approached in a whole different way. A key point here is that the Fiqh , which is the study of the Islamic legal code, should not be seen as a burden but should rather be seen as a way to facilitate and ease the practice of the religion based on the application of the text in relation with the context. This pandemic is an enormous societal interruption. Hence the impact on the way Ramadan is traditionally observed, in a physical centered setting. With the physical distance, the isolation and the stay at home restrictions order, what are the options, alternatives, tools and resources available to Muslims during Ramadan?! If it’s iftar during Ramadan, do you mark it only with those you are sheltering in place with? or can you break fast digitally, with others?

Coronavirus has changed the way Muslims celebrate Ramadan, in virtual spaces and in solitude. . .

Today, Islamic organizations open virtual spaces as a way to enhance one's Ramadan experience over the media. Many media platforms are the enablers. Zoom, at the top, facebook live, webex and whatsApp can all be leveraged during this Ramadan at home to ensure that Muslims stay connected during this unprecedented pandemic. Webinars, podcasts, dailies and weekly lives sessions are being organized and made available to Muslims around the globe. There are so much more practices in Ramadan to earn reward from Allah. Normally at this time, Muslims gather together to fast and pray during the day, then feast and celebrate at night once the sun goes down. However, staying at home has also benefitted some as they have more time on their hands to pray and make the most out of the holy month unlike during their usual course of life where they had to go to office/school and come back home to take time out to pray. In addition, the month of Ramadan is also noted for its grand charity. A lot of Muslims tend to give as much as they can during this month to secure as many good deeds as possible; this pandemic has opened up an amazing opportunity to just do that. As there are many in need who are severely impacted by the surge of COVID-19, Muslims from all over the world have given the most they can in the form of money, food, clothing, etc.

Most importantly, this is a time where Muslims get together much more than the rest of the year as a way to learn, teach and remind each other of best practices. This year, however, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Muslims around the world are rethinking the usual traditions. In addition, many Muslims around the globe desire to observe the holy month of Ramadan at the holy grounds of Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. The whole idea is that since there won’t be any sort of worldly distractions and taking into account the blissful environment, fasting in the name of Allah will be most productive at Mecca. Unfortunately, for many who dream of such an experience, this wasn’t possible due to the ongoing pandemic which has closed down the gates of the holy city, an extremely rare occurrence.

Mecca being on a strict lockdown due to COVID-19

Nowadays, remote Ramadan allows to be digitally together online but physically alone at home. In order to do that, all we need is a device, whether a cellphone or a computer, and a wifi or internet connection making it somewhat convenient to attend online instead of in person. The goal is to help facilitate a sense of community and togetherness during Ramadan. Because of social distance, the programs shifted to Zoom. Zoom breakout rooms will open for Suhoor, the pre-dawn meal Muslims have before beginning their fast, and for Iftar at sunset. According to the Fiqh, one limit or the new media is that the Muslims mandatory and not mandatory as well as the "Taraweeh", which is an additional 20 rakats (prayers' unit) to the usual prayer at night time to follow the Prophet, cannot be performed digitally. In order for any prayer to be valid, we have to physically be in the same space. By the same token, Eid al Fitr, the prayer at the end of the fasting month, cannot be held digitally.

Buddhism

About Buddhism

Buddhist Symbol, Dharma Wheel

Buddhism is one of the four major religions in the world. It was founded over 2500 years ago by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha. Two major branches of Buddhism are Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada Buddhism is practiced in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Mahayana Buddhism is found in East Asian countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea. One common goal of all Buddhist traditions is overcoming suffering and the cycle of death & birth.

Buddhism in New Media

With the advancement of new media technology, not only Asian countries but also other populations have become interested in Buddhism. As Buddhism has always highlighted the ideology of constant change, many pieces of evidence can be seen in the digital world. Diverse online religious communication enables digital religion practices and mediated communications bring spiritual realities. With the help of new media technology, all the Buddhist teachings have been translated.

Buddhist monks have embraced new media to give knowledge about Buddhism. They innovate new styles of teachings to the public such as creating animated cartoons.

Meditation Animation

Now, people can learn about Buddhism easily on smartphones as there are 3D cartoons about Buddhism. They use computers and the internet to upload Buddhist doctrines online so that they can maintain the authenticity of Buddhism. In the information age, the monks also have learned how to adapt Buddhism to modern society and spread Buddhism. Now people can keep working on their beliefs and faiths with the help of new media technologies.

Buddhism in the West

The study of Buddhism in the West has been practicing advanced especially in North America and Europe. Consequently, the West has recognized Buddhism as one of the great religions in the World. A handful of scholars have been working on the study of Buddhism academically. Practices such as meditation are widespread. Therefore, the influence of Buddhism is spreading more than before.

New Media's Influence on Religion

New media technologies have been diffused with several aspects of people's lives, including one's religion and beliefs.

Positive Influence

With the increasing growth of new media, people have been more connected with religion. Rather than only being connected with religion during the weekends, such as going to church on Sundays or going to mosques on Fridays. New media has allowed people to worship whenever they want. Technologies such as social networks, blogs and more, have caused many to be close to religion. With new media technologies being available to anyone with an Internet connection, the ability of one to learn more about religion as increased. With many resources available, information and practices of a particular religion can be spread through new media technologies.

Pope Francis Use Social Media

The Roman Catholic Church Pope has been really smart using the portal of Twitter to get to those who do not have faith. He gets to at listening by the younger generations, even though he is "Catholic" he has has been called the Pope of everyone he has become really popular because he respects the views of all religions and influence us in a positive way to accomplish the world peace that we all need.

New Media in Christian Services

Christian services have varied based on time period and culture for as long as they have existed. While many individuals still refer to the traditional printed text of the scriptures, even more, persons are dropping the extra baggage and they have seen the good in technology. Countless services now offer the Bible and several religious publications online or as an application to download on a mobile device. One aspect of a Christian service includes musical worship. In the second half of the second millennium (1500-2000), the majority of churchgoers expressed musical worship through singing with the aid of hymnals. Hymnals are standardized and widely used books of hymns sung by religious congregations. Many hymns have been popular for centuries. With the rise of new media, congregations have found new ways to supplement their hymn books. Some congregations have adopted a more modern style and selection of worship songs. In the place of hymn books, churches have begun to use Microsoft PowerPoint to project the lyrics onto a screen. Rather than providing each congregation member with a hymn book with a standard set of songs, churches can now use a projector to display the lyrics to any song, no matter how niche or when it came out. One popular denomination, who is well-known for their printed publication The Watchtower and Awake!, uses their own mobile application when ministering. Persons are even now being directed to their website, which has become very interactive, a clear benefit of Web 2.0 technology. Some Christian denominations are even using social media to spread the word, inviting persons to like or follow them. They too have realized the expenses that are related to printing and issuing pamphlets and flyers. Many times we can hear their invitation to join them in worship over the radio or television. In addition, many services are now being broadcasted over television, reaching an even wider audience.

Mobile Apps Promoting Religion

Various Religion-based iPhone mobile applications

As new media technologies grow, mobile apps grow as well. There are several mobile apps that make it easier for one to stay in touch with their faith. Mobile apps include Prayer Mate, iHadith, Minyan2Go, and much more. These apps provide several types of services. They have knowledgeable information regarding history, stories, and practices of a particular faith, they provide the location of the nearest church, mosque, synagogue, etc. to you, and they can tell you which places near you serve Halal/Kosher food.

There are apps that also provide a digital copy of the religious text of that faith. These apps include iBible , iQuaran , iTorah and many more. This allows people to freely carry, and catch up on their beliefs.

Apps Promoting Islam

The Islamic religion is the religion of peace. With modern technology, the spread of peace has become more than abundant. In today's world, there are a lot of stereotypes and misunderstandings of the Islamic religion. As a believer in the faith, the religion has taught nothing but to spread peace and create a positive outlook towards others. New media has helped the religion adapt to the next generation followers. The Quran, the holy book, is now found on smartphone apps for people to use throughout the day. A popular Muslim app called Al Quran was established by Sayed Samad and this app allows users to not only be limited to reading the Quran at home or at the Masjid but whenever possible . Features of the app include 100 translations in over 30 different languages. Moreover, Muslims follow a strict diet. They are only allowed to consume food that is halal or permissible. They cannot indulge in or eat haram, forbidden. When a Muslim goes grocery shopping, they are now able to differentiate halal and haram products by using the Scan Halal app . This app allows Muslims to continue following their strict diet in a better, more lenient manner. Prayer time is very important in the Islamic religion. Majority of the people who are travelers and travel frequently can carry along the Muslim Pro app . This is a popular app that provides an individual with proper prayer times and schedules based on the location they are in, therefore they can continue practicing their deen.

They have a website and an app called zabihah.com which allows you to find halal places to eat according to your location. They also have special offers for food to different places. Zabihah.com has a filter and you can filter out certain things for example if a place serves alcohol some Muslims are stricter than others and they would not want to go there because alcohol is forbidden in our religion. I have personally been to places especially in Manhattan because a lot of places cannot survive without selling alcohol there but the burgers are made of halal meat. A misconception that exists is that the carts that have halal on them are not called halal the meat is halal but the food itself is not called halal. What kosher is to jews is what halal is to Muslims it is a way to the animal is slaughtered and many people do not even know that.

OpenSong

Screenshot of an OpenSong lyric sheet, which allows users to create, store and project sheet music for worship songs

In addition to mobile apps, desktop software has been developed as well to address the needs of religious congregations. OpenSong is an open-source application created to manage song lyrics, chords, computer projections, Bible verses and more. It was developed specifically to meet the needs of Christian churches which use projectors to display lyrics rather than relying on hymn books or a standard set of familiar songs. OpenSong is just one example of how new media has improved upon traditional media (in this case, hymnals or other program fliers).

Users can download the application to both Windows or Mac computers. Once downloaded, users can add sheet music for songs, which includes both the lyrics to the song as well as chords. OpenSong acts as a storage library for this sheet music. Additional functionality includes being able to transpose the sheet music to a different key--another benefit of new media technology. With older technology, users with sheet music in certain musical keys would need to transpose each chord or note themselves. Users are able to share OpenSong libraries through cloud computing solutions such as DropBox. If the libraries are synced across computers or participating users, one library can be shared across multiple congregation members.

With the library, users are able to create and customize sets that differ between each service. Users can add songs, text slides for announcements, image slides for advertising events rather than the program fliers of traditional media, Bible verses to aid the preacher throughout the sermon and more. These sets may be emailed, printed or saved as a file with chords included, or projected to a screen with just lyrics for use during the service.

ProPresenter

ProPresenter is a cross-platform (Mac and Windows) lyric and media presentation package built specifically to make high-quality live productions easy — such productions include worship gatherings, sporting events, conferences, or even broadcast television. Taking full advantage of the latest technologies of your computer, ProPresenter operators control a presentation on one screen, while dynamically affecting the visuals and lyrics experienced by an audience on one or more screens. Used by ministries and organizations all over the world for more than a decade, we have taken our valued users' feedback to create ProPresenter version 5 — the evolution of our award-winning presentation software.

Blogging

New media has provided religious circles with more channels to teach and exhort congregation members. Several prominent pastors in Western churches have their own websites and use a mixture of blogs, podcasts, social media and eBooks to spread their message. For example, John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota has his own website, desiringGod.org, where he and his co-workers provide blog posts throughout the week on various topics relevant to issues the church is dealing with in America. His audience includes not only his own congregation but Christians globally. John Piper also has his own weekly podcast, "Ask Pastor John," which encourages listeners to "Listen to John Piper answer tough theological and pastoral questions." In addition, previously many Christian writers used Christian conferences, gatherings, and retreats to promote their written material. However, with the rise of new media, theologians such as John Piper can offer both free eBooks online and paid the download of other works. New media provides a host of resources for those who are unable to attend services throughout the week to learn about their faith.

Negative Influence

Graph from MIT Technology showing the rate of Internet users with the rate of non religion affiliated users

New media has made people more distant from religion. In a study conducted by MIT Technology Review, the number of atheists in the U.S has increased from 8% in 1990 to 18% by 2010. The difference in percentages converts to roughly 25 million people, who have either parted from their religion or not born into one. These statistics portray the influence new media has had. In 1990, new media technologies were close to nonexistent, and those that were present did not influence the lives of people as they do in today's world. New media technologies spread information much faster between atheists. Blogs and social networks have been used to debunk many religious beliefs. Consequently, these have caused the atheist population to grow.

New media helps promote hate against religions and their followers. With social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter, people are enabled to practice their free speech to a broader community. However, this freedom may get carried and turn into hatred. One example where social networks caused a stir among people over religion is the Facebook event "Everybody Draw Mohammad Day" held on May 20, 2012. The Muslim people believe it is prohibited to draw their prophet, Mohammed, which this event was challenging. Originally the event was created for the simple purpose of humor and freedom of expression, but soon, after going viral and attracting thousands of members, turned into offensive and violent drawings, defaming the religion rather than simple drawings which the event was created for. The event created arguments between Muslims and non-Muslims. A huge result for this event was the country, Pakistan putting banning Facebook.

Book

When Religion Meets New Media (Media, Religion and Culture)

Heidi A. Campbell's lively book focuses on how different religious communities such as Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities engage with new media. Rather than simply reject or accept new media, these religious communities negotiate complex relationships with these technologies in light of their history and beliefs. Campbell suggests a method for studying these processes she calls the "religious-social shaping of technology" and students are asked to consider four key areas: religious tradition and history; contemporary community values and priorities; negotiation and innovating technology in light of the community; communal discourses applied to justify use.

A wealth of examples such as the Christian Evangelism movement, Modern Islamic discourses about computers, and the rise of the Jewish kosher cell phones demonstrate the dominant strategies which emerge for religious media users, as well as the unique motivations that guide each specific religious group. [[4]]