Opens Ramadan Tent in Second Life

Opens Ramadan Tent in Second Life

By Mohammed Yahia

The tent will serve as an informative center on all aspects of Ramadan and allow residents to meet scholars and watch the Tarawih prayers. CAIRO — IslamOnline.net is marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan by launching the first Ramadan tent ever made inside the virtual world Second Life. Designed with a distinctive Arabian theme, the tent will serve as an informative center on all aspects of Ramadan and will cater to both Muslim and non-Muslim audiences. It will offer daily special events to the residents of Second Life which includes hosting prominent scholars, lecturers, artists and singers. "The aim is to make the tent fun. Visitors will always find something different to do whenever they visit," says Breathe Swindlehurst, IOL's correspondent in Second Life. Bands and singers from around the world will be hosted to give a cultural taste. The tent, the first inside the virtual world, will be officially opened to visitors at 12:00 GMT on Thursday, September 13. But it has already started its first activity on Tuesday, September 11, keeping SL residents updated with moon sighting across the "real" world. A huge, regularly updated screen was installed outside the tent showing the start of Ramadan in different countries. The location of the tent was chosen to be next to Chebi Mosque, the most popular mosque inside SL. The idea became a joint project between IOL and the Islamic Group, a group of people managing the mosque. Second Life is a virtual world that was created in 2003 by Linden Labs. It has grown exponentially in 2007 and has over nine million subscribed users today. To reach the island, a visitor needs to create an account at www.secondlife.com and download a 70MB program. The Chebi Mosque can be reached by visiting http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chebi/158/198/87/?title=Chebi%20Mosque.< /SPAN> Presenting Islam The tent is keeping Second Life residents updated with the sighting of Ramadan moon across the "real" world. The Ramadan tent was designed by a Bahraini 23-year-old girl called Toti Lowey. "I'm very happy to have helped build the Ramadan tent in this world," she says. "It will help to introduce people to Islam in general and to Ramadan in particular inside the world of Second Life." Drown Pharaoh from the UK, Khawla Masala from Bahrain and Laracroft Bade from Qatar joined in preparing the structure. "I joined this project because I believe it is my job to present Islam to others, in any possible way, as long as I do have the ability," says Khawla. Laracroft volunteers her time in the tent because it will be a good chance to "make Muslims in Second Life meet." Tenet visitors will find a big screen showing video clips and information about Ramadan. They can also visit the tent to watch the Tarawih prayers live from the holy city of Makkah. IOL will also hold daily events where Second Life residents can come to meet muftis and scholars and ask questions. The Ramadan tent is IOL's first step into Second Life. In the coming months IOL plans to buy its own island in the virtual world, where it will extend the services of its bilingual portal to Second Life residents.