%0 Journal Article %J Terrorism and Political Violence %D 2018 %T Video games, terrorism, and ISIS’s Jihad 3.0 %A Al-Rawi, Ahmed %X This study discusses different media strategies followed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In particular, the study attempts to understand the way ISIS’s video game that is called “Salil al-Sawarem” (The Clanging of the Swords) has been received by the online Arab public. The article argues that the goal behind making and releasing the video game was to gain publicity and attract attention to the group, and the general target was young people. The main technique used by ISIS is what I call “troll, flame, and engage.” The results indicate that the majority of comments are against ISIS and its game, though most of the top ten videos are favorable towards the group. The sectarian dimension between Sunnis and Shiites is highly emphasized in the online exchanges, and YouTube remains an active social networking site that is used by ISIS followers and sympathizers to promote the group and recruit others. %B Terrorism and Political Violence %G eng %U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09546553.2016.1207633 %0 Journal Article %J Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion %D 0 %T Online Reactions to the Muhammad Cartoons: YouTube and the Virtual Ummah %A Al-Rawi, Ahmed %X The publication of 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad by the Danish newspaper Jyllands‐Posten on September 30, 2005, created a great deal of controversy over self‐censorship, freedom of speech, and accusations of religious incitement. Muslim activists organized protests, and later hundreds of people were killed and hundreds of others were injured due to violent reactions to the cartoons. This article focuses on how people used YouTube to react to these cartoons by analyzing 261 video clips and 4,153 comments. Results show that the majority of the video clips and comments were moderate and positive in tone toward Islam and Muhammad; however, a small percentage either called for jihad against the West or made lethal threats against the artist. Other comments carried curses or insults against Denmark, while a few others were anti‐Islamic. The fact that these online reactions were highly varied in tone suggests that the online public sphere is very much divided. %B Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion %G eng %U https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jssr.12191 %0 Journal Article %J Culture and Religion %D 2016 %T Facebook as a virtual mosque: the online protest against Innocence of Muslims %A Al-Rawi, Ahmed %X When the short anti-Islam film the Innocence of Muslims was first posted on YouTube in English, no tangible reactions were seen in the Arab world. However, when the same producer dubbed it into Arabic and posted it on YouTube, street protests started around some parts of the Arab world. The study reported here examines a popular Facebook page identified as The global campaign to counter the hurtful film against the Prophet Muhammed that was created to protest against the Innocence of Muslims film. This study investigated all 6949 Facebook updates and comments that were available on this page by 15 October 2012 and found that a clear majority of posts were Pro-Islamic focusing on prayers for Muhammed and supplications to defend him. This study advances our theoretical understanding of the connection between online and offline religion by providing empirical evidence in relation to this controversial incident. %B Culture and Religion %G eng %U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14755610.2016.1159591